JBR furnished apartments on the beach, for weeks or months

On a weekday morning JBR feels like what it is: a residential neighbourhood that happens to sit on a beach. Down at street level, The Walk gives you restaurants and shops at the foot of the building, so eating out and small errands can start at the lobby door, and the sand is there if you would rather run outside than in the gym.

Inside the towers, the shared facilities do a lot of the heavy lifting. The buildings we use have swimming pools, gyms, children's play areas and round-the-clock security, and some add a sauna and steam room or a barbecue area. For a long stay that matters more than it sounds. A pool and gym downstairs turn a temporary flat into somewhere with a routine.

The Dubai Tram stops at JBR, so public transport starts close to home; check the route against where you will be working before you commit. Dubai Marina sits directly behind the towers, close enough that it feels like part of your own neighbourhood rather than a separate trip.

Out at sea, opposite the towers, Ain Dubai turns on Bluewaters Island. Depending on the tower and the floor, what you see from the balcony might be the open water, the wheel or the boats in the Marina. If a particular view matters to you, tell us and we will say honestly which of the current apartments delivers it.

Our mix in JBR is mostly one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms. Studios are not part of what we have here at the moment, and the list changes, so ask if a studio is what you need. That is worth knowing early if you are on your own and want something compact.

A one-bedroom suits a single professional or a couple who want the beach on the doorstep without rooms they will not use. The two-bedrooms are where JBR earns its place for families: a beach on the doorstep, play areas in the building and enough room that a few months together does not feel cramped. Colleagues sharing on a project also do well in a two-bedroom here.

Weekends and public holidays are busy. The Walk and the beach fill with visitors, and you share your doorstep with a lot of people who do not live here. If you work from home on those days or simply want calm, that gets old.

The towers also predate most of the Marina, and finish varies a lot from unit to unit. Some apartments have been well updated; others show their age. If you want a crisp new building and quiet evenings, look at other parts of the city. If the sea matters more than shiny fittings, JBR is hard to argue with.