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Glittery Atlantis rises, and Bahamas is banking on it
By DEBY NASH
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- It was called Hog Island by the British settlers who used it as a pig farm.
Then it became a holiday hideout for European aristocrats and reclusive millionaires, who renamed it Paradise for its clear turquoise waters and fine beaches.
And now, with the opening tomorrow of a $450 million resort, Las Vegas meets the Caribbean on the island in a fantastic re-creation of the legendary lost continent of Atlantis.
The resort is the brainchild of South African entrepreneur Sol Kerzner and his Sun International Hotels Ltd. Kerzner says it's the largest island resort in the world, covering 600 of the island's 800 acres.
There's a 63-slip marina and a seven-acre snorkeling lagoon teeming with 100,000 tropical sea creatures, from anemones to gigantic groupers.
Inside, there is water, water everywhere, bubbling from geysers at tiny pools and, in the main lobby, cascading in waterfalls from four massive pillars supporting the domed 70-foot ceiling.
The resort includes what's billed as the Caribbean's biggest casino, set in a 100,000-square-foot gaming, dining and entertainment area. It has more than 1,000 slot machines and 80 gaming tables, including baccarat, roulette, craps, blackjack and stud poker.
There are 23 restaurants with offerings ranging from an $11.75 hamburger in a casual outdoor setting, to a "dive-in" restaurant set in water to a $34 prawn curry at the Five Twins, where the menu is an upmarket fusion of Asian and Caribbean food.
With a huge 20-foot iron entry gate, stone floors, mosaics and arched windows, the Five Twins restaurant also offers a cigar bar, sushi bar, champagne cart and dance floor.
At Mama Loo's Chinese restaurant, duckling breast goes for $24.50.
Then there is the mid-priced Atlas Bar & Grill just off the casino floor, where a roast chicken entree is $16. The restaurant is shaped like a Roman chariot track with a bar in its center and diners are surrounded by dozens of television monitors beaming news, sports, music or movies.
"I figured with such great water, beaches, miles of undeveloped beach, and being so close to the U.S. market -- such a strong marketplace -- I felt that we could develop probably the greatest resort of the world in time," Kerzner says.
The centerpiece of the resort is the 23-story Royal Towers, which adds more than 2,000 rooms, more than doubling the number on the property. The two towers are joined by the two-bedroom Bridge Suite, which rents for a mere $25,000 a night.
In less pretentious areas, tropical rooms decorated in coral and teal with two double beds or one king-size bed cost from $150 a night in the off-season to $480 in the high-season.
The Bahamian government has invested much in the resort, offering tax breaks and other concessions as well as building a $20 million bridge linking the resort to Nassau's international airport. In addition, Kerzner has built a subterranean tunnel offering alternative access from Nassau.
Some opposition was put up by businesspeople who wanted to ensure that they got their share of the new tourist trade.
Last year, Kerzner said he was scrapping plans to develop a $50 million entertainment and retail complex at the resort. In a compromise, 12 of 15 shops will be leased to Bahamian entrepreneurs instead of the international designer boutiques that Kerzner wanted under franchise to Sun Hotels.
Kerzner had hoped to buy the entire island, but there have been a few holdouts, including a shopping mall and hotel.
Officials hope Atlantis will give a boost to a lackluster year for tourism, the mainstay of the Bahamian economy, which employs 70 percent of the work force.
In fact, a drop in unemployment from 13 percent to 9.8 percent this year is largely attributed to construction work at Atlantis. The resort now is the biggest employer on the island after the government, with 5,500 workers compared to the government's 25,000.
"We cannot even begin to think about the failure of Sun, because it has so much impact," said a competitor, Nassau Beach Hotel general manager Robert Sands. "It must work."
Airlines, which had cut back service to the Bahamas, are now looking to expand. TWA starts a new non-stop service from New York's JFK airport in February; Delta has already upgraded its daily New York flight from a Boeing 727 to a Boeing 757, and British Airways is switching its thrice weekly flights from London in March from a DC-10 to a new Boeing 777.
Vincent Vanderpool Wallace, the Bahamas director-general of tourism, is extremely enthusiastic about Atlantis.
"I believe that Atlantis is the first true manifestation of a growing belief that neither the Bahamas nor the Caribbean can continue to rely primarily on sun, sand and sea for attracting visitors," he said.
"We have the world's greatest canvas in this region, but we are only just beginning to paint it."
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