By Olivia Chen, Travel Writer · Published April 2025 · Last updated September 2025
Which Dubai beach club is right for your day? Detailed scoring, pricing, and editor's verdict.
Gitano and Cloud 22 are different products entirely but both compete for the elevated/rooftop-coded photo-led demographic. Gitano is the modern-Mexican beach club at J1 Beach (5th international Gitano after Tulum, NY, St-Barths, Mykonos) with a separate rooftop bar facing the Burj Khalifa. Cloud 22 is the 22nd-floor sky pool at Atlantis The Royal — 96m elevation with floating beds and the Palm in every photograph.
The two are genuinely different propositions — Gitano is a beach-and-rooftop-bar venue with a Mexican kitchen, Cloud 22 is a pure sky-pool experience. The comparison surfaces in queries because both compete for elevated-photo bookings and special-occasion couples.
| Category | Gitano Dubai | Cloud 22 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 8.8 / 10 | 9.1 / 10 | Cloud 22 |
| Atmosphere & Vibe | 9.0 | 9.4 | Cloud 22 |
| Food Quality | 8.8 | 8.5 | Gitano Dubai |
| Service | 8.5 | 9.0 | Cloud 22 |
| Pool / Water Features | 6.0 | 9.6 | Cloud 22 |
| View Quality | 9.0 | 9.7 | Cloud 22 |
| Value for Money | 8.5 | 7.5 | Gitano Dubai |
| Couples / Romance | 9.0 | 9.5 | Cloud 22 |
| Instagram / Photography | 9.5 | 9.7 | Cloud 22 |
| Late-Night Programming | 9.5 | 7.5 | Gitano Dubai |
| Cuisine Distinctiveness | 9.5 | 7.5 | Gitano Dubai |
| Adults-Only Feel | 8.0 | 9.5 | Cloud 22 |
Cloud 22 is a 96m-elevation sky pool with floating in-water beds — a genuinely bucket-list Dubai pool experience. Gitano has no pool (beach-only with separate rooftop bar). For the sky-pool day, Cloud 22 is the only option.
Gitano's modern Mexican kitchen with 60+ agave spirits is a genuinely distinctive cuisine programme — lobster tostadas, short-rib birria tacos, churros with mezcal caramel. Cloud 22's kitchen is competent (Mediterranean-coastal small plates) but not destination-cuisine. For food-led visits, Gitano wins decisively.
Gitano's Friday Gypsy Disco is the venue's flagship — proper dinner-and-dance evening running until 1am with Tulum-coded house DJs. Cloud 22 closes earlier and runs more refined-luxury programming. For party-into-night, Gitano. For elegant sundown, Cloud 22.
Cloud 22 at 96m elevation gives a 360-degree Palm Jumeirah panorama — Burj Al Arab, Marina, Bluewaters, JBR coastline all visible. Gitano's rooftop bar has the Burj Khalifa skyline view (Downtown direction) which is also exceptional but more single-direction. Both are bucket-list views; Cloud 22 wins on panorama.
Different products but both can fit one Dubai trip across two days. Cloud 22 for the bucket-list sky-pool morning (10:00–14:00, AED 1,200 floating bed for 2). Gitano for the Friday Gypsy Disco evening (20:00–01:00, dinner + DJ for AED 450+ per person). Two distinctly different luxury experiences in two days. Total: AED 1,800–3,000 per person across both visits.
Cloud 22 edges Gitano 9.1 to 8.8 overall — the sky-pool bucket-list experience and the 360-degree Palm panorama are real differentiators. Gitano wins decisively on cuisine distinctiveness and late-night programming. For the iconic Dubai sky-pool day, Cloud 22. For Mexican-cuisine and Friday party evening, Gitano. Both are correct picks for different kinds of luxury day.
