In the financial capital of the Middle East, why this cultural mash-up works.

To the list of astounding edifices in the Persian Gulf's answer to Wall Street and Las Vegas, you can now add the Raffles Dubai, a 19-story triangular homage to the Great Pyramids in Egypt (or is that to the Luxor on the Strip?). Situated as close as this city has to a center, Raffles has claimed the prize for the most sweeping views of the skyline’s ever-buzzing 24-hour-construction sites, at least until the soon-to-be-tallest building in the world, the Burj Dubai (looming outside the hotel’s western flank), is completed next fall.

The location has another advantage: less time spent fighting Dubai's newly legendary traffic getting to and from the airport and financial district, which are both just minutes away. That means more time for exploring the palm tree–shaped islands and schussing down the indoor ski slope.

Although the new hotel is a little kitschier than the typical Raffles offering, the architects have actually done an admirable job of interweaving the hieroglyphics, marble waterfalls and gilded mother of pearl with more classically Raffles design elements such as muted Chinese rosewood furniture and Oriental rugs. In a city where daytime summer temps can reach 120 degrees, the hotel has taken an important cue from its gaudiest Vegas counterparts in incorporating as many amenities under one air-conditioned roof as possible. On-site facilities include no fewer than 11 restaurants and bars, a 13,500-square-foot spa, a business center with 2,200 square feet of meeting space, plus the adjacent Wafi Mall (also shaped like a pyramid) with 300 stores, 30 restaurants, a virtual-reality park and indoor river.

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