The Royal Towers joined by the Bridge. The Bridge Suite, located in the span, is one of the most expensive hotel suites in the world, costing $25,000 a night.
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An overview of part of the resort including The Cove.
The 'Atlantis' is a large resort and casino located on
Paradise Island in
Nassau, Bahamas. The resort dominates the island's real estate and is a major contributor to the island's economy, employing some 6,000 residents. Atlantis was built by
South African
hotel and
gambling magnate
Sol Kerzner part of Kerzner International Limited.
Accommodations
Panoramic View from the Royal Towers showing beaches, lagoons and outside attractions.
The Beach Tower
The Beach Tower is the oldest and the original building of Atlantis. It was known as the Paradise Beach Hotel prior to Kerzner's acquisition. Club Rush, a teenage club that contains a dance floor, widescreen TV with seating for movies, and Internet access, is located in the middle of the Beach Tower. It also offers The Lazy River, a tranquil tube ride that allows guests to gradually float around the Tower, and Seagrapes, a popular buffet for younger guests.
The Beach Tower is the least expensive accommodation at Atlantis. It does not offer suites or upgraded rooms, and all rooms are standard rooms, roughly 300 square feet in size.
The Coral Towers
The Coral Towers used to be known as the Britannia Beach Hotel. Rooms are economy-priced, but well-equipped. The towers offer a more family-friendly Atlantis environment than the rest of the resort, and feature the Discovery Kids Adventure camp, where children can explore the native Bahamian aquatic environment. The Coral Lounge and Atrium Lobby feature fountains, skylights, and marine-life sculptures.
The Royal Towers
Royal Towers reception lobby. Click to see detail of wall mosaic and hieroglyphics
The "Bridge Suite" ranks third in terms of most expensive hotel rooms in the world, at $25,000.
[1] Even with its large price tag, the suite currently has a five-year waiting list, and requires guests to stay at least four nights in the suite. It is located in the span that connects the two Royal Towers. This is the hotel's presidential suite, which has ten rooms with more than 5,000 square feet of living space. The Bridge Suite comes with its own butler and cook, and the kitchen has its own entrance so that the staff never bothers the guest. The suite include gold chandeliers, a baby grand piano, and balconies on both sides. Past guests include
Oprah Winfrey,
Michael Jordan,
Tiger Woods,
Josh Markovic Rothschild, and
Michael Jackson.
The architecture and décor feature murals, sculptures, and fountains. The most elegant accommodations at Atlantis, the Royal Towers are noted for sweeping views of the ocean, harbor and Marina, pools and waterscape, and gardens. The Great Hall of Waters lobby has a 70-foot-high domed ceiling covered in golden shells, and opens on one side to the Marina. The other side leads to underwater streets filled with fish and Atlantean artifacts.
The Imperial Club
The Imperial Club consists of the top four floors of the Royal Towers, and offers larger suites and a lounge area reserved for guests. The lounge gives guests complimentary meals and a view over the ocean.
Harborside Resort at Atlantis
Harborside Resort guests have full access to all the facilities of Atlantis Paradise Island. The resort consists of 392 villas and features a harbor-front restaurant, pool area including a children's pool with water fountains, a fitness facility, a sundry store, and all-day shuttle service to Atlantis.
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The new Cove Atlantis with The Residences at Atlantis in the Background
The Residences at Atlantis
The Residences is the newest building at Atlantis. As opposed to the other hotel suites these are provided as condominium hotel residences. They come in a variety of different floor plans, including studio, single bedroom and two bedroom accommodations. Each suite will be fully furnished from linens to tableware and feature a wide array of custom interiors amenities such as crown moldings, granite countertops, imported kitchen cabinetry, top-of-the-line appliances; luxurious bathrooms, plush wall-to-wall bedroom carpeting, LCD flat screen televisions, and private terraces offering ocean and resort views.
The Residences at Atlantis
The Cove Atlantis
The Cove Atlantis opened on March 28, 2007. It is a 600-suite tower located directly on the ocean and situated between two beaches. Rooms include the: Ocean Suite, Deluxe Ocean Suite, Azure Suite, Sapphire Suite, Presidential Suite, and Penthouse Suite.
The Club is The Cove's highest level of suites. Guests partake in additional services reserved strictly for them, including a priority concierge for restaurant, golf, spa, and cabana reservations. The Club serves gourmet breakfast and hors d'oeuvres during the day, as well as cocktails in the evening.
Attractions
Aquaventure
Aquaventure opened February 16, 2007, and is one of the newest attractions at Atlantis. It is part of what Kerzner International considers to be "Phase III" of Atlantis Paradise Island. It is a 63 acre, 200 million gallon
waterscape, combining slides, lazy rivers, and rapids into one large, natural setting. Special effects are used heavily throughout. The centerpiece of the attraction is the Power Tower, which contains four waterslides and a rock-climbing wall. All rides in the Aquaventure section end up in one large pool, where guests can get off or carry on into 80 feets' worth of underground caverns.
The Current
The Current is a water ride. Guests can choose which route to take, each route bringing them to a different part of the ride. The ride is a mile long and has conveyor belts, waves, and artificial tidal surges. It contains three million gallons of water and seven-foot-high lifts and drops.
The Power Tower
The Power Tower is 60 feet high and has several slides to choose from:
★ 'The Abyss:' This body slide has a 55 foot near vertical drop through pitch black, quickly takes you outside and then back in, through a water fall ,and finally ending into a cave with 2 large freshwater aquariums surrounding you.
★ 'The Drop' and 'The Falls:' Both of these tube slides utilize the relatively new technology of shooting large amounts of water at a tube that "pushes them" uphill. They both start at the first level of the Power Tower which is directly below the top and both can be acessed from the river by a lift. The Drop spirals through the dark center of the Power Tower eventually emerging to a few uphill segements, and The Falls has a few drops that total 40 feet down and eventually back up ending in twists through the darkness. Both these rides merge at the end and take you to a final pool where you can choose to get out or go around the river again. If you choose the river this enables you to take the stairs back up the Power Tower or a longer journey which eventually leads to a lift back up into the tower.
★ 'The Surge:' A tube slide also utlizing uphill technology that starts at the top of the Power Tower. This ride is only accessible by stairs and not the lift from the river. It drops a total of 58 feet down and then pushes you back up through an enclosed section of turns finally ending in a small river where riders are struck by a flash flood. This pushes the guests out of the canal and into the final pool enabling them to get back into the river and eventually take the stairs back up the tower.
Mayan temple slides
At the Royal Towers is the Mayan Temple entertainment attraction. One of its water slides has a 60-foot nearly vertical drop followed by a trip through a clear underwater tunnel that passes through a shark-filled lagoon. The Mayan Temple consists of 4 major slides, which include the: Leap of Faith, the Challenger Slides, the Serpent Slide, and the Jungle Slide.
["Paradise Found", ''Forbes'' review]
The Dig
The Dig is a series of aquariums located beneath the lobby of the Royal Towers and is the world's largest open air marine habitat. Hundreds of different aquatic species can be spotted in the Dig's various tanks such as angelfish, sharks, manta rays, and various types of jellyfish.
The goal of The Dig is to provide guests with a taste of life in the legendary destroyed city of
Atlantis. Interestingly, if one observes the bottom of the floors in the different aquariums, wreckage and debris will be scattered about representing the "Lost City of Atlantis."
A Predator Lagoon is full of
sawsharks,
barracudas and
stingrays. A 100-foot clear acrylic tunnel runs underwater, allowing visitors unobstructed views of the marine environment.
The Marina and Marina Village
The Marina at Atlantis is where yachts and other boats can be docked, and it is located near the Royal Towers. The Marina provides direct boat access to the Atlantis facilities from Nassau Channel and Nassau Harbour.
The new Marina Village is an upscale shopping center (Kerzner Corporation compares it to a
Rodeo Drive experience) containing boutiques, a
Häagen-Dazs ice cream shop and five restaurants, including the reincarnation of the Café Martinique of movie fame.
The Caribbean restaurant and retail shop designs take inspiration from colorful clapboard houses, typically found in the Bahamian out-islands. The steakhouse and French-gourmet restaurants’ architecture echo British-Colonial influences and a spacious Italian restaurant is reminiscent of the wooden, waterfront warehouses that once overlooked Nassau Harbour.
Other unique locations in the Village feature local handmade gifts from stylish creations in straw to local craft items and souvenirs. Casual collectibles as well as resort wear by
Tommy Bahama is also on offer.
Marina Village Restaurants
★ 'Carmine's'
Select from an array of fine Italian wines, including a private label magnum.
★ 'Cafe Martinique'
A Steinway piano welcomes diners to this restaurant featuring spectacular marina views and the French gourmet fare of famed Chef
Jean-Georges Vongerichten. The glass-enclosed cellar carries an international variety of acclaimed wines from French to Californian boutique wineries.
★ 'Bimini Road'
Bimini Road is a casual and colorful restaurant with ocean-inspired interiors and an outdoor bar. The grand open kitchen features a conch station where fresh, Bahamian conch is prepared to order. Diners enjoy live entertainment and tropical libations, including a signature
Mojito, at the outdoor bar.
★ 'Seafire Steakhouse'
The Seafire Steakhouse is a modern steakhouse ambiance abundant with rich, seared, and grilled flavors of succulent fare. A traditional butchery counter for Marina guests includes a retail wine selection.
★ '
Johnny Rockets'
The family-friendly Johnny Rockets is a 1950s-style diner where tabletop
jukeboxes play tunes for a nickel. Diners enjoy all-American favorites, including juicy hamburgers and chili dogs, chicken salads, shakes, malts, and freshly baked apple pie. The restaurant is decorated with chrome accents and red leather seats, and customers are waited on by waiters and waitresses dressed in attire of the 1950s period. The staff is also known to sing and dance, twirl straws, and make smiley faces in ketchup.
★ 'Marina Pizzeria'
The Marina Pizzeria is a modern, dockside pizzeria open for lunch and dinner. Customers can pick up fresh, homemade pizza to go or stay to enjoy it on the outdoor terrace overlooking the yachts in the Marina at Atlantis.
Proposed development
An attraction entitled 'Dolphin Cay' will allow customers to interact with
dolphins. The attraction will include an education agenda, focusing on marine life protection and ocean conservation. The Education programme will be sponsored by the
Kerzner Marine Foundation. Atlantis intends to upgrade events and meeting provisions available by constructing the Imperial Ballroom with the capability of catering up to 4,000 guests. In addition, several new water slides are planned, as is a new spa and treatment centre to be known as the 'New Mandara Spa'.
Movies and TV featuring the Atlantis and Paradise Island
★ The Atlantis resort, with many inside and outside shots, was heavily featured during two episodes of
Damon Wayans'
situation comedy ''
My Wife and Kids''. On location episodes were broadcast February 15 and 22, 2005.
★ ''
Into the Blue'' (2005), a film featuring
Paul Walker and
Jessica Alba, features the resort's waterpark and sealife show.
★ ''
After the Sunset'' (2004), a film featuring
Pierce Brosnan and
Salma Hayek, features the Royal Tower's 'Bridge Suite' in numerous scenes.
★ The old 'Café Martinique' was featured in the on-location filming of the
James Bond movie ''
Thunderball'' (1965).
★ ''
Casino Royale,'' another James Bond movie released in 2006, was filmed at the 'Ocean Club' on Paradise Island.
★ Scenes of the
Beatles on a yacht and beach in their 1965 film ''Help'' were shot at Paradise Island.
★ ''
Holiday in the Sun,'' a 2001 flim featuring
Mary Kate and
Ashley Olsen, is primarily set on Paradise Island and extensively features the Atlantis Resort.
★ "
Friends," an American sitcom, features Atlantis resort as the location of characters Monica and Chandler's honeymoon.
Trivia
★ A new Atlantis, Atlantis The Palm, is very similar to its Bahamahian counterpart but has Arabic Influences and other changes including the size right now is much smaller as well as other visual differences. It is being built on an artificial island called the
Palm Jumeirah in
Dubai in the
United Arab Emirates.It will be on the top of the cresent of
Palm Jumeirah which is appropriately shaped like a palm tree.
References
1. The World's most expensive hotel rooms (2003)
External links
★
Atlantis Paradise Island (official website)
★
Residences at Atlantis (official website for condominium offerings)
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