£800 million Dubai Luxury Hotel Opens

The flagship resort on The Palm Jumeirah Atlantis, The Palm opened yesterday, the first resort to open its doors on Dubai’s groundbreaking made made island. Created by Kerzner International Holdings Limited, a leading international developer and operator of destination resorts, the new 1,539-room resort began accepting reservations February 1, 2008.

The resort has an enormous, open-air tank with 65,000 fish, stingrays and other sea creatures and a dolphinarium with more than two dozen bottlenose dolphins flown in from the Solomon Islands.The hotel alos boasts an indoor ski-slope.

The top floor of the Atlantis holds a three-bedroom, three-bathroom suite complete with gold-leaf, 18-seat dining table is on offer for £13,000 a night.

Developed on Palm Jumeirah, a palm tree-shaped artificial island off the coast of Dubai which has attracted criticism from environmental groups, the resort will also be home to the world's tallest skyscraper, although this is not yet finished.

The hotel's top floor will house a £13,000-a-night three-bedroom, three-bathroom suite complete with gold-leaf 18-seat dining table.

Alongside the resort's ocean-themed entertainment there will be a 1,800-seat theatre nearby housing a permanent Cirque du Soleil show beginning in Summer 2011.

There are also plans for the QE2 liner to become a hotel and tourist attraction docked next to the island.