Kerzner's mega-resort ups the ante for Dubai's hotels

With 1,539 rooms and the world in the grip of a credit crisis, Atlantis – The Palm Jumeirah's $1.5 billion (Dh5.5bn) flagship resort – has a lot of space to fill.

But with 40 years' experience in the hotel industry, Sol Kerzner, Chairman and CEO of Kerzner International, is confident a project of Atlantis's scale is sustainable.

And he's not even worried about the other 23 hotels that will share the resort's prime position on The Palm's Crescent.

"Tourism can sustain the credit crunch," drawled South African-born Kerzner during a visit to the 46-hectare resort this week.

"It is boom town here. You travel to Dubai and the Middle East and it's a different world to the West," he said.

So is it true the Atlantis is booked up until Christmas?

"No, I think that's exaggerating," said Kerzner, 72, who also manages the luxury One&Only brand. "We wouldn't think of filling this place up overnight. But over a four-to-five-week period we hope to be pretty full."

The Atlantis – due to open on September 24 – is a huge deal for Kerzner. It is the sister hotel of the 2,900-room Atlantis Paradise Island in Nassau, capital of The Bahamas, and only the second realisation of the brand – something he plans to expand in the future.

And as he pointed out: "For $1.5bn, I could build several One&Onlys."

But can replicating such a mammoth project in an entirely different environment achieve the same of success?

"I think it will work. People around the world enjoy the same elements. The market here is amazing – Emirates airline flies to every destination in the world and that's pretty significant for our business. When we opened the Royal Mirage 10 years ago there was just desert from there until the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. Look at it today."

It was the expansion of the Royal Mirage that encouraged Kerzner to invest further in the emirate. Then a meeting about The Palm with Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Chairman of Dubai World and Executive Chairman of developer Nakheel, sealed the deal. Nakheel and Kerzner became joint partners; Nakheel has also made a sizeable investment in Kerzner International.

"When I first met Bin Sulayem, I was fascinated," said Kerzner. "We agreed it would be terrific and picked the Crescent for Atlantis."

Atlantis will be the first hotel to open on The Palm, setting the benchmark for others to follow. Its leisure facilities include Aquaventure, the region's largest waterpark, the Ambassador's Lagoon, a vast aquarium that holds 11 million litres of water and 65,000 fish, and the Lost Chambers – an aquarium that recreates the mythical Lost City of Atlantis, with themed relics strewn around its 21 tanks.

The mogul has also tied up with four celebrity chefs – including Japan's Nobu and luxury brands such as Tiffany & Co and Graff to fill its retail section.

But despite its overwhelming list of facilities, Atlantis is keeping its room rates at relatively affordable levels.

Prices range from $454 for a standard deluxe room to $25,000 for the Bridge Suite, which spans the gap between the East and West Towers. And the affordability sits well with Kerzners' primary target market.

"Families are very important. But at certain times of the year, when families aren't travelling, I think we have a very nice conference and banqueting facility."

The fact that such a mammoth construction will beat its original opening date – Kerzner recently pulled it forward a month – at a time when many projects are falling behind due to shortages of materials and labour is testament to the hotelier's drive and attention to detail.

He's been known to shuffle the cushions around and order landscapers to cut hedges by a couple of inches. It's this quality that has been a catalyst for Kerzner's success, and he knows it.

"I think it makes a difference, to me it's important. Although the guest may not see it all, or understand it they do notice if you do things that are Mickey Mouse."

So should the competition be nervous? After all, Atlantis does everything on a bigger and more grandiose scale than some of the emirate's established hotels. Kerzner believes differently.

"It's quite possible that the opening of Atlantis will create a tourism spurt," he said.

"It will add to tourism growth and everyone will continue to get business – that is what we hope."

The self-made magnate is keen to promote the local tourism sector rather than obliterate it because of the close ties he has with the emirate's leaders.

"Relationships are key in business as you move on. The people and the team that you surround yourself with are most important." And it's obvious that team admires the businessman because everything he touches turns to gold.

Kerzner was born in 1935 in a lower-class suburb of Johannesburg to Russian immigrants and learned to battle for what he wanted from an early age. His short stature meant he was often taunted at school. He later took up boxing – and that ability to fight back has propelled him forward throughout his life.

After graduating from university as a chartered accountant, Kerzner joined one of Durban's largest firms and by the age of 24 was named junior partner.

His hospitality career started in 1960 with the purchase of the Palace Hotel in Durban. He later came up with the idea of building a complete resort and created the Beverly Hills Hotel – the first five-star hotel in South Africa.

Then came the 450-room Elangeni on Durban's beachfront and in 1969 the establishment of Southern Sun Hotels. He then expanded overseas, with the luxury Le Saint Géran in Mauritius and back in South Africa developed Sun City – a $267m fantasy-themed resort.

Next came the 1994 purchase of Paradise Island in The Bahamas, which he transformed into the first Atlantis, and a gaming resort in Connecticut in 1996.

It's quite a CV and Nelson Mandela once dubbed him "the greatest entrepreneur in the tourism industry" – something Kerzner would appreciate as the former South African president is the man he "admires the most, not as a businessman but as a human being".

Even now, at an age when most men have retired, Kerzner shows no signs of slowing down. He gets up at 6.30am to walk on the treadmill in his home gym and goes to bed after 12pm.

"I was watching the tennis last night and switched the light off at 1am."

But there are signs that the self-confessed workaholic is no longer the sprightly 'sun king' – a tag he earned in the 1980s for his wild ways in both his personal and professional life.

At the end of our meeting, he stood up, stretched and let out a long deep sigh.

It was the final interview of the day and Kerzner was tired. "That was a marathon," he sighed.

And this is Kerzner's problem. He is not ready to retire – "I'm going to continue while I still feel that I'm excited by what I'm doing" – but even if he were, he is not in a position to do so. His beloved son Butch, who Kerzner appointed CEO of the company, was killed in a helicopter crash in November 2006 aged 42.

Shortly afterwards, Kerzner felt faint during a treadmill run and later underwent triple bypass heart surgery.

He returned to the helm to fulfil his company's global ambitions. But with no other member of his family ready or available to step into the big chair, Kerzner has some tough decisions to make.

"I don't include my family specifically in business; Butch was the only one."

So has he drawn up a new succession plan? "The plan is to be surrounded by a team of executives and be realistic about how long I continue but I could not put an exact time on it. Yes, I must have a succession plan but it's not finalised."

This means the hospitality maestro could be at the helm for some years yet, which is why he invests so much time in his family – something that is "terribly important" to him.

Now married to wife number four, Heather, 38, Kerzner has five children, and six grandchildren. And somewhere in between all his resorts, expansion plans and family demands he finds time to relax.

"Twice a year I gather my family together. At Christmas we all meet in Cape Town and I like to have as many of the kids and grandkids and friends around as possible. They come and spend quality time together. Then around August we have a nice place in the South of France and again we get everyone together. So that's when I'm most relaxed. I still take calls but those are the two times I really get away from it all."

One of his next big projects is the One&Only Cape Town – set to open at the end of next year.

"I am delighted to be opening a resort in my home country where I first became involved in the hotel industry," he said.

It looks as though Kerzner's life has come full circle.

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