The likes of Robert De Niro, Denzel Washington and Janet Jackson have all jetted in for a three-day extravaganza, dubbed "the party of the decade".Even Lily Allen's blagged an invite.
And with the showcase suite costing a whopping £23k a night, you'd better have an opening party to do it justice.
The bash is rumoured to cost anywhere up to £40m. Guests will all be treated to a private concert on the waterfront by Kylie Minogue, followed by the world's biggest ever firework display.
Dubai has expanded rapidly in recent years, with the sole intention of becoming one of the most important commercial and travel destinations in the world.
Steadily, projects are reaching completion - and they don't come much grander than the Atlantis
It sits nestled at the top of the Palm Jumeirah - a man-made piece of land shaped, funnily enough, like a giant palm.
It's a huge pink structure that's bound to inspire love it/hate it arguments, but you can't fail to be impressed by its grandeur.
More than 1,500 rooms, a huge aquarium with more than 65,000 marine animals (I counted them all), more than a kilometre of beaches (albeit fake ones), a dolphin park, a waterworld and staff from all around the world to tend to your every desire.
It is brilliant, pure indulgence, which makes the timing of its launch even more surreal.
It's hard not to forget that the world is basking in a recession, with the good old words "credit-crunch" never far from anyone's lips.
Yet here we are looking at extravagance on a stick. Money is indeed no object, with a rumoured spend of £950m and celebrities jetting in from all across the globe for its opening.
And with the penthouse suite booked out for the next year, you can see there are plenty of customers willing to share the dream.
The owners of this hotel are sticking to that old adage: If you build it they will come - credit crunch or no credit crunch.
Actress Mischa Barton poses in the Aquaventure water park with a dolphin at the landmark Grand Opening of Palm Atlantis Resort and Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
So I'm standing in the middle of the world's biggest fireworks display, Kylie Minogue has just finished performing on stage, and earlier some of those famous types strolled down a red carpet.
You'd think we were here to launch a film or a music awards show. It feels as big as the Oscars.
But the big mind-numbing, surreal reality of all this, is that it's all in aid of a hotel.
I'm seriously starting to wonder if someone has put something in my drink - but then I haven't been drinking.
Yes, welcome to the weird world of Dubai.
The city where everything is pumped with steroids and over-exaggerated.
It's the only place you can imagine right now - in the midst of a credit crunch - launching the luxurious, extravagant Atlantis The Palm.
Look at the pictures, it's certainly not a shrinking violet of a hotel.
Costing about a billion pounds to build, they had some cash left over, so they held a £20m launch party.
If you build it, celebrities will come. Presumably lured by the offer of a nice free room. Lily Allen seemed bemused by it all.
"It's so weird. It's the most bizarre thing I've ever been to in my life," she said.
Other guests included Lindsey Lohan, Charlize Theron, The Duchess of York, Janet Jackson, Robert de Niro and Dame Shirley Bassey, who is probably used to this sort of lifestyle.
"It's a hotel opening, it's just like Oscar night," said the Welsh warbler.
But star of the show was obviously my future wife, Kylie.
She was booked to play a show to the waiting crowd. Rumour had it she was getting a million or so for the gig (she laughed at me when I asked about her pocket money).
"I've never been here before," she told me.
"I'd spoken to a few people, and (Dubai) seemed to be a bit of a buzz word. A lot of people were talking about it, but no one could really explain it.
"They said 'it's just madness, but you'll have a good time'."
And then of course there were those fireworks.
Seriously, if you haven't seen them already check out the video.
Seven times the size of the ones they set off at the Olympics and apparently visible from space. Bonfire Night will never be the same again.
So yes, someone obviously forgot to tell Dubai about the credit crunch.
They may be ultimately trying to flog a hotel, but the real aim is to put the region on the map. I guess this is one way of doing it.
Source:
Sky News
http://www.news.sky.com
