"Deep within Abu Dhabi’s remote Empty Quarter, Qasr Al Sarab materializes from the sands like a fever dream. The fortlike compound, with its crenellated walls, faux watchtowers, and horseshoe arches, emerges at the end of a slick ribbon of tarmac that snakes through dunes the color of Earl Grey tea. Date palms shade its formidable perimeter, while small canals modeled on ancient Arabian falaj irrigation systems carry cooling water between courtyards. Inside, the details give just enough of a sense of place—Moroccan-style lanterns and intricate mashrabiya screens, and even the odd Bedouin artifact, such as a dagger or a brass coffeepot—which feels purposeful rather than hokey. Sienna-walled guest rooms are kitted out with wooden chests and plush-patterned rugs that offer tactile warmth in a desolate place. But the most intriguing aspect is that activity and idleness are in equal supply here. You can just as easily spend a day hopping over the dunes on a fat bike or lingering on the premises, perhaps being immersed in a sound bath. Every trip ends with a climb along the dunes, where you might catch some of the most mesmerizing sunsets of your life—the ocean-like sands constantly shifting as the winds carve waves into their surface; impermanent but, just for a moment, perfectly wrought." - CNT Editors
