The Lakes Villas, Emirates Living
One of the founding communities of Emaar’s Emirates Living masterplan: around 600 villas and townhouses across six landscaped sub-communities built around The Lakes’ own artificial lakes, between the Emirates Golf Club and the Address Montgomerie golf course. Royale Stays manages the setup, pricing and guest side of listing a villa here for a fee starting from 15%.
Developer
Emaar Properties
Sub-communities
6 (Deema, Forat, Ghadeer, Hattan, Maeen, Zulal)
Homes
~600 villas and townhouses
Unit types
3-5 bed core, Hattan larger (4-7 bed)
Area
Emirates Living
About the Community
The Lakes is one of the founding communities of Emaar’s Emirates Living masterplan, a family-oriented, gated collection of around 600 detached villas and townhouses spread across six landscaped sub-communities: Deema, Forat, Ghadeer, Hattan, Maeen and Zulal. Homes across the five original sub-communities run predominantly 3 to 5 bedrooms, spread over roughly a dozen distinct floor plans, each with a private garden and covered parking; Hattan, the community’s more recent luxury extension, adds larger villas commonly running 4 to 7 bedrooms. The community takes its name from the landscaped artificial lakes and water features that wind between the sub-communities, alongside parks, walking and cycling paths, and shared sports courts. The Lakes sits off Interchange 5 on Sheikh Zayed Road, between two of Dubai’s best-known golf courses, the Emirates Golf Club and The Montgomerie at Emirates Hills.
The Lakes is a distinct community from Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT), a separate, Nakheel-developed cluster of apartment and office towers near DMCC, the two share only the word 'Lake(s)' in their names, with different developers, different property types (villas here, high-rise towers there), and different parts of Dubai. It also borders, but is separate from, Emirates Hills, another founding Emirates Living community of custom-built mansions, see Royale Stays’ guide to Emirates Hills for that neighboring community.
Location & Nearby Landmarks
The Lakes sits within the wider Emirates Living masterplan, bordering Emirates Hills closely (well under 1.5km) and sitting a short distance from The Views, The Greens and The Meadows. Royale Stays does not yet have a dedicated Emirates Living area guide; for how the company’s short-term rental service works more broadly across Dubai, see Royale Stays’ full guide to Dubai Airbnb management.
Unit Types
The Lakes’ five original sub-communities, Deema, Forat, Ghadeer, Maeen and Zulal, are built predominantly of 3 to 5-bedroom villas and townhouses across around a dozen distinct floor plans, each with a private garden and covered parking. Hattan, the community’s newer luxury phase, adds larger villas commonly running 4 to 7 bedrooms with correspondingly bigger built-up areas. Every home comes with private outdoor space, and many overlook the community’s own lakes or the neighboring golf courses.
Amenities
The Lakes Club anchors the community as its social and recreational hub: a community centre with a swimming pool, gymnasium, aerobic studio, tennis, squash and volleyball courts, an on-site restaurant, a small supermarket, and salon services. Beyond the club, residents have access to landscaped lakes and water features, parks, walking and cycling paths, barbecue areas, children’s play areas, and tennis, basketball and football courts. The community is gated with 24-hour security and is pet-friendly. Golfers are especially well placed here: The Lakes sits between the Emirates Golf Club, home to the DP World Tour’s annual Dubai Desert Classic, and The Montgomerie at Emirates Hills.
Transportation & Access
The Lakes sits off Interchange 5 on Sheikh Zayed Road (E11), close to Al Khail Road. Approximate drive times: 10 to 11 minutes to Dubai Marina and Palm Jumeirah, 13 to 15 minutes to Mall of the Emirates, and roughly 25 to 40 minutes to Dubai International Airport depending on route, traffic and source. There is no Metro station within the community itself; residents typically drive, taxi, or use a short connecting trip to the nearest stations.
Rental & Price Trends
The Lakes’ resale market has stayed active since the community’s original handover, with recent 2026 sale transactions recorded by the Dubai Land Department ranging roughly from the mid-single-digit millions up to around AED 13 million for larger villas. As with other freehold villa communities, owners should expect a smaller comparable-listing pool than in apartment-heavy areas of Dubai. Owners weighing a The Lakes villa against a standard long-term tenancy can model both scenarios with Royale Stays’ Dubai property ROI calculator.
Airbnb / Short-Term Rental Income Potential
Short-term letting anywhere in Dubai, including a The Lakes villa, requires a DTCM holiday home permit. Royale Stays does not currently manage a property in The Lakes, though the company runs an active villa-management portfolio elsewhere in Dubai, including a managed villa in MBR City’s MAG City with real, Hospitable-verified performance data, plus villas in DAMAC Hills and DAMAC Hills 2.
Royale Stays’ Airbnb management services, furnishing, photography, dynamic pricing, guest communications, check-in and maintenance coordination, are available from a management fee starting at 15%. See Royale Stays’ holiday home permit guide for the application process. Owners ready to move forward can submit their property directly.
Income data reflects Royale Stays' own managed MAG City villa, a separate MBR City property, Hospitable-verified for December 2025 to April 2026, reviewed by Chris Veinbaums, DTCM-licensed operator. The Lakes-specific performance data is not available.
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