The Views, the Greens and The Hills: the quiet side of new Dubai

What this part of Dubai is

Between Sheikh Zayed Road and the Emirates Golf Club, behind the office towers of Internet City and Media City, there is a pocket of Dubai that was built for people to live in rather than to look at. The Greens is a set of low apartment buildings, five or six storeys, around courtyards and pools. The Views is the row of taller towers along the lakes and the golf course beside it. The Hills is the newest piece, a few towers and a hotel above the fairways with the city's skyline as the backdrop.

Nobody comes here for a photograph. People come because it is quiet, green and ten minutes from everything: the Marina and the beach to the south-west, the Mall of the Emirates to the north-east, Downtown twenty minutes along the road. It is where we would stay ourselves for a month, which is why The Links East and Vida Residences are here.

A day here

The morning belongs to the lakes. The path round the Views lakes is a flat two-kilometre loop with the golf course on one side, used by runners at six and by families with scooters at eight. The Greens' courtyards have their own pools, and the cafés on the Greens' central strip do breakfast until late. The supermarket, the pharmacy and the laundry are in the same strip, and everything is a walk.

In the middle of the day, when it is hot even in January, you are at the pool or out: the Marina's beach is ten minutes by taxi, the Mall of the Emirates and its ski slope fifteen. In the evening the golf club's restaurants and the hotel at The Hills are a walk or a five-minute taxi, and the Marina's are ten minutes away when you want a crowd. Then you come home to a street where the loudest thing is the sprinklers.

Where we would go

• The Views lakesThe loop walk, early. Herons on the bank most mornings
• The Greens' stripBreakfast, the supermarket, the bakery. Everything a week needs within a hundred metres
• Emirates Golf ClubTwo championship courses. The clubhouse restaurants are open to non-members for dinner
• Vida The HillsThe hotel's terrace for a drink above the fairways at sunset
• Mall of the EmiratesFifteen minutes. The ski slope for a cold hour, and a cinema
• The Marina and JBRTen minutes. The beach, the promenade, the restaurants, when you want them

Who it suits

Families with young children, who want a pool, a playroom and a lawn and do not want to cross a six-lane road to find them. Anyone staying a month, who needs a neighbourhood more than a view. Golfers, obviously. People who have done Dubai once and want the city on their own terms the second time. Couples who want to sleep with the window open.

It does not suit a three-night first visit built around the Burj Khalifa; stay in Downtown for that. Nor does it suit anyone who wants the beach at the end of the street; the Marina is for them. Our note on a month in Dubai and our guide to Dubai with children both end up here for a reason.

Getting around

Most guests here take taxis, which arrive within minutes, and the metro's Red Line is a short ride away at Dubai Internet City or Sobha Realty. We can send a driver for the airport. Walking to the Marina is possible in winter but not pleasant; it is across the highway.

• Dubai InternationalAbout 30 minutes by car outside rush hour
• Dubai Marina and JBRAbout 10 minutes
• DowntownAbout 20 minutes along Sheikh Zayed Road
• MetroDubai Internet City or Sobha Realty stations, a short taxi

Next in the journal

Getting around Dubai without a car. How to move around Dubai without a car: the metro and Nol card, taxis and ride apps, the tram and abras, walking, and how long the common trips take.