Atlantis Royal – Is this “…the most ultra-luxury experiential resort in the world?”

The Atlantis Royal opened with a lot of glitz in January 2023. Beyonce performed at the grand opening. The website describes the hotel as ” the most ultra-luxury experiential resort in the world”. Does it live up to this really high expectation? Lets find out.

Booking – Booking online was easy. I booked a junior sky view suite. As expected, it was not cheap. For 2 nights, it came to almost $9,000. I started having doubts about whether I made the right choice shortly after making the reservation. For the prices they are charging, and expectations they are setting, the experience should be flawless. Unfortunately, this was not the case. I started getting emails asking me to set my stay preferences. When I clicked the links in the email to do this, the system could not find my reservation. Further, as we had a late flight on departure, I wanted to ensure a late check out. After some back and forth, we agreed on a fee for this, and after I paid it, I got a confirmation email with my name spelled wrong. Also, you will start getting welcome messages from your butler but they were extremely disorganized. For example, while communicating with them about pre-booking venues, they would often forgot details about our arrival day and time, and did not give a good impression that they would even pick us up at the airport as included with the room.

Arrival – Upon arriving at DXB, we headed to the hotel’s counter in the airport, and a lady there led us to a car waiting to transfer us to the hotel. The process was smooth and efficient. Any worries I had about the hotel were soon forgotten when I saw that they had sent a Maybach to transfer us to the hotel. A very nice surprise.

The room – When we arrived at the hotel, 2 of our butlers were waiting to escort us to the room. Check in was performed in the room and there were a lot of welcome gifts waiting for us. The room itself was amazing! The furnishings, the view, and the amenities were all top notch. Here is a room tour video:

Something that stood out were the gold amenities. Something I had never seen before.

One area that I was surprised that needs improvement, especially in a new hotel, was the tech in the room. There were separate remote controls for the various rooms to control different aspects. Also, the electronic blinds in the shower did not work all the time. In contrast, at the Wynn in Vegas, which is an older hotel, they have an ipad which controls all functions in a room including the AC, curtains, TV etc.

Ling Ling – One of the late night venues promoted by the hotel is called Ling Ling. After settling in, we headed there, and we were told by the receptionist, rudely, that the venue was already closed. It was only 11PM on a Thursday! Online, it says they are open until 1AM everyday. Anyway, after that, we decided to explore the property, and then head back to the room and order room service. One thing you should note if you decide to stay here is that it is about 30 minutes from downtown so if want to find more late night options, this area might not be the best.

Breakfast – The next morning, our butler messaged me (they use Whastapp and are responsive most of the time) and he escorted us to the main breakfast venue, Gastronomy, which is MASSIVE! The selection of food they had available was definitely on a scale I had never seen before. In fact, the venue and choices were so big, that I don’t think I saw every station. Whatever you can think of, they probably had it. My only complaint for the breakfast was that the service was extremely slow. For example, our table had no utensils and it took at least 20 minutes just to get some. Same for our coffee order.

Aquaventure Waterpark – After breakfast, our butler escorted us to check out the resort’s flagship infinity pool Cloud 22, to see the cabanas for potential rental. The process of renting a cabana was not smooth, with a lot of back and forth between us, the butler, and the venue. It seems like a lot of the resort’s venues are not integrated and/or there is no central RSVP system that the butlers can access. Anyway, we decided on a cabana for the next day, and decided we would check out the Aquaventure waterpark and beach for the rest of the day.

The waterpark is one of the resort’s (and also the older Atlantis next door) main attractions and it is very busy. To get there, you can take a golf cart shuttle or walk. We took a shuttle there and were given wristbands which allowed complimentary (included with the suite) access. The layout and facilities were very confusing. There are various areas, and each is far apart so you will need to settle on which area you want to get off the shuttle. To get around the park itself, you can walk or take the lazy river which is a nice experience. Because the park is so crowded, it was hard to find a chair and umbrella to settle in for the day. We ended up paying for a reserved seat which I wish the butler explained and arranged earlier. A butler should anticipate the needs of their clients. This is one area I feel needs improvement.

While paying for the seating, I was also told I could get an express pass which would allow me to bypass the slide lines. Again, I wish the butler had notified me of this or prearranged. In the end, I was not able to buy the pass as there are limited quantities each day.

Regrettably, I was only able to ride the lazy river and ONE slide. There is an app which tells you how long each slide line is, but its not accurate. I went to one with a 10 minute stated line, but ended up waiting almost 1 hour. I also observed that the express pass was only slightly faster. Basically, you bypass the main line, but once you get to the start of the slide, you still need to wait as they alternate between the main and express lines, and depending how long the express line is, you end up waiting a long time also, even with the express pass.

Anyway, I decided that the long wait was not worth it so we left the park after about 3 hours, and decided to check out Nobu Beach.

Nobu Beach – Nobu Beach was a nice chill venue centered on its own pool. We decided to order some sushi which was not bad.

The problem with this venue was extremely slow and inconsistent service. For example, our server simply dropped off our order without any greeting, but the table next to us had a different server which opened all their bottle orders and poured the first round. Our drinks came after the food, and required us to follow up with 3 different people to get. After lunch, we went to check out the beach. The scene, and beach chairs were nice, but the service was, you guessed it, very slow. It took maybe 20-30 minutes for drinks to come, and the tables beside us also had to keep following up about their wine.

Lounge – As we booked a suite, we had access to the lounge which had an open bar and some food in the evening. You can also have breakfast there, which I did the following morning. The lounge is great. The drinks are good, the food is good, and the service was friendly and fast. Here is a look at some of the evening snacks including some delicious lamb, an espresso martini, and caviar (the portion was NOT generous however):

Breakfast, truffled eggs benny and some tender short rib was good as well.

For dinner, we went to Ossiano at the Atlantis next door, which I highly recommend. Our butler WAS proactive for this and arrange transport without us having to ask, but fell short in getting us the table we wanted, despite me asking him to do it weeks before, and his assurances that he would arrange.

Skyblaze Fountain – Another of the attractions heavily promoted is the Skyblaze fountain show. We managed to watch from our room. If you have seen the Bellagio fountain show, its debatable if which is better.

Cloud 22 – We spent much of the next day at Cloud 22. The cabana we had came with its own bathroom, plunge pool, and other amenities. I was very happy with it for a nice chill day at the pool. If you are expecting Vegas pool party vibes, you will be disappointed, but if you want a nice and fairly lux pool experience, I think you will be pretty satisfied. Service was average. Not as attentive like getting a table at a Vegas pool party. I think the hotel is missing out on the ability for the servers to sell more by being more attentive.

Here are some vides of the spectacular views:

Departure and final thoughts – Our butler arranged a smooth departure, and surprised us with a bunch of gifts! This included a framed picture of us which was a very thoughtful gesture. The gifts also included a large gift basket of food. It was a very nice way to end the trip.

One of the most annoying things about this property are the elevators. There are not enough of them considering the size. We spent a lot of time waiting for elevators, and once on board, they stop at multiple floors which made the trip painful. Although the elevators are split so one set goes to the first half of floors and another to the other half, I found that they still stopped at lower floors to let people on. Also, a lot of staff used them to get on and off. I think staff should have dedicated elevators because they tend to go between floors whereas a guest goes directly to their floor or the lobby.

Overall, considering the price being charged, and the expectations being set, I believe there is a lot of room for improvement. Especially with the service at multiple venues. The rooms, and setting are breathtaking but the service is not consistent with flawless luxury. Whether I would return or recommend, I think it depends on what one wants from a trip. If you want nightlife and more convenient access to shopping and restaurants, downtown may be a better choice. This would be good for those who want to only stay at the resort though I don’t think the Atlantis Royal is the ultimate choice. I wish it was. To answer the question, was this “the most ultra-luxury experiential resort in the world?” – Answer: No.