PULL-OUT QUOTE:
“To focus too much on the rooms is to miss the point of this hotel. In exactly the same manner as a casino, the unsaid message of this hotel is to ‘get out and enjoy yourself.’”
Sybaritic dreams
Atlantis, The Palm wins this year’s Bespoke Ultimate Escape award. It is certainly no boutique hotel, nor is it the most tasteful destination. But one thing is for certain the Atlantis hotel is an incredibly ambitious 1.5 billion USD resort destination that deserves praise for its ability to keep the whole family happy with a vast array of services, amenities and attractions.
My first inkling of what Atlantis, The Palm would be like was quite an amusing one. Upon reaching the passport control of Dubai International Airport, the officer asked me whether the purpose of my trip was business or pleasure. I replied business, to which he followed up, “And which hotel will you be staying at?” When I informed him, he commented, “Ah, Atlantis! It is a very good hotel, very nice.”
I have stayed at a number of hotels in Dubai, including some of the very best, and never has a member of Dubai’s law enforcement ever commended me on my choice. Of course this kind of feedback would never sway anybody’s choice of hotel but it is emblematic of the grandiosity of this project. A destination resort that spans 460,000 square metres of land, positioned atop the crescent of The Palm Jumeirah - the 12.3 billion USD manmade island that is currently the largest in the world.
The name Atlantis comes from the legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias. It was supposed to have been an advanced prehistoric superpower that sank into the ocean "in a single day and night of misfortune." While most historians believe Atlantis to have been a myth created by Plato to propagate his political theories, I bet Sol Kerzner and his team hope that their new Atlantis does not suffer a similar fate.
Sol Kerzner, a 73-year-old South African hotel and gambling magnate, is no stranger to the Dubai hotel industry having set up the very successful One&Only Royal Mirage years ago. But this new project was far more ambitious, and so it had to be as the centrepiece of the much heralded Palm Jumeirah. This new Atlantis may be the star of the show but by next year there will be 28 more hotels on the palm-shaped island.
It is actually only the world’s second Atlantis resort. The first is in Paradise Island in the Bahamas and it is known as much for its casino as anything else. So how would the concept work in a country that does not allow gambling?
The answer is pretty well. I stayed for two nights towards the end of October and the hotel was already at 100 per cent occupancy. Remember that this was even before the official opening in November which is being pegged as the grandest event of Dubai’s already ostentatious calendar. So business is undoubtedly good.
My first night was in a regular deluxe room. It was pretty standard and offered nothing that could bowl you over. For my second night I stayed in a suite replete with walk-in wardrobes, a living room, a dining room, and an enormous bathroom featuring a shower as well as a large jet tub. The suite was definitely much nicer than the regular room but somehow once again it was nothing astonishing. Should you desire the very best then opt for the 25,000 USD a night 924 square metre Bridge Suite that sits in the apex of the resort’s arch. But to focus too much on the rooms is to miss the point of this hotel. In exactly the same manner as a casino, the unsaid message of this hotel is to ‘get out and enjoy yourself.’
First and foremost is the water experience. Water adventures, salt and fresh water attractions and an open air marine habitat are far and away the focal point of Atlantis, The Palm. It is almost surreal how in this arid, desert landscape, water seems to flow just about everywhere. One of the most impressive points is the huge aquarium – the largest I myself had ever seen. Known as the Ambassador Lagoon, it is an 11 million litre marine habitat and underwater exhibit that is home to several hundred species of marine life. There are enormous glass walls within the hotel from which you can see the fish – and a whale shark – moseying around all day. So mesmerising is this vast aquarium that the hotel owners decided to build two exclusive suites that look onto the lagoon. These two Lost Chamber Suites are three stories high and boast master bedrooms featuring floor to ceiling glass walls.
If you walk on past the Ambassador Lagoon you will come to the Lost Chambers. This is a Disneyland-esque maze of underground tunnels within which you can discover all the special exhibits of different sea creatures such as pencil urchins, starfish, horse shoe crabs, moon jellyfish, lobsters and anchovies amongst many others.
Once you come out, follow the Aquaventure signs which will lead you to the large waterpark. Here you will find huge swimming pools, sandy beach areas, rapid rides and water slides. The most fun spot is the water slide area which is accessed via the Mesopotamian-styled Ziggurat temple. There are seven different slides of which the most challenging is fittingly called the Leap of Faith. Naturally, I had to try it.
The Leap of Faith is a 27.5 metre vertical drop water slide that is the tallest and fastest freefall slide in the Middle East. What you must do is cross your arms on your chest, cross your ankles over each other and brace yourself as you fall feet-first down the equivalent of nine storey chute in just a couple of seconds. As if that was not enough, directly after the plummet you career through a transparent tunnel which is submerged in a shark filled tank. Fun indeed, may be not everyone’s cup of tea though.
If you are looking for a more relaxed interaction with sea life, there is the Dolphin Bay which is a 4.5 hectare state-of-the-art dolphin education and conservation centre. Once suited up you can interact with these super friendly mammals. I got to play with Abbey, the elder of the lot, who the instructor rather facetiously told me came from “Abbey Dhabi.”
For Dubai residents, one of the most important facets to the Atlantis is the seemingly infinite array of restaurants on offer. This hotel has single-handedly raised the quality and choice of Dubai’s restaurant scene to a whole new level. There are in fact 17 restaurants, bars and lounges. Two favourites are the much celebrated Japanese restaurant Nobu opened by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa himself (Bespoke Volume II, issue 4) and the Italian Ronda Locatelli. The latter is the new outpost of famous Michelin-star chef Giorgio Locatelli. If you manage to get a reservation, try the exquisitely tender poached beef and the delicate and sublime mushroom risotto.
On the shopping front, the hotel has a sophisticated retail promenade featuring about two dozen shops. Should that not suffice you will soon be able to get on the Dubai monorail (once the service starts running) and within minutes you will be shuttled to any of the number of malls Dubai has to offer.
With all the specialised programmes for toddlers to teenagers even your brood will be well looked-after at this hotel. There is the Atlantis Kids Club for children between 3 and 12 years of age. For teens and pre-teens there is the Club Rush which is a supervised ‘no adults’ private club. And lastly The Zone is also available for any kid, grown up or not, who wishes to kick back and enjoy some video game action. One other service worth mentioning is the hotel babysitting service for when you wish to leave your progeny behind.
For my initiation, the only thing I left to the final day was my massage treatment as I was hoping to save the best for last. Let me reveal that it was no disappointment. The spa is accessed via a large staircase adjacent to a two-storey waterfall. The earthy hues are in stark contrast to the more vibrant décor found elsewhere in the hotel. The changing rooms lead on to some very attractive and large Jacuzzi, sauna and steam areas. But the real discovery is when you are lead to the treatment rooms. There are 27; yes that’s right 27 of them here. The path between the symmetrically placed rooms is actually a river of water and you walk along by stepping from stone to stepping stone until you reach your room. Once inside, the treatment of your choice begins. Personally, I found myself drifting between a state of consciousness and that of utter relaxation with the hour-long Swedish massage.
After all is said and done, you will find Atlantis, The Palm hotel to be an enormously impressive project in terms of both its wonderful absurdity and its imposing scale. It is almost impossible to fathom the size of the hotel without witnessing it for yourself. Yet somehow they have managed to pull it off. Appealing more to the family travellers than the businessmen, this hotel has an abundance of things to do and see. Whether it can maintain a top level of service while catering to such a large number of guests remains to be seen but this hotel has definitely put the Middle East on the map- it can be seen from space after all.
With an outlandish style that will no doubt polarise opinions, trying out this hotel is a must if for the sole reason that it offers an experience unlike any other. It is due to this exceptionality that the Atlantis fully deserves to be the winner of Bespoke’s Ultimate Escape award.
Nicolas Shammas
