Eight years in the making, the 53-room resort by GHM debuted in marked contrast to the world-famous hotel towers of nearby Dubai, cultivating a low-slung profile and an aesthetic that celebrates indigenous building design and materials.

Its historic barjeel, or wind tower, punctuates the district’s age-old appeal. A museum worthy of stand-alone status signals the ambitions of the hotel, and the city, to showcase the emirate’s particular heritage.

“The very act of checking into this resort is like an immersion into the depths of the city’s incredible heritage, said Patrick Moukarzel, general manager, Al Bait Sharjah. “If what we want as travellers is an experience of place that is completely singular to that place, Al Bait is it.”

The name of this new Leading Hotel of the World -- Al Bait -- means home in Arabic and is reference both to the intimate atmospherics of the property’s design, and to the five residential chambers at the heart of the new property.