While the rest of the world sits in economic gloom, the Dubai Atlantis Resort officially opened its doors with a grand party that can only be described as excessive. Built at a cost of $1.5 billion, the expansive (and ultra expensive) facility on the man-made Palm Island shelled out another $20 million to party. Yup, that's right, 20 big ones!

More than two thousand invited guests and A-list celebrities, including Charlize Theron, Robert de Niro, Lindsay Lohan, Mary Kate Olsen, Shirley Bassey and Michael Jordan, sipped the best champagne and dined on the best food Dubai could offer. Then, after pop singer Kylie Minogue performed on stage, the sky lit up with the world’s largest fireworks display, reportedly seven times greater than this year’s Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony, and extravagant enough to be seen from outer space.

I saw several news reports about the extravagant affair on television earlier and couldn't help but cringe at the sight of such excess. Even a small portion of the amount spent for that affair could have been used for humanitarian causes. Though the fireworks was great to watch, one cannot help but think how its cost could have gone a longer way than the few minutes it took to watch the spectacle.

Its developer remains unapologetic, though. "If I had it all over again and I understood that the timing was what it was, one might modify a couple of the things … but not significantly," said Sol Kerzner, chairman of Kerzner International, which owns the hotel. "When you consider $20 million, it’s a lot of money (until) you consider it up against establishing a $1.5 billion resort."

Still, twenty million is twenty million, and that is a lot of money considering the dire straits the rest of the world is in. They should have at least tapered it down.

The Dubai Atlantis Resort quietly opened for tourists two months ago, adding another luxurious venue to the Dubai landscape. But with room prices ranging from $800 to several thousand per night (wow!), the Atlantis is not for the faint of wallet. The hotel’s top floor three-bedroom, three-bathroom suite complete with a gold-leaf, 18-seat dining table is on offer for $25,000 a night.

The rest of the 113-acre resort is dedicated to family entertainment with a giant, open-air tank with 65,000 fish, stingrays and other sea creatures, including a rare whale-shark captured by the hotel in the Gulf and considered a hostage by environmental activists. There’s also a 'dolphinarium' with more than two dozen bottle nose dolphins flown in from the Solomon Islands last year amid protests from animal rights organizations.

Let's hope that the Dubai Atlantis doesn't suffer the same fate as the original Atlantis. After all, it looks like a great place to visit, in my dreams that is.

Promotional Video of Dubai Atlantis Resort

Dubai Atlantis Video: Opening Night Fireworks

Atlantis Resort Opens in Dubai (video)

If you like this post, then please consider subscribing to my RSS feed. You can also subscribe by email and have new posts sent directly to your inbox.

Your Ad Here