Atlantis, The Palm

Atlantis, The Palm is a UAE hotel resort located at the apex of the Palm Jumeirah. It was the first resort to be built on the island and is themed on the myth of Atlantis but includes distinct Arabian elements. The resort opened on September 24, 2008 as a joint venture between Kerzner International Holdings Limited and Istithmar.

Hotel

The 1,500 room nautically themed resort has two accommodation wings, also referred to as the Royal Towers, consisting of the East and the West Tower, both linked together by the Royal Bridge Suite. It is complemented by the Aquaventure water park and the locally popular Nasimi Beach which frequently plays host to concerts and other events.

Development

Atlantis, The Palm, opened on 24 September 2008 as a joint venture between Kerzner International Holdings Limited and Istithmar. In April 2012, Istithmar acquired Kerzner’s 50 percent stake in the property for USD 250 million. The property continues to be managed by Kerzner International Resorts. The architect was design firm Wimberly, Allison, Tong and Goo (WATG) an international firm specializing in Luxury Hotels.

Attractions

The 46 ha (110 acres) five-star resort includes attractions for children and adults. The main attraction is Aquaventure, a 17 ha (42 acres) water park with twelve water slides and a 2.3-kilometre (1.4 mi) river ride with cascades, tidal waves and rapids. There are two Mesopotamian-styled ziggurat temples reaching over 30 m (98 ft) into the sky and featuring water slides two of which catapult riders in clear tubes through a shark-filled lagoon. The Lost Chambers Aquarium is an aquarium exhibit with 65,000 fish and sea creatures including the Ambassador Lagoon, which is an 11,500,000-litre (3,000,000 US gal) marine habitat. The lagoon can be viewed at the base of the East Tower through a ten metre long, seventy centimetre thick viewing panel which looks into a representation of the ruins of Atlantis.

Across the Aquaventure water park is Dolphin Bay, a 4.5 ha (11 acres) dolphinarium.

The resort has a stretch of beach facing the Dubai skyline. The beach has over 700 sun beds.

The hotel has 1,900 m² (20,000 sq ft) of retail space including 'The Avenues', as well as a spa and fitness centre, meeting rooms, a conference centre and over 20 restaurants. The Kalideoscope is one of the most attracting hotel for south east cuisines. In the Dolphin Bay a number of activities will be done.

Official launch

After the construction of the hotel carried out by Laing O'Rourke it was officially opened on 24 September 2008. Guests who attended the event included Charlize Theron, Dan Ilic, Shah Rukh Khan, Robert De Niro, Janet Jackson, Lily Allen, Amit Kumar, Mischa Barton, Chris Tucker, Michael Jordan, Wesley Snipes, Andrea Colognoli, and Lindsay Lohan. Priyanka Chopra was chosen as the Goddess of Atlantis to inaugurate the resort. Australian diva Kylie Minogue performed her debut concert alongside Lebanese singer Nawal Al Zoghbi at the event.

As part of the opening, a light show of moving images was illuminated onto the hotel. 100,000 fireworks, around seven times the amount that were used for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, were let off, lasting 15 minutes.

The display of fireworks across the full 5 km (3.1 mi) stretch of The Palm lit up the entire island and Atlantis, The Palm. Custom-made shells shipped in from across the globe created a light spectacle taking off from the 716 firing locations around the island, including 400 balconies at the resort. Display creator Fireworks by Grucci claims the display set a new world record, but records curator Guinness World Records has yet to announce the status.

Popular culture

• Certain scenes from the movie "After The Sunset" starring "Pierce Brosnan","Salma Hayek","Woody Harrelson","Don Cheadle" and ,"Naomi Harris" was shot in the Palm in 2004.

• A task in the sixth leg of The Amazing Race 15 took place at its water park. The 14 team members had to slide down the resort's Leap of Faith water slide, which dropped them along 60 m (200 ft) and 30 m (90 ft) down an 84° incline and through a tunnel beneath the aquarium's shark lagoon. After retrieving the clue at the bottom of the exit pool, teams had to search the water park for a beach located near a lagoon, which was the sixth pit stop in the race. However, only 13 team members made it down the slide, as one of the team members, Mika was afraid of heights and water, and she and Canaan were eliminated.

• In 2009, an episode of The X Factor was partially filmed at the hotel, with Dannii Minogue using it to choose which female contestants joined her in the live shows.

• In the video game Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, mission 7 takes place in Dubai, in which one can fly through the hotel gates to get an achievement. The achievement will give 10 Gamer score points to the player on Xbox 360 and a bronze trophy on PlayStation 3.

• Bollywood film Happy New Year, directed by Farah Khan starring Shah Rukh Khan, has been shot almost entirely at the Palm. The film also stars Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood, and Vivaan Shah and released on October 24, 2014.

Gallery

See also

• Dubai World
• List of hotels in Dubai

References

External links

• Atlantis, The Palm Official Site