By FAIZA SALEH AMBAH
The Associated Press

MARGHAM, United Arab Emirates -- It seemed like a mirage. Deep in the heart of the barren desert, as lizards furrowed beneath the orange sand and camels lazily made their way over dunes dotted with green shrubs, the outline of a small settlement appeared.

But the shimmering pools, lofty palms and billowing tent-shaped structures emerging from the shifting sea of sand were not imagined.

It was the new $900-a-night (minimum) Al-Maha Desert Resort, a retreat that has an average of three employees to pamper each guest, will provide private chefs for visitors, and each of its 30 suites has a plunge pool -- all in the seclusion of the rolling dunes. Each suite comes equipped with easels, paper and paint for those inspired to sketch the wondrous desert vista.

''The idea was to create a unique sanctuary where the wonder of the desert combines with unsurpassed luxury,'' says Tony Williams, Al-Maha's South African manager who oversees a staff of 90.

Set 70 kilometers (43 miles) southeast of the Gulf's bustling commercial and entertainment capital of Dubai, Al-Maha, which belongs to the state-owned Emirates airline, also boasts the region's sole wildlife reserve. Its design and concept aim at preserving the country's fading Bedouin heritage.

The $12.5 million complex, which took in its first guests in late March, is more attuned to Gulf sheiks than the spartan, nomadic Bedouins who once roamed the land. Bedouin kitsch, though, is everywhere.

The spacious tent-shaped rooms, done in primary colors mixed with gold, are heavy on tassels and decorated with brass-studded wedding chests, copper trays, bowls of cinnamon sticks and terra-cotta pottery.

Female employees, many of them blonde Westerners, greet guests wearing long black dresses with gold embroidery. Framed silver daggers, brass coffee pots and hand-woven rugs dot the main lobby's walls, while dried palm fronds line the ceilings.

The resort's mainly European visitors are drawn by the novelty and the quiet, guest relations employees say.

As a gray-haired, dual-career German couple returned from a morning of camel-riding, young honeymooners set off for a jaunt in the dunes, and an Italian couple soaked up the sun by their private pool. The only sound was the chirp of crickets.

At Al-Maha, mobile phones, loud music and children under 12 are not allowed.

''Many guests tell me the thing they love most about Al-Maha is the silence,'' says 20-year-old New Zealander Amber McIntyre, who works in guest relations. ''It's overwhelming. They're amazed at the tranquility here.''

They also enjoy the activities, Ms. McIntyre says. Guests can don the traditional Gulf Arab flowing white robes and unleash falcons for a hunt, ride camels or horses, trek in the desert or practice archery.

Or they can traverse the 25 square kilometer plot (10 square miles) in the resort's sand-colored four-wheel drive vehicles in search of the more than 12 species of wildlife, including zebras, antelopes, gazelles, ostriches and foxes.

Some 30 of the once nearly-extinct Arabian oryx, a type of antelope which give the resort it's Arabic name, have been reintroduced here and are often spotted drinking the nontoxic water from the resort's swimming pool.

Al-Maha tries to be ''ecologically correct,'' with its water recycling system and solar-powered staff quarters.

There's no shortage of sun. But despite temperatures that soar to 122 degrees in the summer, the resort says it's half-booked then.

''Europeans come here for the sun,'' says Mr. Williams. ''We are amazed ourselves at how much time some of our visitors spend outdoors, even when it's hot. Many of them have just spent a couple of months indoors during the rain, and just soak this up.''

Guests from nearer by -- about one-fourth of the visitors are Gulf Arabs -- come in search of the past.

''This place is very beautiful. It reminds me of the old days of our country,'' says an entry in the resort's guest book by a Gulf Arab businessman.

IF YOU GO