Atlantis The Palm Hotel in Dubai Grand Opening

The Palm Jumeirah increased Dubai's shoreline by 100 percent after work started on it in 2001. It features resort hotels, homes, luxury shopping and entertainment. Atlantis The Palm Hotel played host to the opening celebration Thursday night. Stars including Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Robert De Niro, Janet Jackson and the Duchess of York were in attendance. Pop star Kylie Minogue performed at the party. Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra started what was billed as the world's largest-ever fireworks display, with more than 100,000 pyrotechnic devices.



Atlantis The Palm, Dubai

Dubai is one of the United Arab Emirates, with beaches, year-round warm weather, and great infrastructure. Though only 1000 sq. miles in size Dubai lives large, with 5-star hotels, super-shopping status, and over-the-top attractions such as an indoor snow park.

The Palm is one of Dubai's biggest ventures: "The Palm Jumeirah" is a man-made island in the shape of a graceful palm frond framed by a reef. The Palm is a project of the Crown Prince of Dubai, and adds almost 65 kilometres of new beachfront. Atlantis The Palm is in the centre of the crescent.

Features of Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai:

• Over 1500 rooms and an area of 47 hectares (116 acres).The design repeats the famed double Royal Towers of the Bahamas property.
• Huge (17 hectares, 42 acres) Aquaventure waterplay area.
• The centerpiece of Aquaventure is the towering "Ziggurat", with multiple waterslides, including Leap of Faith, a near-vertical waterslide ending in an acrylic tunnel in a shark-filled lagoon.
• Visitors will also find uphill coasters and a tidal wave pool. A wave river winds for 2.3 kilometers; along the way are (optional) white-water rapids, wave surges, and waterfalls; guests can also dip into zero-entry pools. Water escalators even take riders up the waterslide towers.
• Admission to Aquaventure is free for resort guests; non-guests can buy a daily or multi-day pass.
• Children must be twelve to enter unaccompanied by an adult. Life jackets are required for swimmers under 48"/1.2m. Kids 3 to 7 pay a reduced price.
• Splashers water playground for young kids has games, slides, climbing structures, tipping buckets, water jets; for kids less than 1.1m (43 inches) tall, and for their parents too.
• two pools are exclusively for guests (-the serene Royal Pool, and the Zero Entry Pool, good for families).
• 1.4 km of beach area has watersports such as windsurfing, kayaking, floating climbing walls. Day visitors at Aquaventure also have beach access.
• At the Ambassador Lagoon, guests look directly into a huge marine habitat with Lost-City-themed sunken streets and relics. The habitat focuses on marine life found in the Arabian Gulf.
• The similarly-themed Lost Chambers maze of underground passageways leads people past marine exhibits.
• The Dolphin Bay lagoon has seven interconnected pools for dolphins and will offer dolphin interactions (and possibly also dolphin rescue and rehabilitation - the only center for stranded animals in the Arabian Gulf.)
• Seventeen restaurants, bars and lounges include four places with celebrity chefs. The specialty restaurants are found on "The Avenues", a promenade with shops and nightclub.
• Two unique Lost Chambers Suites each cover three floors. Windows in the master bedroom give views into the Ambassador Lagoon.
• Kids programs will be offered in the day and evening, and teens will have their own space, "Club Rush". (Check web site for updates about kids' programs.)
• The Zone games room has state-of-the-art Sega games for kids and adults