Long has Dubai been thought of as an influencer hotspot, with pictures of glitzy pool parties, busy beaches and gold-adorned hotels filling our social media feeds for the past few years - not to mention the not-so-humble name of a certain Netflix reality series.
But when I was growing up, the now-busy travel destination was an upcoming desert metropolis where Eastern gems and family-friendly spots met chic living and only the most high-brow of Western imports. It was a culture pot of food, fashion, history, beauty, art and tradition, whose international selling point was its luxurious hotels that offered the kind of opulence you only ever experience in the East - to this day I still measure up every five-star hotel I visit to the Jumeirah residences I stayed in as a teenager.
