FORM Hotel Dubai

For many years, Dubai has been the last place you’d look for truly cutting-edge hotel design. It’s not controversial to say that this is, quite simply, a place with far more money than taste. Some of its stratospherically luxurious hotels are more stylish than others, of course, but there’s never been anything here quite like FORM Hotel Dubai, in the Al Jadaf and Culture Village neighborhood, an emerging district that’s set to play a large role in the city’s artistic future.

This striking contemporary building was designed by the accomplished (and un-googleable) Architecture-Studio, whose portfolio includes the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The interiors, however, are less aggressively futuristic, tempering their high modernism with a bit of Art Deco elegance. The result is memorably minimalist, but palatable enough to put the most conservative business traveler at ease. Rooms range from the refreshingly straightforward Cozy Single to the when-in-Dubai extravagance of the Mega, which, at 50 square meters, is all you could reasonably need.

There’s a futuristic angle to the service as well, in the form of the weFORM app, which allows guests to order room service and other niceties via smartphone. And equally of-the-moment is FORM's restaurant, which focuses not on caviar and gold leaf but on healthy “clean eating.” On the rooftop there’s a half-Olympic pool as well as a well-equipped gym, and you’ll find you’re also entitled to reduced rates at the spa at the nearby Palazzo Versace — a visit to which will underline, once again, just how unique FORM really is.

How to get there:
FORM Hotel Dubai is located approximately five minutes’ drive from Dubai International Airport.