90 pools, gold treatments, champagne all day in $100,000 rooms in the Middle East

Atlantis, The Royal, was opened last year in Dubai, next to the brand’s flagship resort on The Palm. The three-day opening party – with performances from Beyoncé and Swedish House Mafia – put the hotel on the map as one of the region’s most iconic resorts, and nine months later it became the only hotel in the Middle East to achieve a place on the inaugural World’s 50 Best Hotels list.

“The guest rooms and suites really set the standard for the industry, but beyond that, there’s the restaurant collection: it’s a great location for entertaining and dining,” says Tom Roelens, general manager at The Royal and managing director at Atlantis Resorts .

Atlantis, The Royal, isn’t a resort that does things by halves – evidenced by its 90 pools, from a 91-metre plunge pool to private cabana plunge pools.

CNN visited the hotel in March, before devastating floods hit the city in April.

The resort’s highlight is Cloud 22, the suspended pool on the 22nd floor. Its ‘floating’ sun loungers, shaded by Dolce&Gabbana umbrellas, offer panoramic views of the man-made Palm Island, with cocktails and light snacks available at the poolside lotus bar. There is a second swimming pool overlooking the Arabian Gulf, and private cabanas are located on the deck.

But when privacy isn’t enough, there’s the VVIP duplex pool cabana; used by Kendall Jenner for the launch party for her tequila brand, this luxurious pool has two lounging areas for entertaining and its own glass-bottom pool suspended from the second floor.

In the resort’s pool villas and signature suites, guests also have access to their own private terrace pools, up to 43 stories high, Roelens says.

“We took the concept of the spring, which would normally be horizontal, but we made it vertical,” adds Roelens. “This really creates a unique experience where you have these exceptional views of The Palm and the Dubai skyline, but at the same time you have great privacy.”

The pools are not the only water features in this hotel.

The interior designers immerse themselves in the history of the region, taking inspiration from the Bedouins, the nomadic people who originally lived in the Arabian desert and who navigated through water wells.

The theme is clearly summed up in “Droplets”: an 11.3 meter high stainless steel structure in the lobby, which represents the first drop of rain in the desert.

The theme of water is repeated throughout the resort, from glass elevators encased in 3,500 gallons of cascading water, to three floor-to-ceiling aquariums filled with 7,200 marine animals.

The hotel’s 795 rooms boast designer amenities from diamond jeweler Graff, bathrobes from luxury Italian textile brand Frette and specially designed gold toothbrushes, combs and brushes.

Guests with Royal Club access can take advantage of all-day champagne service, daily afternoon tea and canapés, although there’s no shortage of dining options here.

The resort has 17 dining options, including “the largest collection of celebrity chef restaurants on the planet,” says Roelens. And venues like Nobu Beach Club—the luxury hospitality brand’s first and currently only beach club—help establish the resort’s reputation as “a place they want to see and be seen,” adds Roelens.

For some rest and relaxation, its 3,000-square-foot spa offers not only a gold facial, but also a “golden hour massage”—hot volcanic stones soaked in gold with gold-infused aromatherapy oil – together with therapies based on Arab wellness traditions: exfoliations with desert sand and date sugar, as well as exfoliations with Gulf salt and date seeds.

For the ultra-rich, the star of the show is the Royal Mansion, an 11,840-square-foot, four-bedroom, split-level apartment — where Beyoncé and Jay Z stayed when the star performed at the inauguration.

Accessed by a private elevator and a private entrance landscaped with 100-year-old olive trees that the complex has “adopted,” the duplex offers “360-degree views” of Palmieri and the Gulf, Roelens says. With its own infinity pool, fittings from the French fashion house Hermès, a triple-height library, a home cinema room and three dining areas, guests have a “one-of-a-kind experience” here, he says.

“We added some special touches – backgammon games from Baccarat and a Louis Vuitton ping-pong table, so there are some really fun elements in this apartment too,” he adds.

The stunning interiors are complemented by five-star services: guests are met at the airport, where their luggage is collected by staff, and designer brands – from Graff to Valentino – are brought into the apartment for a personal shopping experience. Chefs from any of the resort’s restaurants, including its famous eateries, can cook for guests in the suite’s private kitchen, and butlers and bartenders are available 24 hours a day for any occasion.

“Ultimately, it’s about service: it’s about our effort to create what our guests are looking for, whether or not they know they know that’s what they’re looking for,” says Roelens.

With prices from $1,300 a night during peak season – and from $100,000 for the most exclusive penthouse, one of the most expensive apartments in the city – luxury living comes at a high price.

But there are more “accessible” ways to enjoy the resort, Roelens says: The Sky Blaze fountain, for example, on the resort’s sprawling grounds, puts on a “dramatic” show every hour, daily, from 12 p.m. . The fountain is dominated by Elements Lounge, a terrace bar serving cocktails at sunset, and Estiatorio Milos by Costas Spiliadis, a Greek restaurant with plenty of outdoor seating. The business lunch menu at the latter costs just 200 dirhams ($55) – not a bad price for a table by the fountain in the “best” resort in the Middle East.