The Oberoi Beach Resort Al-Zorah opens in UAE

When it comes to luxury resorts in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai and Abu Dhabi may get most of the headlines, but insiders know there are plenty of serious contenders nearby. Exhibit A is the Emirate of Ajman – 40 minutes from Dubai, but far from the crowds. Here, the Oberoi Beach Resort Al-Zorah, set on 247 acres surrounded by long beaches and mangroves, is a handsome 89-room complex of white stone, wood and glass, Pasha’s first. A holiday home, by UAE standards, a small salvo in the hospitality group’s grand plans for the region.

Piero Lissoni’s Oberoi Beach Resort

Instead of dominating the skyline with a soaring building, Italian architect Piero Lissoni strung together three low volumes that house rooms, a restaurant, a library and a yoga pavilion on the beach, Their windows and views look towards the triumphant trio of Bone Sands, the Arabian Gulf and the Blue Dome sky.

Lissoni said the project’s biggest challenge was Ajman’s extreme weather, which had a profound impact on local architecture. This explains why, for the Oberoi resort, he and his team worked hard to “limit the density of built spaces, aiming to keep volumes low and, where appropriate, at one level”. This is the first hotel we are building in the area, so there is no existing infrastructure and few points of reference. An integral part of this approach is the active integration of surrounding trees and greenery.

Meanwhile, the resort’s interiors bear all the hallmarks of Lissoni’s tasteful mix of textures, colors and touchstones, especially in his use of traditional materials, complemented by custom-made furniture and the occasional antique and object.

No stranger to creating jewelery havens in difficult environments – his 2021 Shangri-La Shougang Park in Beijing comes to mind – Lissoni says he loves that “we were able to achieve an oasis whose quiet architecture respects the environment of the sea, the lagoon, Mangroves and deserts. We didn’t want the buildings to be an obstacle, but tried to create something that expressed a human scale. Every building somehow talks to the reality of water and nature.

And if none of that is impressive, there’s a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course.

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