Dubai has been built on the premise that most people are shopaholics, with the desire to break world records and entertain locals and visitors alike with endless themed structures, like something from Disneyland. Two resorts that represent Dubai’s addiction to excess that are free to visit and are stopping points on the city’s relatively inexpensive Big Bus Tour are:

• The Atlantis Hotel and Water Park
• Dubai Mall

Like many things in Dubai, there’s a touch of whimsy to the luxury themed resort of Atlantis Hotel. It is based on the drowned continent of Atlantis mentioned by Plato, a legend fancifully embellished over the centuries, and attempts to provide a window into a lost world. The resort was built at a staggering $1.5 billion in 2008 on the man-made island of Palm Jumeirah. The hotel is decorated with sea life ceilings, shell covered columns, a Neptune-like golden throne, Lost Chambers with a labyrinth of tunnels, sunken ruins, lounges submerged under a lagoon that has 65,000 sea creatures. Some of the 1,539 rooms and suites (Lost Chamber Suites) have floor-to-ceiling views of the water world. At the water park there is a 30-meter ziggurat that provides a nearly vertical slide into a shark-infested lagoon.

Reactions to this resort range from totally kitsch and over the top, to opulent and ‘paradise on earth’.

The Dubai Mall, in the new Burj Dubai precinct, was also built at incredible cost and opened in late 2008. It is the largest shopping mall in the world and the adjacent spire-shaped tower is the tallest building in the world. . The mall is the size of 50 football fields with 15 malls within a mall, including the world’s largest gold souk among its 1,200 stores. However, this mall is more than just a shopping experience. It is also a huge entertainment complex with an Aquarium and Discovery Center containing 10 million liters of water, 33,000 species and the largest acrylic panel in the world. There is an Olympic sized skating rink. 22-screen movie theater complex, Kidzania, a children’s entertainment center, and SEGA Republic, an indoor theme park where visitors can immerse themselves in sensory overload. It’s easy to get lost in this huge, dazzling mall that offers everything, including a refuge from the excessive heat of Dubai.

There is no doubt that a visit to these two new Dubai landmarks is a memorable experience and offers an insight into the model city of Sheikh Maktoum.