Abu Dhabi

• The Pleasure Domes - Abu Dhabi
• The butler did it - Bahrain
• Dazzled by Dubai - Dubai
• Dubai’s must-do half dozen - Dubai
• The Day Chris tried to swap me for a camel - Egypt
• Ten great wonders - Egypt
• Keeping up with the Joneses - Jordan
• You CAN afford star treatment… - Middle East
• The hippy haunts of Hendrix - Morocco
• Souks you, sir! - Morocco
• Travelling in the sands of time - Oman
• OMAN! What a desert oasis - Oman

THROUGH THE PLUMES of dancing fountains, a ceremonial arch the size of the Arc de Triomph frames a private ramp leading to palatial suites on the upper floors of the Emirates Palace. With its illuminated vast central dome subtly changing colour from pale rose to russet and amber, the first impression of the hotel is that of a galactic airship preparing for takeoff. When I heard that I would be staying in such splendour, I filled every suitcase in the house to bursting point.

Thankfully, a stocky ex-Gurkha from Nepal is on hand to take my bag, and when I finally reach my room, a good ten-minute walk away, a butler from Brunei is running a reviving bath infused with heady oils. Compared with neighbouring Dubai, Abu Dhabi is a relative latecomer to the winter sun game. But it’s wasting no time in making its mark. In a country so rich its nationals are given a new house and £10,000 when they marry, the Government was unlikely to simply dip its toe into the water and see what happens.

Roaring air con trade

Nothing comes in half-measures. When Abu Dhabi decided it needed to make an impression on the tourist map, it embarked on a grandiose construction project that, three years and a reputed £2billion later, saw the unveiling of the Emirates Palace last April, the most expensively-constructed hotel in the world. Dubai’s trademark Burj Al Arab hotel might be the most famous sail on earth, but Abu Dhabi has the entire cruise ship. It would take a pretty determined effort in churlishness not to be impressed by 35,000 square metres of marble, 6,000 square metres of gold leaf, 1,002 Swarovski crystal chandeliers and 114 domes – including the largest on the planet. That aside, it also took me 25 minutes to find out how to turn off the 125cm TV – and almost as long again to master the console that switched off, adjusted and generally set the mood of the lights. Irritating, but actually, my only real disappointment was to discover that none of the restaurants opened directly on to the beach, despite the hotel’s 1km ocean frontage.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the scorching climate, Abu Dhabi does a roaring trade in air-con units and no local will miss the chance to make the most of one indoors. Sun-starved Westerners, however, arrive desperate for an injection of al fresco Arabia, and even the shining boutiques and bars in the hotel’s bowels won’t keep you entertained forever. You are in luck. Abu Dhabi’s perpetually blue sky is visible throughout the city and the surrounding desert is one of the region’s most accessible, and beautiful, great escapes.

Capital city

Many visitors are surprised to discover that Abu Dhabi, not Dubai, is the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the largest, by a considerable margin, of the seven emirates, accounting for 87 per cent of the land mass. Over my first two days in the capital, I swam from its beaches, strolled the elegant new Corniche alongside gliding dhows, visited a number of multi-ethnic restaurants, and indulged in family shopping at a couple of its glittery new malls. In need of variety, I set out on two excursions. The first took me to Al Ain, an oasis town founded around 5,000BC.

On our journey through banks of red sand dunes, our knowledgable guide, Nashima, gave us a crash course on the role of women in Abu Dhabi and the state of education and health. Like 70 per cent of those living and working here, Nashima is a foreign national – she quit her native Egypt for richer pickings in the emirate five years ago. Dressed in a traditional Muslim head scarf, western blouse and long dress, she expressed enormous respect for her host government and what it had done for its people. ‘Sixty years ago,’ she told us, ‘people lived in simple huts, dived for pearls, traded camels and there was no education. ‘Now they inhabit a Manhattan skyline, and have free education and health.’

Dune bashing and skiing

We arrived in Al Ain two hours later and discovered an oasis thick with palms, with bougainvillea and oleander holding back the desert. We visited the local museum and palace before clambering back into the mini-bus and corkscrewing our way up a mountain. The switchback led to a cliff-top eyrie capped by a hotel and restaurant, where we ate lunch with eagle-eye views over the oasis and out towards the shimmering horizon.

My second excursion took me into the desert at Al Katim for a sport of dune-bashing and sand-skiing. Our destination this time was a small, nomadic encampment encircling a well. Skis, incongruous in the desert, glinted in the sun beneath a 50m-high sand dune. For an hour we trudged up the shifting sands and then zipped down the slopes as though we were in the Alps. Having tried our hand at camel riding, we were then taken on a four-wheeled-drive slalom across the dunes. I felt like Mad Max. Finally, done with desert mayhem, we settled down to a barbecue meal as the last rays of the sun set fire to the horizon. By the time we’d got to coffee, the sky was filled with a million pin-prick stars. It was like dining in a planetarium.

So what finally is the verdict - Dubai or Abu Dhabi? Personally I’d plump for the latter because it has the optimism of an emerging tourist destination and lower-key attractions. It certainly has more than enough to keep you occupied for a week once you’ve allowed time for soaking up the rays on the beach and making the 2.5km walk round the Emirates Palace a couple of times.