After visiting the 25Hours Piazza San Paolino in Florence, as a journalist, I decided that it would only be apt to review all of the 25Hours in all of the cool cities that they can be found! You can find an audio version on the podcast, with more details on what we did in the cities, what we ate and other fun tips and tricks.

My next stop was 25Hours One Central Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Although I stayed at the Florence location for 5 nights, due to my busy recording schedule, I only had 25Hours at the 25Hours Hotel in Dubai … and here is what I discovered.

The hotel itself is truly a rebel at heart, and as a concept is “Redefining luxury,” as noted by Leonardo Reiss, the Brazilian head of PR at the 25Hours Dubai, who greeted me in head to toe Maison Margiela. Fab!

We spoke of the possibility of having the hotel act as more than just a place to sleep, eat and repeat. The 25Hours is a repository of dreams, a melting pot of cultures and aesthetics. From the moment you walk in, you are encouraged to COME AS YOU ARE.

In a city like Dubai, this is rare, and maybe even unheard of. I am an Egyptian, who grew up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and my father’s family is half Emirati. I know Dubai well, I’ve been to Dubai several times, for work, family occasions, shopping and more. However, I can safely say I have never seen anything like the 25Hours One Central in Dubai.

The staff were incredible. They immediately accommodated for the fact that I had a 5AM flight to catch, they checked me in swiftly, and showed me to breakfast, which was a Mediterranean inspired eclectic mix of cuisines, something for everyone. Not to mention a coffee bar, kombucha - more on that later - and my favorite part, the cereal station.

The room is a Bedouin, rustic vibe with a touch of classic Middle Eastern luxury. A tawla board, stuffed animal camel, and postcards of Dubai made me feel right at home. However, what makes you really stop and stare, is the startling view of the future … Museum of the Future that is … in all of its calligraphy clad glory right outside my window. Thoughtful touches like a sink full of ME KOMBUCHA, proved to me once more that the 25Hours is not about impressing everyone, it is about you, the guest who came here for a reason. To feel as thought you are with your people, and my people most definitely drink kombucha.

As someone who is a fan of maximalist design, and as a millennial truly tired of our minimalist ways, the 25Hours offered so much for the eye to see! Unlike the Florence destination where the rooms were the star of the show, the 25Hours in Dubai is a little haven in the heart of the city, the star truly is the hotel experience.

From dinner at Tandoor Tina, to a drink at Nomad Day Bar, to the fully equipped podcast studio upstairs, the hotel became a second home very quickly.

Since I only had one night, we decided to try out the infamous Monkey Bar in the evening. I was just in Berlin only a few weeks back, and in an instant was transported back to the German city of wonders where my darling Nefertiti resides.

The Analogue Circus transported us back to the 70’s with record players and Pacman galore. The elevators housed 3D installations full of color and life. Not your typical elevator music moment. I found myself ending the night on the huge hammock swings in the lobby with friends.

I woke up at 5AM to the glistening masterpiece that is the Museum of the Future, and all of a sudden I felt filled with hope, not only for Dubai but for humanity, as we embark on the journey of finding ourselves through spaces like these that allow us to participate in the human experience rather than watch it happen.