At 3 AM, a five-foot shark glides silently past your pillow. You’re not dreaming—you’re in the Neptune Suite at Atlantis The Palm, Dubai, watching 65,000 marine creatures from a floor-to-ceiling acrylic window.

Atlantis The Royal is a $1.4 billion spectacle of fire-breathing fountains and sky-high luxury. But does Dubai’s most expensive architectural marvel actually deliver on its promise of a new era of hospitality? We went inside to find out.