I"m very lucky as I"ve been to Dubai many times in the past ten years and each time the place overwhelms me.
And with every visit I find that the skyline has changed yet again - a new crop of buildings has shot up. If, like me, you return every couple of years, you find that you have a new city to visit.
I enjoy the fact that Dubai is so full of over-the-top, wonderful buildings created on an epic scale. In many ways it is the absolute ultimate in extravagant holidays - a desert metropolis where you can enjoy big city treats (shopping, great restaurants, lots of interesting things to see and do and, er, shopping).
Beach babe: Nell McAndrew is lured to Dubai by the ever abundant sun and sand
But the real pleasure for me is that this is somewhere you can go and completely relax. I don"t think people appreciate just what fantastic service you get at hotels in Dubai. Nothing is too much trouble, all the time staff are keen to go the extra mile.
Dubai is an excellent sun-and-sand destination. In high summer there is probably a bit too much sun, but in winter it is still hot, only very pleasantly so.
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Dubai is a very special place for me and my husband Paul because we were married here at Le Royal Meridien six years ago. We can"t help coming back. We know all of the staff and they know us, it"s really sweet.
Actually, we first came here by accident. Ten years ago Paul and I had a holiday in Tenerife and stayed at a hotel that was awful - so bad, in fact, that we cut short our holiday and came home thoroughly fed up.
A friend then suggested that if we wanted to stay somewhere really nice we should go to Dubai and check out Le Royal Meridien. We took the advice, headed to Dubai and immediately fell in love with the hotel and the city.
We"ve been coming back ever since and when we got married there was only one place we wanted for the ceremony - Le Royal Meridien.
I Do-Bai: Nell and Paul Hardcastle married in 2004 at Le Meridien Royal, with its stunning beach and gardens and access to clear blue water and golden sands
Even though it was a fairly low-key affair - we had a simple wedding with just 14 guests - the hotel couldn"t do enough to make it a special occasion for us. They were so organised about the whole thing - much more than I was.
For our most recent holiday we came for two weeks. The second part would be at Le Royal Meridien, but first we stayed at the Atlantis, which has been open for just over a year, and sets the standard for other new hotels to match.
It is at the very end of Palm Island - built in the shape of a palm tree where the likes of the Beckhams own houses.
Atlantis has taken holidays in Dubai to a new level because it is the first purpose-built holiday area - they call it "an integrated entertainment resort" - offering attractions such as Aquaventure, which has fresh and salt-water pools and lagoon exhibits, thrilling water slides (much too thrilling for me), an open-air marine habitat, a seemingly endless stretch of beach, luxury boutiques, lots of restaurants and an excellent spa and fitness club.
And I knew there would be plenty to keep our three-year old son Devon happy, such as the Lost Chambers with its fantastic aquarium and the wonderful dolphin centre.
Glamour: Nell and Paul have not stopped coming back to Dubai after falling for the city"s dual charms of being a place to relax and have fun
But while he loved the dolphins - who can resist their charms? - I have a sneaking feeling he was more taken by the new Dubai Metro.
He has become obsessed by trains and was happy to watch the coming and going of the train from our bedroom window (an outing on it was a particular highlight).
We started off our holiday rather down in the dumps. Both Devon and I had a nasty bug and were feeling poorly as we arrived. Our mood wasn"t improved by disembarking from the aircraft in the middle of a terrific downpour.
The weather quickly improved though, and so did our spirits. I was particularly uplifted by an amazing massage I had from the wondrous Janita in the Atlantis spa. After she had finished I felt as if I"d been run over by a steamroller. That"s exactly the sort of massage I like - the gentle-hands approach is definitely not for me.
But one effect of us feeling off-colour was that we didn"t really get the chance to indulge ourselves in the extraordinary range of restaurants available in the Atlantis - especially Nobu and Locatelli"s.
However, the food available from room service, especially breakfast, was outstanding. The Atlantis was really just what we needed.
We watched the TV news pictures of a snowbound Britain before venturing out to the pool to enjoy the delights of some fine winter sunshine.
It doesn"t get much better than this, we told each other. Well, apart from the inimitable Le Royal Meridien where we headed next.
The hotel has a fabulous location on the famous Jumeirah beach where guests enjoy their own private sandy strip. There are lovely landscaped gardens, a beautiful Roman spa, no fewer than 14 restaurants and bars, three outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, and squash courts --not to mention superb views across the Arabian Gulf.
On previous visits we"d spent time exploring the city but this time our main aim was to take things easy. Paul, who is a developer, did venture out to take a look at some properties as we know a lot of people who have houses and apartments here, but Devon and I were happy to stay in and around the hotel.
Something fishy: Nell and son Devon make friends at the dolphin centre although it is not clear who is more pleased
As soon as I felt better, I fished my trainers out and did some running. I"m due to compete in the London Marathon this year as an "ambassador" for Cancer Research UK, so I take part in a lot of events such as the Great North Run with the aim of encouraging other people to participate.
I"ve run a number of half-marathons and I"m sure I could manage a marathon in under three hours if I kept to the training schedule.
So in Dubai it was great to do some long runs. I calculated that running up the beach to the Sheraton, there and back twice, was the necessary distance. I loved running on the beach in bare feet. After the winter we"ve had it was fantastic to be out under the blue sky, in the sun.
If we hadn"t gone to Dubai, my other choice would have been Center Parcs. We had one of our best holidays last year at the Center Parcs in Elveden Forest, Suffolk.
It would have been the perfect place for a Christmas holiday, the setting in the trees is very magical, full of atmosphere. It was great for Devon because no cars are allowed in the village, which means that it is very safe for children.
Perfect setting: The Atlantis is at the end of the Palm - the view is one seen from space which shows its true size
The Isle of Wight is also on our wish list for 2010. We had a fabulous holiday there last summer and it"s a really gorgeous island.
We stayed in the lovely Steephill Cove, just a cluster of cottages and beach huts without a slot machine or burger bar to be seen: it"s just the way that seaside holidays used to be.
When I was a child, summer holidays used to be trips to Scarborough, Filey and Bridlington - later on my Mum and Dad saved up and took us to Newquay. So going to the Isle of Wight provided a real sense of nostalgia. We loved it there and can"t wait to go back.
One of the great pleasures of a UK holiday is that there is no flying involved, no airport hassles: you simply load up the car and a few hours later you"re at your holiday destination.
We will also probably go to Majorca - we love staying at the Linda Hotel in Bendinat, which is a real favourite of ours. We certainly enjoy our holidays. Towards the end of our second week in Dubai, we were watching the TV news and saw how much worse the weather was getting in the UK with all the snow.
We were worried that if we flew back on our scheduled date we might end up getting stuck at the airport. So we decided to extend our stay and wait for the weather to improve.
It was bliss enjoying the Dubai sun knowing that we were missing the snow at home.
Now that is a real holiday.
Travel facts
Travelmood (0800 8407 802, www.travelmood.com) offers a range of holidays to Dubai.
A five-night break at Atlantis, The Palm costs from 1,049. Five nights at Le Royal Meridien costs from 999. Both include B&B, return flights with Emirates from Heathrow, and transfers.
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