Atlantis struggles on debut week

HIGH DEMAND: The Atlantis Hotel on Palm Jumeirah struggled to cope with demand on its opening week. (Supplied)

The Atlantis Hotel on Palm Jumeirah struggled to cope with demand on its opening week, with long queues, packed restaurants and problems with water supply.

The Atlantis was overwhelmed by visitors, with staff forced to turn away customers from busy restaurants over the Eid Al-Fitr holiday, UAE daily The National reported on Sunday.

Most of the hotel was even without water for seven hours when the resort’s main water intake valve ruptured, according to the newspaper.

The water stoppage meant guests would not check out of their rooms, sparking further delays for other hotel guests, the newspaper said.

The Atlantis was not immediately available to comment on the problems when contacted by Arabian Business on Sunday.

The bad news follows an acid-laced review of the hotel by popular UK daily The Sun published last month, in which the reviewer described the flagship development as the "eighth circle of hell".

The review, titled "The 8th chunder of the world", criticised everything from the hotel's pink exterior and centrepiece sculptures to its Ambassador Lagoon and the appearance of its staff.

The Atlantis, a 1,539-room resort encompasses 46-hectares with 17 hectares of water-themed amusement parks, an open air marine habitat, beaches, opened on Sept. 24.

Rooms at the hotel cost between $450 a night for a standard room up to $25,000 for the Bridge Suite.

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READERS' COMMENTS

Atlantis
Posted by marijke, Manama, Bahrain on Thursday 9 October 2008 at 10:05 UAE time

I haven't been to the hotel, but having worked in hospitality for 8 years, I know it's very hard to start up a new venture. No matter how well you think you are prepared, it takes time before things run smoothly. It annoys me to read peoples complaints saying what a bad experience it was, it's not an easy task especially with such a huge place. Give it some time and give the staff and management some credit at least for working hard and trying to do their job the best they can!

Captive audience at Atlantis
Posted by Graham Plater, Munich, Germany on Monday 6 October 2008 at 17:43 UAE time


Now that the party is over, how about letting the "rescued" whale shark off the hook and returning it to the sea instead of keeping it locked up for the delight of the incensed guests? Or hasn't it recovered quickly enough and still needs captivity for it's own good, as the sea around Dubai is so full of sewage...?

Unpleasant Experience
Posted by Mohammad Itani, Dubai, UAE on Monday 6 October 2008 at 16:59 UAE time


I had my family over to spend the Eid Holiday in Dubai. Unfortunately i decided to take them to Atlantis. The hotel was so hot as if the air conditioning is off. I didnt see any person in Atlantis with a smile. And the worst was the valet parking, it took us 45 min to get the car and over that, it turned out to be the wrong one. The staff are in a bad mood as if they wished they didnt end up working in such a hotel. With such a hype and marketing spend, i expected something much better.

STAY AT ATLANTIS
Posted by gary, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Monday 6 October 2008 at 11:27 UAE time


This is with regards to my recent stay at the Atlantis on 25th - 27th September . We had booked 2 rooms for my family staying in room 18406 & 18408. On the first day after the check in our luggage was missing for 3 hrs ( after checking in at 3 pm) .The complete day was wasted as we had to stay put in our room as we could not carry out any outdoor activities .
On the 27th afternoon after having our breakfast, my kids proceeded for swimming ,whilst i went to the room for collection of clothes . Myself and my son ( age 4 yrs) got stuck in the elevator for 1hr 15 mins . The elevator was shaking vigorously and going up and down between the 13th floor and the ground floor . None of the emergency buttons worked and in spite of screaming i was unable to get anybody to help me . Finally i forced the internal door open and banged on the door for help .Finally when somebody responded , they were unable to locate the technician . By this time my son was getting hysterical and uncontrollable .
Finally when they located the technician ,the technician could not locate the keys
By this time i was claustrophobic and finding it difficult to breathe as i suffer from asthma
Finally when i was out, i was totally in a state of shock as i could control my son crying as well as did not know the whereabouts of the rest of my family
I wasted another 15 -25 mins to locate the manager and finally Mr Saber took me to the Kaleidoscope . He helped locate my family . He assured me that that what happened in the elevator was an accident and there was nothing wrong with the elevator.
After all this we went back to the pool area and we realized our clothes and belongings went missing . Not only this we were unable to locate our luggage
Finally when we left the hotel at 21:30 hrs after a good 3 hr wait , we were dressed in bathrobes shivering in the cold as we had still not found our clothes .
Between the time we left Mr Saber and the time we left the hotel , we tried to get in touch with him again but no luck
After this ordeal , my four year old son was crying for 2 days and refusing to eat any food
After 3 days of continuous call to the hotel and with the help of Ms Bernie , we finally managed to locate our belongings . When we came to the hotel to collect our belongings they were just given to us in un-orderly manner even without a bag in the main lobby . It was here, if you remember that i contacted you asking for a bag to carry out my belongings
After going through this ordeal , i am surprised that no one from the hotel has even tried to contact me to check on our well being and even apologise for the events that has taken place at your hotel
Hence i strongly feel that we should get compensated for the horrible experience we had during our stay at our hotel . What should have been a memorable experience is still giving nightmares to my son and me!
Appreciate your prompt response on this matter

Komal Whabi

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