Dubai is a popular destination for a winter beach holiday, with guaranteed sun, sand, sea and shopping.

Dubai City also has its attractions. A walk around the Dubai Museum is enlightening. To see aerial pictures of Dubai just 40 years ago, the blue of the creek lapped by the golden sand of the desert makes it hard to imagine how far Dubai has come in such a short space of time.

Now Dubai boasts the world's tallest building, the world's largest shopping mall and the world's tallest fountain.

Side by side with the mega building projects however, an older side of Dubai continues, with dhows unloading their wares by the creek side and spice and gold sellers in the souks continuing centuries of tradition.

Many visitors to Dubai just head to the beach or one of Dubai's city hotels, little aware that there are some stunning desert resorts in Dubai offering the chance to stay in a unique environment, discover some surprising desert wildlife, ride a camel over the dunes and to experience the true warmth of desert hospitality.