Hydropolis will be the world’s first “luxury” underwater hotel. It’s in Dubai, UAE (where else?). The 220 room hotel will be 60 feet below sea level. Rooms will rent for $1,500 a night. Besides the expected amenities, there will be a missile defense system to protect it from terrorist attack (somehow that’s not comforting). It is scheduled to open in 2008. Crescent Hydropolis site here.
Another hotel in the underwater race is Poseidon Undersea Resort, off the coast of Fiji. The 24 suites will rent for $2500-3000 a night but you get a great view of one of the world’s liveliest coral reefs (plus, there’s little fear of terrorist attack —it’s a really long flight). It is scheduled to open in mid-2008, but the reservation desk is open now.
The sweet suite pod: Inside looking out:
History of the Underwater Habitat: Vision to Reality
At the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City, General Motors’ Futurama II featured “near future” undersea homes, 10,000 feet under water, reached by atomic subs. A Captain Nemo vision, science-fiction Futurama II attracted as many eyeballs as Zillow.
from Futurama II
GM probably got the idea from Jacques Cousteau who, in 1962, built the first undersea habitat, Conshelf I, near Marseilles, France. In 1963, Conshelf II, in the Red Sea near Sudan, had 10 oceanauts living underwater for 30 days. A documentary about the project won Cousteau an Academy Award in 1964.
Conshelf II
The US Navy got in on the action with SEALAB I in 1964, off Bermuda, followed by II & III.
SEALAB III
The Future is Now
We recently posted on existing Underwater Hotels around the world, including the first one, Jules Undersea Lodge, in Key Largo, FL.
In May we wrote about the ultra-cool Trilobis 65, a $5 million floating home with underwater living space from the Giancarlo Zema Design Group in Italy.
Trilobis 65
But there’s more from the amazing architect Giancarlo Zema. How about the Jelly-fish 45 Habitat, a smaller floating home for six, or Neptus 60, a cliff house with above and underwater sections, so you can gaze over the ocean or under it. Then there’s Lake Washington, a combination commercial and recreational area complete with underwater restaurant created on an artificial lake. And Frond Village 30, thirty over/under water duplexes floating in Tahiti.
Jelly-fish 45………………………………………..Neptus 60 Cliff House
Frond Village (Tahiti)
Sources: Ocean real estate: The next boom? (CNN Money, Business2.0); Sub-Find.com; westland.net; Wikipedia; Giancarlo Zema Design Group.
Related Posts:
Floating Home: Trilobis 65
Underwater Hotel Getaways
