The UAE is home to some spectacular properties. From penthouse apartments boasting incredible views of the city skyline, to plush villas with sprawling gardens and incredible pools, it's a real estate haven. Each week, The National is showcasing some of the best homes on offer with its Property of the Week …
The key details
Located in Sector E of the upmarket Emirates Hills estate, the property has five bedrooms – four on the first floor and one on the ground floor, all of which are en-suite.
It covers a built-up area of 10,600 square feet across three floors and sits on a plot of 16,266 square feet.
The price has recently been reduced from Dh25 million to Dh22.5m.
What's the story?
Dubai has plenty of spectacular apartments spread across the city, but when movement restrictions were put in place due to the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year, many residents were left wishing they lived in a villa that offered some extra space – and outdoor areas.
As unforeseen as that was, it has encouraged some to rethink their style of living, and consider the trade-off between having a garden or the jaw-dropping views that many of the high-rise towers offer.
In the case of this villa, and some of the other top-end properties in the city, you can get the best of both worlds.
The garden itself is a work of art, and a space that one could comfortably enjoy day after day in a self-imposed lockdown.
Drinking a fruity beverage under the thatched-roof pagoda, while shaded by a variety of plants and listening to the trickle of water from the nearby koi and turtle pond, is a scene straight out of a five-star holiday in Bali.
The children can go wild in the huge L-shaped pool and marvel at the stained-glass windows to the rear of the house.
Designed, constructed and lived in by the current owners, the property is the result of plenty of attention to detail.
The main reception room is split in two – one half serves as a TV-media room, while the other is an informal lounge bathed in light from two walls of glass. Two kitchens, both designed by Hacker, feature top-of-the range appliances from Miele.
Other touches include the roof terrace, with Indonesian teak floors and views of Dubai Marina and the Address Montgomerie golf course.
The brokers say ...
How has demand held up in Emirates Hills during the summer?
There has been a softening of prices in Emirates Hills in recent months, and this has resulted in a significant uplift in the number of transactions.
What kind of buyers will be looking at this property?
This home will sell to a family who are looking for something truly special, perfect for entertaining, but perhaps more importantly, perfect for family life. This home is for the discerning few – savvy investors, motivated buyers, lovers of exquisite architecture, and anyone who wants to enjoy the very best that Dubai has to offer.
There aren’t many thatched roofs in Dubai …
Yes, absolutely. The thatched pagoda is truly unique with the thatch coming from South Africa. The seating area and sunken bar is quite splendid, and the fact that it has dedicated Wi-Fi means I may have found the perfect place to work from … as soon as the weather cools.
Jason Hayes, founder and chief executive of LuxuryProperty.com
_____________
• Do you have a worthy 'Property of the Week'? Send your jaw-dropping or unique homes from across the UAE to ioxborrow@thenational.ae
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20Tabby%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%20August%202019%3B%20platform%20went%20live%20in%20February%202020%3Cbr%3EFounder%2FCEO%3A%20Hosam%20Arab%2C%20co-founder%3A%20Daniil%20Barkalov%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Payments%3Cbr%3ESize%3A%2040-50%20employees%3Cbr%3EStage%3A%20Series%20A%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Arbor%20Ventures%2C%20Mubadala%20Capital%2C%20Wamda%20Capital%2C%20STV%2C%20Raed%20Ventures%2C%20Global%20Founders%20Capital%2C%20JIMCO%2C%20Global%20Ventures%2C%20Venture%20Souq%2C%20Outliers%20VC%2C%20MSA%20Capital%2C%20HOF%20and%20AB%20Accelerator.%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
Brief scores:
Manchester City 2
Gundogan 27', De Bruyne 85'
Crystal Palace 3
Schlupp 33', Townsend 35', Milivojevic 51' (pen)
Man of the Match: Andros Townsend (Crystal Palace)
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
Non-oil%20trade
%3Cp%3ENon-oil%20trade%20between%20the%20UAE%20and%20Japan%20grew%20by%2034%20per%20cent%20over%20the%20past%20two%20years%2C%20according%20to%20data%20from%20the%20Federal%20Competitiveness%20and%20Statistics%20Centre.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIn%2010%20years%2C%20it%20has%20reached%20a%20total%20of%20Dh524.4%20billion.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ECars%20topped%20the%20list%20of%20the%20top%20five%20commodities%20re-exported%20to%20Japan%20in%202022%2C%20with%20a%20value%20of%20Dh1.3%20billion.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EJewellery%20and%20ornaments%20amounted%20to%20Dh150%20million%20while%20precious%20metal%20scraps%20amounted%20to%20Dh105%20million.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERaw%20aluminium%20was%20ranked%20first%20among%20the%20top%20five%20commodities%20exported%20to%20Japan.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETop%20of%20the%20list%20of%20commodities%20imported%20from%20Japan%20in%202022%20was%20cars%2C%20with%20a%20value%20of%20Dh20.08%20billion.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
