This $1.5 billion, 1,539-room re-creation of the Atlantis in the Bahamas ramps up the amenities with a giant aquarium housing 65,000 sea creatures (including a rare captive whale shark), a water park, a designer-brand-only shopping mall, nightclubs, belly dancers, and four big-name-chef restaurants, including Ossiano and the first Middle Eastern branch of Nobu. The standard Deluxe rooms are surprisingly sedate, but the over-the-top three-story Neptune and Poseidon suites have butlers, floor-to-ceiling windows that look into the aquarium, and decor echoing the domed lobby's motifs: shell-shaped pillars, lamps made of giant clamshells, and textiles imprinted with coralline patterns. Although Atlantis's location is at the top of The Palm, the most privileged spot on the artificial island, be aware that its beachfront faces not open sea but Dubai's cityscape—and consequently feels more Miami than Caribbean.—2009 Hot List
When to go: Avoid the summer heat of June through September.
Which room to book: Lost Chamber Suites for views of the aquarium from both the bedroom and bathroom.The most Unique and thrilling tour in Dubai. Visit the underwater hotel (The Hydropolis Dubai) known at Atlantis Dubai, Enjoy the Aquaventure and see the sea from the closest aproximaty.
Explore a world of breathtaking water thrills at Aquaventure (Aqua Adventure). Slide down the immense Ziggurat and through a shark-infested lagoon, take a river ride of over two kilometres, ride the water rapids and white water chargers. For a gentler experience, younger visitors can plunge into Splashers, a water playground for kids. It all adds up to a unique water adventure, with something new discovered at every turn.
Tour Details : We will pick you up from hotel drive you to the Atlantis Palm Dubai where you will be greeted by the hotel staff and will be taken to the Exciting Aqua Venture. Spend about 3 hours and your driver will bring you back to the hotel.
Cost for Individuals : US$ 130.00 Per person US$85.00 per Child
Groups above 10 US$ 90.00 Per person and US$ 75.00 per Child.

Atlantis Dubai

Dubai: Sammy, the whale shark that had been held in captivity in the Atlantis, Palm Jumeirah aquarium for the past eighteen months, is freed.
The release comes almost a year after a popular Gulf News led campaign had thousands of Dubai residents calling for the hotel to release Sammy.
The campaign involved badges, bumper stickers, jingles and a Facebook group that attracted several thousand members.
Atlantis issued a press release stating that the mammal had already been released.
"After several months of planning, Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai has returned a female whale shark to the waters of the Arabian Gulf from where she was rescued. The Atlantis Fish Husbandry Team utilised their experience and skill to save the animal in compliance with all CITIES regulations."
Whale sharks are listed in appendix 2 of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), which stipulates that they can only be held for scientific purposes provided that it does not harm the survival of the species.
A UAE delegation is attending the CITES conference currently taking place in Doha.
Earlier, Ali Bin Saqr Al Suwaidi, president and founder of the Emirates Marine Environment Group [EMEG] had confirmed that the whale shark was set to be released.
“An animal of this size cannot be kept in captivity for such a long time,” he said.
The animal was being transported in a boat carrying a sufficient amount of water to allow Sammy to swim.
According to Atlantis, the hotel had been “preparing the animal for return to the ocean” during the time that it was being held.
“The seasonal elements affecting water temperature, salinity and migratory patterns were perfect for enhancing her survival in the open ocean,” said the hotel.
Environmentalists had been appalled when Sammy was first captured because it is a female and a juvenile.
Whale sharks are categorized as “vulnerable” under the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list of threatened species.
Al Suwaidi said that EMEG had increasingly been campaigning for Sammy’s release during the past few months.
"We will continue to track her progress through a tagging programme co-developed with The Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida (the world’s largest scientific research organization dedicated to the study of sharks and their relatives)," said Steve Kaiser, Vice President, Marine and Science Engineering.
“This will give us the opportunity to continue to learn from her and share that research within the whale shark community.”

Government-owned Dubai World will meet its main creditors next week to discuss a request to delay payment on $26 billion in debt that has shaken global markets and confidence in the Gulf Arab business hub.
Dubai's problems had raised fears of a renewed global crisis, but there was little evidence of concern on the streets, where thousands of balloons in the black, white, green and red of the United Arab Emirates flag were released to mark the federation's national day.
Next week's meeting would be Dubai World's first formal talks with key lenders since the conglomerate that spearheaded the emirate's rapid growth disclosed its debt woes on Nov 25.
An Abu Dhabi bank executive, who asked not to be named, said London-listed Standard Chartered, HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, along with local lenders Emirates NBD and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank were on the creditors panel.
The banks did not immediately confirm their participation on the committee but an Asian-based banking analyst said the six banks were likely to be among those with greatest exposure to Dubai World, which ran up its debts during a property boom that turned to bust with the global financial crisis last year.A source at a Dubai-based bank confirmed the makeup of the panel.
Dubai World has asked creditors for a six-month standstill on the debt of its property subsidiaries Limtless and Nakheel, developer of three palm-shaped islands that once lured wealthy expatriates and even celebrities.The most urgent question is the fate of Nakheel's $3.52 billion Islamic bond, which matures on December 14. British law firm Ashurst said it was named legal adviser to Nakheel bondholders who account for 25 percent of the bond.Dubai said the government would not guarantee the debts of Dubai World, whose overall liabilities total almost $60 billion, including those of units not part of the restructuring.The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday that banks from Britain are the most exposed to the conglomerate which was at the forefront of Dubai's expansion plans and boasts the motto "The Sun Never Sets on Dubai World."Dubai transformed itself from a sleepy desert backwater into the trade and tourism hub of the world's biggest oil-exporting region with sprawling malls, skyscrapers and luxury villas that attracted celebrities and the super-rich.UAE markets, battered in the last two days, were shut for the holiday, but Qatar's bourse surged nearly five percent after plunging more than eight percent on Tuesday.Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/12/02/2009-12-02_financially_troubled_dubai_world_to_meet_creditor_pan el_to_deal_with_debt_crisis.html#ixzz0lYlx6xwQ

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