Durban - Dubai already boasts a bevy of architectural wonders. It’s got the world’s tallest building—the 817m Burj Khalifa. It also leads with man-made islands, from the frond-shaped Palm Jumeirah to The World, an archipelago under construction that will form a world map when viewed from above.
Such architectural excesses have helped make the emirate a go-to destination for well-heeled tourists. Having conquered both land and sky, developers now plan to bring Dubai’s particular brand of glitz underwater.
The Water Discus Hotel is Dubai’s latest attempt to impress novelty-seeking travellers. Billed as the world’s largest underwater hotel, at this point the resort, which is being developed by Polish developer Deep Ocean Technology, is little more than a series of renditions of a structure that would not look amiss in a 1960s science-fiction television show.
The plans call for 21 suites spread across two main discs – one above water and another immersed 11m under the waves. Special lighting technology will allow guests in underwater suites to observe the flora and fauna outside their windows.
While there’s no official opening date for the hotel yet, it seems likely the underwater accommodation will be popular.
Atlantis The Palm in Dubai already includes two underwater suites for which it’s able to charge as much as $8 800 (R87 824) for a single night.
If you’re yearning to live it up in submerged luxury, help is on the way. From the quaint to the sublime, take a plunge with The Financialist to explore the world’s existing underwater hotels, as well as a few that are currently in the works.
Atlantis The Palm
While Atlantis The Palm is anchored on terra firma, the Dubai offshoot of the famous Bahamas resort includes the Neptune and Poseidon underwater suites.
This luxurious accommodation comes with a private butler on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as well as a close-up view of the aquatic life in the hotel’s gigantic, man-made Ambassador Lagoon.
And when you picture the suites, don’t think of a submarine’s cramped quarters.
The rooms, which can sleep as many as five people, spread across three floors and feature a full living room. And while booking one of the suites can run you just over $8 800 a night, that fee includes free massages, personal trainer services and complimentary access to the resort’s nightclub.
You’ll also have your own private cabana at the hotel pool or beach if you’d like to surface during the day, as well as free admission to the underwater Lost Chambers aquarium, a labyrinthine structure with views of sharks, eels, seahorses and piranhas, and the 17ha Aquaventure water park.
Conrad Maldives Rangali Island – Ithaa Undersea Restaurant
The Conrad Maldives Rangali, which has 50 water villas and 79 beachside villas near Rangalifinolhu Island in the Maldives, is dipping its toes underwater with its Ithaa Undersea Restaurant.
From five metres below the sea, patrons can indulge in the restaurant’s six-course menu. Don’t tell the creatures swimming by the windows, but seafood is a speciality, including a yellowtail kingfish accompanied by saffron champagne risotto and beurre blanc foam.
The Water Discus Hotel
The project’s developers have teamed up with Big Invest Group, a Zurich-based consultancy, to help it raise financing for the project, which according to its developers could cost between $50-million and $120m to build, depending on the hotel’s final design. The futuristic plans include a bar, restaurant, swimming pools and spa. Don’t worry, though – the helipad is above water.
The Poseidon Undersea Resort
Developer Bruce Jones envisions the Poseidon, located off a private island in Fiji, as the launchpad for a chain of five-star underwater hotels. For couples searching for a wedding venue that will really set jaws agape, the Poseidon also plans to include an undersea chapel complete with views of a coral reef.
Complementing the hotel’s 25 underwater suites will be 51 suites for landlubbers, tennis courts and a nine-hole golf course, all located on the resort’s private island.
The idea of a chain of luxury underwater resorts is novel, but Jones first floated this bold vision more than a decade ago and construction has yet to start on a single resort. Building costs, which Swiss firm Strategic Hotel Consulting recently estimated at roughly $11.4m per underwater suite, could prove prohibitive.
Hotel Otter Inn
The Otter Inn, created by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg, houses paying guests, an achievement of note given the record of other developers of underwater accommodation in natural habitats. (The two suites at the Palm in Dubai are in a man-made lagoon.) However, unlike its would-be underwater competitors, the inn is not a five-star masterpiece, but a single, soberly decorated room – available for R1 680 a night – submerged in three metres of water in the middle of Sweden’s Lake Mälaren. - Sunday Tribune