Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara

This guide to Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara, on the dunes of the Empty Quarter outside Abu Dhabi, starts with the single food that kept Bedouin families alive for centuries: the date. It traces how oasis villages settled the Liwa arc wherever the water table sat close enough to the surface to keep the palms alive, and how the resort's evening restaurant, Suhail, now builds its menu on those same Emirati staples. It also touches on the annual Liwa date festival, where villages have judged the season's best harvest and largest bunch since long before this fortress-style hotel or the city of Abu Dhabi existed.