Someone once described Dubai to me as “a Canary Wharf in the sun”; faceless modern tower blocks, surrounded by fake landscaped gardens and man-made beaches. Given the variety of natural beauty spots around the world, why on earth would anyone choose to holiday in this “desert outpost”?

Yet one of my university friends had moved out there and I had promised to visit.

As I set off on my first trip there in 2009, I didn’t have very high expectations. That year many in the media had written off the emirate as it faced up to a collapse of its property market and it was left with £65 billion of debt racked up by state owned companies. Neighbouring Abu Dhabi had to bail it out.

On the plane out to Dubai, I read articles in newspapers about British expats supposedly abandoning their cars at the airport and heading back home because they couldn’t afford the finance. Many had lost thousands from buying properties off-plan and their money vanishing into the sand.

But from the moment my plane landed I was captivated by Dubai. Far from being a place of doom and gloom, people I met there then seemed pretty upbeat. By night, the plush cocktail bars at the top of some of the tallest towers in the world were brimming with activity. By day, people traipsed around expansive shopping malls or enjoyed a quiet coffee down at the marina.

Of course, Dubai then – as is the case now – was not just a place of leisure and pleasure. Out of sight from visitors, there was of course also some hard graft being committed in their air-conditioned offices. Many major international brands have their Middle Eastern headquarters there.

I have returned to Dubai many times since 2008, including visiting a fantastic music festival on the Palm, the man-made island connected to the main city by a causeway. Often my stay has been as a stop-over to somewhere else like India. And every time I have been there, I have had a good time.

The property market has recovered from those dark days and house prices are now rising to such an extent that some fear that it could crash again.

I am not so sure that the same mistakes will happen again. Dubai today seems much more mature than before. Given what happened in the past, people are more wary about handing over their money to property developers for schemes that may never be built.

But Dubai has however by no means lost its imaginative and creative side. Not satisfied with having indoor ski slopes in mega shopping centres and well-kempt green golf courses crafted out of the desert, plans are now in place to build the first rainforest in the Middle East. The development will be housed in a massive dome – complete with zip lines and walkways – with visitors taken on a journey through the rainforest’s flora and fauna.

And there’s much more planned for Dubai in the run up to the World Expo, which the emirate will host in 2020. Replicas of the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower have been commissioned. The world’s biggest ferris wheel is also being constructed. There are more fun times ahead for Dubai.

If you know me well, you will know that I like – wherever possible – to veer off the tourist trail. But Dubai will always remain high up on my list of favourite destinations. I can’t wait to see what wild and wacky schemes have been built by the time I next visit.