Credit crunch? What credit crunch?

It cost £950 million to build, its 1,539 rooms range from £550 to £23,000 a night, and last week the Atlantis Hotel on the (man-made) Palm Jumeirah island in Dubai opened with a party to match.

The guest-list read like a celebrity Who's Who - from A-listers Robert DeNiro, Oprah Winfrey, Janet Jackson and Lindsay Lohan to the lower ranks of celebrity spawn such as Lily Allen and Daisy Lowe - and there were 1000 waiters to serve lobster and Champagne to roughly 2000 guests. Entertainment included what was believed to be the biggest firework display ever and a ten-minute performance from Kylie Minogue (who reported received symbol(pound)2 million for her efforts - nice work Kylie).

The whole thing cost symbol(pound)20 million. A dazzling concoction of grandeur, or a nasty and inappropriate display of excessive wealth as the rest of the world goes to hell in a handcart? Watch this: