At a nightclub at a five-star downtown hotel, an attractive blonde woman throws back her head and lets out a squeal of delight as yet another bottle of vintage champagne is brought over to her table. Gina Peterson, an Australian marketing manager, is in her element. With her 12-strong group of girlfriends, she's celebrating twice over tonight: it's her 25th birthday, and six months to the day since she arrived in Dubai.

"I'm having so much fun here I can't ever see myself going back to Sydney," she enthuses. "My salary is up 75 per cent and I live like a millionaire."

At the beginning of this year, Peterson traded in her one-bedroom unit, second-hand Ford bomb and job as a marketing assistant in Sydney to join what is now being dubbed the "Dubai Gold Rush". Like the 100,000 Australians and other Westerners who arrive in this city of dreams on a luxury resettlement package each year, she is now happily settling into her new home - a three-bedroom villa with pool and gym - and yesterday test-drove a brand new Hummer, which she is considering "treating myself to".

Photos of her new lifestyle sent to her old friends via Facebook are met with everything from jealousy to mild disdain. "What's with the bling Chloé handbag and Cartier watch? You look like J-Lo," writes one. "I want your life!" adds another.

In high demand for her career experience and Western looks - popular with rich Arab clients - Peterson is well on her way to doubling her Australian salary by the end of the year. On top of this, she enjoys the sort of lifestyle many girls would kill for: yacht parties, designer clothes and a steady flow of free champagne.

Described by its residents as "Monaco on speed", Dubai is a shimmering temple to excess and consumption in the United Arab Emirates on the shores of the Persian Gulf. Just 30 years ago, it was a small fishing town. Today, it is one of the world's fastest-growing economies. Thanks to huge oil resources and a boom in property and tourism, it boasts a New York skyline of luxury hotels housing the world's most exclusive range of gyms, spas, boutiques, restaurants and bars. Currently home to the world's only air-conditioned beaches, seven-star hotel and a real-snow alpine ski resort - inside a shopping mall, no less - the city is a homage to success to rival Las Vegas.

Foreigners now account for a massive 86 per cent of the population, and you'll struggle to find anyone here older than 45. As UK-born club events organiser James Khurly, 33, puts it, "Barbados, St Tropez, Monaco and Marbella - they're over. The new super rich, whether they're Russian oligarchs, Arab oil tycoons, US bankers or English footballers, are all flocking to Dubai because there are no rules. You don't need to be from a certain family or class to make it here. You can start with nothing but a good business idea, and become a millionaire literally overnight."

Like Manhattan in the '80s, it's a work-hard, play-hard culture where you really do have the sense that anything is possible. But the relentless quest for money and success has a darker side, too. "Dubai is a nouveau riche paradise," says Matthew Lee, guides editor at Time Out Dubai magazine. "It's difficult not to be corrupted by the sheer opulence and materialism. I know really nice Australian and European people who have changed for the worse."

But with rich men and French champagne on tap, it's hard not to be seduced by the Dubai lifestyle, as Peterson has discovered. Tonight, she and her girlfriends have no qualms about quaffing another bottle of Cristal champagne courtesy of her handsome and obviously wealthy Jordanian boyfriend. "He's so generous," Peterson coos enthusiastically. "He just bought me a $7000 Gucci wallet for my birthday. He's always spoiling me." In typical Dubai style, he has put his gold card behind the bar, with an instruction to "enjoy".

Unlike St Tropez, Monaco or the other longstanding millionaire hot spots, the big spenders in Dubai are not fat blokes in their 50s, but attractive young men in the prime of their lives - with millions to blow on their extravagant lifestyle. It isn't the place to come in search of "husband material", but that doesn't seem to deter the young expats. In fact, for many women, that's a bonus.