Atlantis, Paradise Island promises the hottest party of the Millennium
By Melissa Cook
The countdown to New Year’s Eve is coming to a close, and by now, people everywhere are sure to be asking themselves where they want to be at the stroke of midnight.
There’s still time to join the nearly one million anticipated guests in Las Vegas, partying it up on the Strip, or under the neon lights of Downtown’s Fremont Experience.
You could brave the cold and the crowds and hurry off to Times Square, and watch the ball drop.
You could stay home and watch the coverage of both celebrations on television, or on the Internet.
You could do those things… or you could start the new year, the new century, the brand new millennium off in paradise, surrounded by white sandy beaches, luxurious amenities, and the glory of one the world’s oldest and most captivating legends.
You could go to Atlantis.
Living a Legend
It hearkens back all the way to that famous Greek philosopher Plato, and today, people are still searching for its remains.
Ruled, perhaps, by Poseidon and his five sets of male twins, Atlantis was an enormous utopian empire—powerful, technologically advanced, and stretching, some say, from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Americas. Some believe it was destroyed by a massive earthquake 1,500 years before Christ. Others blame a volcanic eruption for the civilization’s demise. Either way, Atlantis is believed to have sunk deep below the waves of its namesake ocean, the Atlantic.
It is from the ancient legends of this wondrous civilization that the Atlantis, Paradise Island resort has risen in the Bahamas to celebrate the wealth, serenity, and romantic ideals of the famed lost continent.
With 2,300 rooms and suites housed in separate towers (the upscale Royal Towers, the Coral Towers, the Beach Tower, and the Villas), 38 restaurants, bars and lounges, a 100,000 sq. ft. Entertainment Center, a championship golf course, and the deep-water Atlantis Marina, with its own 100-foot channel into Nassau Harbor, the $850 million Atlantis, Paradise Island is the world’s largest island resort destination. More than 11 million gallons of water activities and attractions, not to mention the crystal blue Atlantic, join forces at the resort to bring the underwater fantasy of Atlantis alive.
In addition to water slides and rides, swimming pools and lagoons, waterfalls, fountains and snorkeling, the 34-acre waterscape features the largest tropical marine in the world, second only, as the resort proudly boasts, "to Mother Nature herself." The habitat is home to more than 40,000 live animals, showcasing 150 species of marine life ranging from tiny tropical fish to giant sharks, rays and barracuda.
And to sate the Indiana Jones spirit in all of us, the resort offers The Dig, a full-sized rendition of the ruins of Atlantis, complete with interconnected passageways, boulevards and chambers along which visitors will discover the art, language, and remarkable ingenuity of the ancient Atlanteans. The partially-submerged, archeological maze features giant picture windows for a unique view of deep-water life.
The mystery of Atlantis is seamlessly carried through to the interior of the resort, the focal point of which is the expansive Entertainment Center. Mammoth glass sculptures, created by internationally acclaimed Seattle artist Dale Chihuly (who also did the million-dollar light sculpture in Bellagio’s lobby), mark the Temples of the Sun and the Moon, while the elaborate Poseidon’s Gate offers entry to the Royal Towers. It is in this center that the Caribbean’s largest casino exists, with skylit ceilings and panoramic views of the waterscape, Marina and beach that bring the beauty of the Bahamas indoors. Spacious balconies and sweeping views accomplish the same in the guestrooms, ensuring the all-encompassing nature of the resort experience is never broken. Continued on...
