GamingToday.com - South African casino mogul Sol Kerzner threw a massive $20 million party to mark the grand opening of his new $1.5-billion Atlantis resort on the man-made, palm-shaped Palm Jumeirah archipelago in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Thursday night.

The new 1,539-room resort is the second Atlantis resort in the head of Kerzner International’s stable and was modeled after its Nassau, Bahamas property. The new project is a partnership with Dubai-based developer Nakheel, the state-owned creator of the palm-shaped island on which the hotel sits.

The massive project is one of several in the wealthy Arab emirate which is one of seven semiautonomous city-state that make up the UAE.

The beautiful salmon-colored hotel – which overlooks the mainland of Dubai – includes an open-air aquarium and the Mideast’s largest water park.

Kerzner said the celebration, which included a lavish fireworks show, was planned long before the world economy fell into a downturn.

“The hotel is a $1.5 billion investment,” the 73-year-old said in an interview. “It would be a huge mistake not to launch it worldwide as effectively as we possibly can.”

Although room rates at the new Atlantis range from $800 to $25,000 a night, Kerzner thinks Dubai will be okay for the long run.

“We would have preferred obviously for economies to be buoyant and growing,” Kerzner said. “But on the other hand, you don’t develop this on the basis of how we’re going to do in the first two or three years. A medium-term view makes sense.”

Meanwhile, Kerzner’s company is putting all expansion projects