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Hotel JAL Fujairah Resort & Spa

COST: $

This calm desert oasis sits on a private 1,600-foot-long elbow of sand, two hours from Dubai's skyscrapers. The silver-blue Gulf of Oman laps the beach in front of the hotel, where each of the 257 rooms has high ceilings and large balconies that face the water. The tiny town of Deeba, only 10 minutes away by taxi, is a window into local daily life: Stop for meze at the square, where residents mingle with expats from India, Pakistan, Yemen, and Iraq over tea in the shade of date palms. Take an early morning hike in the mountains that rise up just behind the hotel—you might catch a glimpse of an Arabian red fox.