Dana · the pearl
Rooftop · Creek and wind towers
The roof suite — dawn over the creek from your own terrace.
From AED 2,150 a night in winter · sleeps 2
Al Fahidi · Bur Dubai · Restored 2019 · built c. 1946
Nine rooms, one courtyard, and the oldest quiet in Dubai.
A pearl merchant’s house from the 1940s, restored by hand and kept to the size it was built — in the last coral-stone quarter of the city, two lanes from the creek.
The house
Built for the pearl trade.
Kept for the quiet it left behind.
Bayt Murjan is a pearl merchant's house from the 1940s, restored room by room and opened as a nine-room guest house in 2019. It stands in the lanes of Al Fahidi, the last coral-stone quarter in the city, two minutes' walk from the creek.
The house keeps the habits the architecture was built for: gahwa in the courtyard at seven, shade all day, the roof after sunset. Nothing about it is in a hurry, including us.
A day at the house
- 7:00Gahwa and dates in the courtyard as the house wakes
- 8:00 – 11:00Breakfast, cooked to order, for as long as you like
- MiddayThe courtyard pool, the reading gallery, the shade
- 17:30Tea on the roof as the abras cross below
- After darkCandles in the courtyard; the fountain stilled at 22:00
The rooms
Nine doors off one courtyard, each named for what the creek traded.
Murjan · the coral
First floor · Courtyard gallery
The house's namesake — coral-stone walls left bare on one side.
From AED 1,750 a night in winter · sleeps 2
Neel · the indigo
First floor · Wind-tower shaft
Under the barjeel — the room the wind tower was built to cool.
From AED 1,350 a night in winter · sleeps 2
Courtyard & roof
The house has two centres: one for the day, one for the evening.
The courtyard holds the day — the fountain, the sidr tree, the small pool in the second court, and the arcade’s deep shade, which is where every plan for the afternoon quietly dissolves.
The roof takes over at 17:30, when tea goes up and the light comes off the creek. The wind towers of the quarter stand in silhouette, the abras cross below, and the call to prayer moves across the water. Nobody photographs it well. Everybody tries.
Mornings
Breakfast runs until eleven, because holidays should.
It starts with gahwa and dates at seven for the early risers, and becomes a proper table from eight: eggs any way, khameer bread from the bakery two lanes over, labneh, honey from Hatta, and fruit cut when you sit down, not before.
Everything is cooked to order and nothing is buffet. Take the courtyard in winter, the majlis in summer, or — from Dana and Barjeel — your own piece of the roof.
Out the door
The quarter is the amenity.
Al Fahidi is a walking neighbourhood in a driving city — lanes too narrow for cars, galleries in old courtyards, and the creek doing what it has done for two centuries. Everything below is on foot.
- 4 minThe abra crossingOne dirham, both directions, the best boat ride in the Gulf.
- 6 minThe textile soukIndigo, madder and silk by the metre — our textiles came from here.
- 2 minThe coffee museumTwo lanes over. Ask for the Ethiopian ceremony upstairs.
- 9 minThe spice soukAcross the water by abra. Go hungry, come back with loomi.
- 1 minXVA and the galleriesThe quarter's art houses open by ten; the courtyards are free.
Guest book
Words left at the door.
“We came for two nights on the way to somewhere else and cancelled the somewhere else. The courtyard at seven in the morning is worth the fare on its own.”
Stayed in Sidr, March
“The quietest place I have slept in this city in eleven years of visiting it. Ask them to put breakfast on the Dana terrace and cancel your morning.”
Stayed in Dana, January
“It is a house, not a hotel, and that is the whole point. By the second day the gahwa arrived the way I like it without my asking.”
Stayed in Ghaf, November
Seasons & rates
Three seasons, honestly priced, breakfast always included.
Winter
November – March
Courtyard weather. The house is at its fullest; write early.
Rooms from AED 1,150 a night
Shoulder
April – May · October
Warm days, soft evenings on the roof.
Rooms from AED 900 a night
Summer
June – September
The barjeel months. Quiet, shaded, generously priced.
Rooms from AED 680 a night
Rates are per room per night including breakfast for two, before Tourism Dirham. Stays of five nights and longer, and whole-house takeovers, are priced individually — ask.
Request a stay
Tell us your dates. A person replies within the day.
No booking engine, no hold on your card until we have spoken. Write with your dates and the room you like, or call the house on +971 4 000 0000.