10 ways to feel your best this summer in Dubai

Move, recover and eat well this summer in Dubai – without making it harder than it needs to be

As the temperatures rise during summer in Dubai, the long, sunny days can leave energy levels a little lower, and the temptation to stay indoors as motivation dips and somehow the answer always ends up being another iced coffee and a very long scroll. But there’s a version of summer where you come out the other side feeling sharper, lighter and quietly smug about it. Here’s where to start.

Join Wellness Week at ICD Brookfield Place

Looking for a healthier way to spend summer in Dubai? ICD Brookfield Place’s annual Wellness Week is back from June 8 to 14, bringing together fitness classes, wellness activations, healthy food pop-ups and recovery experiences. Highlights include free classes at Reform Athletica and 1Rebel, a Pure Harvest pop-up, wellness collaborations with LOAM and Encounter Coffee, and advanced health testing through Embody Fitness. The week wraps up with a community-focused wellness programme at The Summer Garden.

Where: ICD Brookfield Place, DIFC

When: June 8 to 14

Cost: Selected activities are free, registration may be required for some sessions

Contact: icdbrookfieldplace.com

Read more here

Glow and restore with a traditional hammam

The hammam at Talise Spa inside Madinat Jumeirah is one of the best ones in the city – unhurried, properly traditional, and ideal if you’re looking for a reset this summer in Dubai. It follows the classic sequence: steam room to open everything up, black soap cleanse, kessa scrub to take the summer off your skin, then a body mask, hair cleanse and hydrating oils to finish. You’ll leave looking like a different person. In a good way. Book ahead.

Where: Talise Spa, Madinat Jumeirah, Umm Suqeim St

When: Daily 11am to 9pm

Cost: Dhs1000 for 60 minutes

Contact: @talisespa

Kickstart your summer nutrition

Meal planning sounds deeply unsexy until you’re three weeks in and your jeans fit differently. Colour My Plate’s Fit for Summer plan runs for 21 days and does the thinking for you – balanced, nutritious meals that are genuinely designed around the heat and what your body actually needs in it. Al Quoz location, which is very on-brand for anything wellness-adjacent and worth your time in this city.

Where: Warehouse TAQ #12, Al Quoz

When: Daily, 8am to 6pm

Cost: Dhs142 per day

Contact: colourmyplate.ae

Boost your circulation

Mandarin Oriental Downtown, Dubai

The lymphatic drainage massage has had a bit of a cultural moment, and for good reason – it actually works. The Mandarin Oriental Downtown’s version layers drainage techniques with antioxidant oils into a 90-minute Brazilian sculpting treatment that addresses circulation, puffiness and that general feeling of heaviness that accumulates in summer. It’s indulgent, yes. It’s also genuinely effective, which earns it the price tag.

Where: Mandarin Oriental Downtown, Wasl Tower, Sheikh Zayed Road

When: Daily 9am to 6pm

Cost: Dhs875 for 90 minutes

Contact: mandarinoriental.com

Recharge with contrast therapy

Hot, cold, repeat – contrast therapy is one of those things that sounds punishing and feels revelatory. Rē’s Contrast Room at One Central pairs infrared sauna with cold plunges in a space that doesn’t feel clinical, which matters more than it sounds. They also do reformer Pilates, Vinyasa and sound healing if you want to build a full morning around it. The 45-minute session is enough to reset a bad week.

Where: Offices 5, One Central, Dubai

When: Daily 7am to 9pm

Cost: Dhs200 for a 45-minute session

Contact: @resocialwellnessclub

Power through the ice

Working out in Ski Dubai at 6am on a Sunday morning in late June is unique to say the least, which is exactly why it works. The HYROX-style session pairs running, ski and row erg stations with strength and bodyweight work – all in actual sub-zero snow. It’s hard, it’s cold, and you’ll be talking about it for weeks. Bring gloves.

Where: Ski Dubai, Mall of the Emirates

When: Sunday, June 28 at 6am

Cost: Dhs157.50 per person

Contact: premieronline.com

Recharge your body and mind for the day

VEO is the kind of place that makes you feel like you have your life together even if you absolutely don’t. Pick up a day pass at Hayya Lakes or Meadows Town Centre and work through whatever combination of gym, padel, pool and post-workout matcha you actually feel like – no fixed programme, no pressure. The matcha is good. That part matters.

Where: VEO Hayya Lakes & VEO Meadows Town Center

When: Monday to Friday 6am to 10pm; Saturday & Sunday 7am to 9pm

Cost: Dhs200 per day

Contact: @veofitness.dubai

Boost your recovery routine

Akari Wellness

One of Dubai’s newest wellness spots, Akari Wellness is quickly becoming known for its Red Light Therapy treatments. The high-tech sessions are designed to support everything from muscle recovery and circulation to better sleep, mood and energy levels. If you’ve been training hard, feeling run down or simply curious about the treatment everyone seems to be talking about, this is a good place to start. Before you leave, stop by the Brain Bar for a drink packed with adaptogens, botanicals and superfoods.

Where: One Central, Precinct Building 2, The Offices 2, One Central, Ground floor, Dubai

When: Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm

Cost: Dhs400 per session

Contact: @akariwellness

Celebrate International Yoga Day

SEVA is one of those places Dubai genuinely does well – a proper yoga studio that isn’t trying too hard, with a real range of classes from Kundalini to Ashtanga that cater to people who know what they’re doing and people who absolutely don’t. The garden is worth lingering in, and the plant-based café attached – the first of its kind in the Middle East – is good enough to visit even if you skipped the class entirely.

Where: Villa 5 1/B, Street 27B, Jumeirah 1, Jumeirah Beach Road

When: Daily 9am to 10pm

Cost: Starting from Dhs88 per class

Contact: @sevaexperience

Get your skin summer ready

If your skin has been looking a little tired and you’ve been pretending it hasn’t, Orskin’s Signature Deep Cleansing Facial is the intervention it needs. Double cleanse, steam, extractions, a massage, a mask – the works. The full-body LED light therapy at the end is the kind of thing that sounds slightly space-age but actually just makes your skin look noticeably better, which is all anyone wants.

Where: Villa 4, 285D Al Wasl Rd

When: Monday to Saturday 9am to 9pm; Sunday 10am to 7pm

Cost: Dhs1290 per treatment

Contact: @orskinaesthetics

Images: Provided/Instagram