The best family hotels in Dubai, judged on the kids' club terms the hotel actually publishes

The family-hotel question in Dubai has a specific answer and most guides avoid it. Every resort on the Palm and the Jumeirah coast has a pool, a beach and a page that says ‘kids’ club’. What matters is the fine print: the ages the club takes, the hours it runs, and whether it costs money. Fairmont The Palm publishes all three: 18 months to 12 years, 10:30 to 19:00, two hours free for guests then AED 85 an hour. Jumeirah Beach Hotel publishes ages and hours. Address Beach Resort’s Qix Club is free for four- to sixteen-year-olds. Four Seasons Jumeirah Beach takes four- to twelve-year-olds free. Those four are the top of this page for a reason.

The sixteen are grouped by where they are, because with children the drive matters. The Palm’s six resorts share Aquaventure’s neighbourhood; the four Jumeirah hotels share Wild Wadi and the Madinat’s abra network; the Marina and JBR three are the ones with a walkable strip outside; the last three are for families who want a resort that is the whole holiday, forty minutes from anything.

Where a card is amber, the hotel is presumed open but its operator’s page refused our request this week. That is five hotels, all Marriott-family or Centara, and their kids’ club details come from third-party listings rather than the hotel. We would rather show you that than pretend to know.