It’s always exciting to get to visit somewhere exotic, so when my boss was looking for people to attend a conference in Dubai I jumped at the chance. The heat reminded me of my time in Phoenix in August and it was quite a tiring trip, but the hotel was very cool. The Atlantis The Palm, Dubai is one of those hotels that could only be built in Dubai, a place where money is rarely an issue when it comes to creating the most exotic experiences imaginable.
The hotel sits at the edge of the world famous “palm”, a series of man-made peninsulas and islands built into the ocean to resemble a palm tree. Since the entire ground was built the hotel features above ground and below ground entertainment. Below the soil you can find an entire aquarium complete with two luxury suites with wall sized window views of the fishes. The aquarium itself is well worth a look or two, you can good view of plenty of fish, sharks, and rays.
Above ground is the largest water park in the mid-east: Aquaventure. And it is indeed very large and a great retreat for both children and adults. There are water slides, pools, cabanas, and much more to enjoy. Access to both the aquarium and water park are free when you book a room.
The hotel has a distinct water theme. This is an Atlantis hotel, after all. Light blues and teal colors are mainly used. Many windows show views of aquariums instead of outside and beautiful murals of aquatic scenes were everywhere. If you stay in one of the towers, then you’ll still get great views of either the ocean or the Palm. The restaurants, unusually, were not heavily sea-food influenced. There was the Hakkasan which serves authentic style Chinese, and another Japanese style restaurant. Both were good, but you might see them in any other luxury hotel.
It’s definitely an experience to stay at Atlantis the Palm in Dubai, even if you don’t plan on staying the night it’s a good trip to check out this exotic aquarium/resort in the world famous Palm.