In the latest extravagant spending spree in the Middle East, and again in Dubai, yet another wonder has been built in the Gulf. In very close proximity to the 7-star Burj Al Arab hotel, which is the most expensive hotel in the Middle East, comes Atlantis. An £800million resort that will cost you £13,000 for a night’s stay. To put that into perspective in terms of our local currency, that is 66,362,968,405 (66 BILLION 362 million 968 thousand 405 pesos) they used to build the resort and for you to stay in their best suite for ONE night, you only need to pay a modest 1,078,389 (1 MILLION 78 thousand 389 pesos). My God.

This 113-acre resort was built on an artificial island off the Persian Gulf and officially opened for business on September 24, 2008. They say that one of the main drives they had in building such an epic structure was the move towards how tourism can help sustain their economy once regional oil profits stop flowing. So Dubai is pegging its hopes on people who are filthy rich to invest and spend their money there… wisely. He he.

But seriously, this place is a wonder in itself. The mega-resort boasts of 1,539 rooms with 17 restaurants to choose from. They also have what are called the Lost Chambers suites, where the bedrooms all have picture windows that look out through the resort’s 11m-liter lagoon filled with 65,000 specimens of marine life!

On the outside the guests have free access to Atlantis’s 42-acre Aquaventure waterpark. It is a one and a half mile river you can float in with fantastic rides topped off by the Leap of Faith, an almost straight down 90 feet vertical slide that zips you through a shark-filled lagoon in break-neck speed. The first time I saw this kind of thing was when I was back in my old company and they showed us this vertical slide in the first Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. It was going to be a perk you would get if you hit way past your sales quota. I was in awe at the first sight of it and wanted to go there SO BAD. Now I want to go here! Can I afford £230 a night though to stay in the standard suite? Yes I can, but I won’t do it!

It’s funny how I started writing this blog with three words in my head… Paradise on Earth. It would have been if it weren’t so darn expensive. It also got me thinking on whether I would actually go and pay £13,000 a night to stay in that unbelievable Lost Chambers suite that they have if I was filthy rich, but my answer would still be a NO. I’d rather spend that much on something else than throw it all away on one night staying in a room, no matter how amazing that room is. But of course, that’s just me. I would still keep hoping though, that some time in the not so distant future, my company would send me here! Ha ha. Until then, I will dream along with the pictures of this place called Atlantis for now, just like all of you will too