Atlantis The Palm, Dubai

Atlantis The Palm, Dubai is a luxury hotel resort located at the apex of the Palm Jumeirah in the United Arab Emirates. It was the first resort to be built on the island and is themed on the myth of Atlantis[6] but includes distinct Arabian elements. The resort opened on September 24, 2008 as a joint venture between Kerzner International Holdings Limited and Istithmar.[7]

Atlantis The Palm, Dubai
Location within Dubai
Hotel chainAtlantis The Palm, Dubai
General information
LocationJumeirah Palm, Dubai
Coordinates25.1309°N 55.1171°E / 25.1309; 55.1171
Construction started2006 [1]
OpeningSeptember 24, 2008
ManagementKerzner International Resorts
Height93.0 m (305.1 ft)
Technical details
Floor count23
Design and construction
DeveloperKerzner International Resorts
Other information
Number of rooms1,539[2]
Number of suitesSuites (Regal, Terrace, Executive)
Super Suites (Royal Bridge, Grand Atlantis, Underwater, Presidential)
Website
www.atlantisthepalm.com
[3][4][5]

Hotel

The 1,548 room nautically themed resort has two accommodation wings, consisting of the East and the West Tower, linked together by the Royal Bridge Suite. It is complemented by the Aquaventure water park and the Lost Chambers Aquarium, home to over 65,000 marine animals.

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 US$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. The principal contract for the project was awarded to Laing O'Rourke,[8] a multinational construction firm based in United Kingdom. Laing O'Rourke was responsible for the design and construction phases of the 23-story hotel and water park.

Official launch

After the construction of the hotel carried out by Laing O'Rourke it was officially opened on 24 September 2008.[9]

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.[10] The launch party costed an estimated £15m in total, with Kylie Minogue earning £2m for a 60 minute performance for the hotel's 2,000 guests.[11][12]

Dolphin controversy

In October 2007, the hotel received a shipment of 28 bottlenose dolphins from the Solomon Islands, to be used as part of their aquarium exhibit, called Dolphin Bay. The move was decried by several environmental groups, particularly for the fact that the export of dolphins had earlier been banned by the Solomon Islands government (after a similar controversial shipment to Mexico). Hotel managers have said that though the dolphins are being trained to interact with visitors, they will not appear in any sort of show or circus-like performance. They have also stated that the health of the dolphins is paramount, and because the bottlenose is not an endangered species, their shipment did not pose a problem. The deal was done with the approval of the United Arab Emirates and Solomon Island governments, through the company Solomon Islands Marine Mammal Education Centre and Exporters Limited (who had overturned the earlier ban in court). The amount of money paid for the dolphins has not been disclosed.[13][14]

  • 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 Dolphin Bay Beach located near a lagoon, which was the sixth Pit Stop of the season. 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. The water park was visited once again on the eighth leg of The Amazing Race 28. Teams were required to solve a puzzle at an aquarium for the Roadblock. Following that, they had to slide down the Poseidon's Revenge water slide as a miscellaneous task.
  • 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.
  • In 2016, three season 3 episodes of The Real Housewives of Melbourne were based at the Palm Atlantis, with an Episode 10 visit to the Royal Bridge Suite.
  • In 2015, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stayed at the Palm Atlantis.
  • In 2017, Kim Kardashian West visited the Royal Bridge Suite, part of her reality show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians. The suite has an average rate of $23,000 a night.[15]
  • The 2013 visual novel Kissed by the Baddest Bidder has a hotel based on it
  • One of the roof designs. The hotel has seven ceiling murals by Evans & Brown, a decorative painting studio based in San Francisco, California.[16]
  • Aerial view of Atlantis The Palm
  • Lobby Lounge
  • Ceiling Inside Atlantis
  • Lobby Corridor
  • Hotel aquarium

See also

References
  1. Reporter, Shakir Husain, Staff (9 October 2006). "Construction of Atlantis resort project set to peak in February". Archived from the original on 7 January 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  2. "Hotel Rooms and Suites Atlantis The Palm Dubai". www.atlantisthepalm.com. Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
  3. Atlantis The Palm, Dubai at Emporis
  4. "Atlantis The Palm, Dubai". SkyscraperPage.
  5. Atlantis The Palm, Dubai at Structurae
  6. http://www.atlantisthepalm.com Archived 2009-05-24 at the Wayback Machine Atlantis
  7. Ahmed Hussein (November 25, 2008). "Landmark project Atlantis, The Palm officially launched amidst grand ceremony". EstatesDubai. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-10-02. Retrieved 2015-08-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. CW Staff (10 June 2010). "UK giant Laing O'Rourke denies ME withdrawal". Construction Weekly. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  10. http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/atlantis-fireworks-display-seeks-place-in-guinness-book-1.17275 Archived 2014-12-27 at the Wayback Machine Atlantis fireworks display seeks place in Guinness Book of World Records
  11. Bhatia, Shekhar (21 November 2008). "500 chefs, 4,000 lobsters and Kylie - recession Dubai style". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  12. "Wow! Kylie Minogue to be paid £2million for 60-minute set at Dubai hotel opening party". Evening Standard. 11 September 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  13. 28 dolphins on way to Palm hotel Archived October 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Gulf News (16 October 2007).
  14. Wild dolphins adapt to indoor life Archived October 26, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Gulf News (27 October 2007).
  15. "I stole from Atlantis Dubai: Kim Kardashian". Archived from the original on 2016-09-07. Retrieved 2016-09-05.
  16. Kho, Nancy Davis (January 5, 2011). "Evans & Brown murals commissioned worldwide". The San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on January 19, 2011. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
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