A Dubai Hotel With Villas Over the Water Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas, the upscale Bangkok-based chain, opened its first location in Dubai last month, the Anantara Dubai The Palm Resort & Spa. The 293-room resort is on the eastern crescent of the Palm Jumeirah and has 12 glass-floored overwater villas - the first in Dubai - where guests can glimpse the marine life such as sea turtles and schools of red snapper. There is also a 10-treatment-room spa with a Thai massage suite, six dining options including an Asian restaurant and an afternoon tea lounge, and the option to get around the property in either three-wheeler tuktuks or on boats to cross the several lagoons. The property's general manager, Jean-Francois Laurent, said that the hotel captures both the big city and resort experience. "We're on a crescent and surrounded by lush vegetation, but the view of modern Dubai is always in the background," he said in a phone interview.