Yesterday we had an absolutely blissful day at Drift, the beach club at the One & Only Mirage hotel in Dubai. The hotel itself is a super luxe place spread over 65 manicured acres of beach front. Absolutely gorgeous. The beach club is tucked away in one corner of it combining an amazing pool with a South of France style restaurant and a beach and garden complete with super stylish couches and cabanas. The pool is lovely, it has different levels in it, some as shallow as a couple of inches – perfect for wallowing in – one whole end is a jacuzzi and it is surrounded by architectural shapes and flowers which make it an Instagram paradise.

Normally Drift is a bit too rich for our pockets but there are a couple of days when it becomes possible. The best deal is on a Wednesday where if you book for breakfast in the restaurant, you get access to the club for the rest of the day. Breakfast is very reasonably priced, so this is a good deal.

We booked for 9am and we were ferried down to the club by golf cart. A hostess dressed in white linen – all the staff are thus dressed – escorted us from the reception desk and helped us choose where we would be based. We always like to be in a beachfront cabana – these cost no more than a regular lounger by the way.

Having set up base camp, we headed into the restaurant for our breakfast. Daisy and I both chose Eggs Royale – poached eggs on a bed of smoked salmon and spinach on a muffin and topped with hollandaise sauce and red caviar. Bob had smashed avo toast topped with fried eggs and beef bacon. Everything was really, really good. The breakfasts were about £17 each including coffee and juice.

We then spent the rest of the day in utter comfort lounging in our cabana and moving between the beds, the sea, the pool and with the odd stroll down the beach. There was music around the pool but it was kept at a bearable level. There were, of course, a lot of posers there. But, you have to laugh really. They are so absurd in their antics.

We really enjoyed our day, so much that we have booked to go there again next week. It really is head and shoulders above all the others that we have tried.

Last night we were invited to dinner at the apartment of 2 of Lucy’s friends, Aaron and Depanka who we met dune bashing last Saturday. Depanka is a fantastically talented Indian chef, from Orissa, and he made us the most fantastic dinner. Every course was very delicious and a wonderful blend of complex spicing. The centre of the dinner was a dish of spiced lamb legs, roasted in a yoghurt and mustard seed sauce. It was a fab evening and we loved their apartment which overlooks the new harbour at Dubai Marina seafront. The views were fantastic and they have decorated the place with artifacts collected from travels over the years. It was so kind of them to invite us.