Aliesha Brar Malik is turning a Dubai-born idea into a regional luxury family entertainment brand
Dubai has built its global reputation on doing familiar things differently — bigger, more thoughtfully and with an obsession over experience. Aliesha Brar Malik is applying that same philosophy to a category few had previously thought of as luxury: children’s entertainment.
As Founder & Brand Director of Boo Boo Laand, Aliesha has taken what could have been another indoor play concept and turned it into something more ambitious — a family destination where hospitality, design, storytelling, food and entertainment are treated with the same attention to detail usually associated with premium hotels and restaurants.
Now, the Dubai-born brand is moving into its next chapter. With expansion into Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Mumbai, Boo Boo Laand is evolving from a homegrown concept into an international family entertainment brand.
She saw a category that Dubai had not reinvented yet
Long before Boo Boo Laand, Aliesha’s career moved through seemingly different worlds.
She studied Political Science, completed postgraduate studies in fashion and trained professionally in culinary arts before working with premium retail brands including Da Milano and Rosso Brunello.
What connected those experiences was an understanding of how people respond to detail.
Fashion taught her how design creates emotion. Culinary training taught her that great hospitality often looks effortless precisely because so much thought goes into it. Luxury retail reinforced another idea: truly aspirational experiences are rarely accidental.
When she looked at family entertainment in Dubai, she saw an opportunity.
The city already had world-class hotels, restaurants and retail experiences, yet children’s indoor entertainment was still largely treated as a functional category.
Aliesha believed families deserved the same level of thought, aesthetics and hospitality that adults had come to expect elsewhere in Dubai.
That idea became Boo Boo Laand.
Not another indoor playground
From the beginning, the ambition was not simply to create a bigger play centre.
The concept was built around the idea that children and parents should enter a completely considered world — one where every element, from colour and spatial design to food, service and attractions, contributes to the experience.
At its Dubai Mall location, Boo Boo Laand spans around 25,000 square feet, bringing together interactive attractions, educational experiences, live entertainment and dedicated spaces for both children and parents.
Children can move between experiences such as the Super Slide, Football Stadium, Robot Art, Princess Area and Little Crawlers zone, while workshops such as Mini Chef’s Kitchen add an educational dimension.
Parents were deliberately included in the concept too, with a café and even an on-site nail spa built into the venue.
It is a small detail, but one that says a lot about Aliesha’s approach: the destination is not designed around keeping children occupied. It is designed around the whole family actually wanting to be there.
Building a brand, not just a venue
Aliesha has remained closely involved in the development of Boo Boo Laand rather than simply becoming its public face.
Her role spans concept development, guest experience, partnerships and overall brand direction.
The principle guiding those decisions is simple: would the experience genuinely delight a family?
If the answer is not immediately yes, she believes there is more work to do.
That mindset has helped give Boo Boo Laand a positioning closer to premium hospitality than conventional children’s entertainment.
The spaces are deliberately theatrical — oversized flowers, candy-coloured structures, unexpected doorways and storybook-like environments are used to create a feeling of discovery.
At the same time, comfort, safety and hospitality for parents are treated as carefully as the attractions themselves.
Dubai was only the beginning
The strongest indication of Boo Boo Laand’s ambition is what is happening beyond its original location.
The brand has expanded its UAE presence to The Galleria Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi, bringing its mix of imaginative play and family-focused hospitality to the capital.
The Abu Dhabi concept includes experiences such as Boo Boo Jungle, Stadium, Snow Pool, Car Racing and Farm to Table, alongside birthday parties, private events and school programmes.
But Riyadh shows just how far the concept can scale.
The upcoming Saudi destination at Solitaire Mall will span approximately 38,000 square feet, featuring more than 60 attractions across around 25 zones.
Designed for children aged up to 15, the project will include experiences such as Boo Boo Airport, Boo Boo Jungle and Laser Tag while maintaining the brand’s emphasis on design, comfort and hospitality.
It is a significant step up in scale and an important statement about where Aliesha sees the business heading.
Boo Boo Laand is no longer simply a successful Dubai venue being replicated elsewhere.
It is becoming a brand architecture that can travel.
From Dubai to Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Mumbai
Expansion into Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Mumbai represents something increasingly important in Dubai’s business story: a homegrown concept being exported rather than an international concept simply being imported into the city.
For Boo Boo Laand, that means taking a distinctly Dubai idea of premium experience and adapting it to new markets.
Riyadh is particularly significant.
The city has a young population, rapidly expanding leisure sector and major investment in quality-of-life experiences. Boo Boo Laand’s founders have described it as a natural market for the brand’s next stage of growth.
The scale of the Saudi project suggests the company is thinking far beyond individual locations.
It is building a platform that can grow across major cities where families increasingly expect entertainment to offer the same quality of experience as luxury retail, hospitality and dining.
A mother’s perspective behind the brand
Despite the scale of the expansion, Aliesha’s original motivation remains deeply personal.
She describes herself as a mother first.
Many of the ideas behind Boo Boo Laand came not from corporate strategy sessions but from watching her own children — understanding what makes them curious, what allows them to become absorbed in play and, equally importantly, what makes parents comfortable enough to stay and enjoy the experience too.
That perspective helps explain why Boo Boo Laand sits somewhere between entertainment, hospitality and lifestyle.
It is not only designed for children.
It is designed by someone thinking about the experience of a family as a whole.
Recognition beyond the business
In 2026, Aliesha was named among the Global 200 Women Power Leaders in the Family Entertainment category, recognising her growing influence within the industry.
The recognition arrives at an important moment.
The company she helped create is expanding into new cities, entering larger venues and beginning to demonstrate that luxury family entertainment can become a scalable category in its own right.
For Aliesha, however, the core philosophy appears unchanged.
Every experience needs to feel intentional. Every detail needs a reason to exist. And every new destination needs to deliver something families genuinely remember.
Boo Boo Laand may have started as a Dubai idea, but Aliesha Brar Malik is now building it into something much bigger: a regional luxury entertainment brand created around the belief that family experiences deserve to be exceptional too.
Official links:
https://www.instagram.com/booboolaand/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliesha-brar-malik-179632294/
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