Saturday, July 27, 2013

The lavish five-star CAVE AND SHIP HOTEL

 

 

The lavish five-star CAVE AND SHIP hotel 

 

Now that is a groundbreaking design: The lavish £345million five-star CAVE hotel being built in an abandoned Chinese quarry

  • Two of the hotel's 19 storeys will be built underwater and will feature an aquarium with glass walls
  • The other 17 storeys will be built inside a cave at the base of the Tianmenshan Mountain
  • The British design firm behind the plans claim the roof of the £345-million hotel will sit just 15 metres above ground

Construction has begun on a luxury five-star hotel being built INSIDE a 100-metre deep, water-filled abandoned quarry in China at the base of the Tianmenshan Mountain.

The £345million cave hotel in the Songjiang District has been designed by British-based firm Atkins and will have 380 rooms over 19 storeys - two of which will be underwater. 

The rest of the InterContinental Shimao hotel will be built into the mountainous landscape and guests will be able to do watersports on the lake and use the nearby cliffs for rock-climbing and bungee jumping.

It is expected to take around three years to build and guests could be staying in the resort by 2015 - with rooms likely to cost around £200 a night.

An artist's view of what the finished cave hotel will look like.

An artist's view of what the finished cave hotel will look like. The 5-star underground resort is being built inside a 100-foot deep, water-filled abandoned quarry in China at the base of the Tianmenshan Mountain in the Songjiang District

The £345-million cave hotel has been designed by British-based firm Atkins and will have 380 rooms over 19 storeys - two of which will be underwater

The £345-million cave hotel has been designed by British-based firm Atkins and will have 380 rooms over 19 storeys - two of which will be underwater

The two underwater floors will have an aquarium with glass walls that look out onto an underwater restaurant and guest rooms.

A swimming pool and a sports centre will also be built inside the hotel as well as several restaurants, a banqueting hall and conference rooms for business meetings. Although the guest rooms will vary in size, they are expected to start from around £200 a night.

Atkins has designed the structure to blend in with the landscape using an eco-friendly green roof planted with various trees.

The rest of the InterContinental Shimao hotel will be built into the mountainous landscape and guests will be able to do watersports on the lake and use the nearby cliffs for rock-climbing and bungee jumping

The rest of the InterContinental Shimao hotel will be built into the mountainous landscape and guests will be able to do watersports on the lake and use the nearby cliffs for rock-climbing and bungee jumping

How the current abandoned quarry in Shanghai looks.

How the current abandoned quarry in Shanghai looks. The hotel has been designed by British firm Adkins to make sure it blends in with the landscape. It will be fitted with an eco-friendly roof and will use natural, nearby resources to power the hotel. Li Xuyang, a senior manager for Shimao Group told Shortlist: 'Two stories will be built underwater, 17 will be within the cave and two more will be above ground. 'The roof of the hotel will only be 15 m above the cave. 'The idea was to take advantage of this unique land form and to create a garden growing in the air. People could view the hundred-meter high waterfall from their room window. 'The hotel is part of the larger project to build Shimao Shanghai Wonderland, a large-scale theme park.'

The five-star resort will have an aquarium with glass walls that look out onto a restaurant and guest rooms, a swimming pool and a sports centre, a banqueting hall and conference facilities

The five-star resort will have an aquarium with glass walls that look out onto a restaurant and guest rooms, a swimming pool and a sports centre, a banqueting hall and conference facilities

Construction vehicles begin work on converting the abandoned quarry into the five-star underground hotel.

Construction vehicles begin work on converting the abandoned quarry into the five-star underground hotel. Li Xuyang, a senior manager for Shimao Group said the hotel is part of the larger project to build Shimao Shanghai Wonderland, a large-scale theme park.

Images of a giagantic five star floating hotel that will cost around £130 million to build and is designed to provide luxurious accommodation and panoramic sea views in Gibraltar, have been unveiled. The 142 metre super yacht will be permanently moored in Gibraltar's Ocean Village Marina, located off the southern tip of Spain, and is expected to open at the end of this year. The oceanic behemoth boasts 189 rooms, banqueting suites, bars, restaurants, casino, a spa and gym, cocktail lounge, pool, sundeck and even a ballroom. This is the gigantic five star floating hotel that will cost around £130 million to build and is designed to provide luxurious accommodation and panoramic sea views in Gibraltar

This is the gigantic five star floating hotel that will cost around £130 million to build and is designed to provide luxurious accommodation and panoramic sea views in Gibraltar

The 142 metre super yacht will rest its anchor in Gibraltar's Ocean Village Marina, located off the southern tip of Spain and is expected to open at the end of this year

The 142 metre super yacht will be permanently moored in Gibraltar's Ocean Village Marina, located off the southern tip of Spain and is expected to open at the end of this year. It will be one of the most luxurious places to stay in the Mediterranean, as suggested by these concept images. The floating hotel is seven storeys tall and has 15,500 metres squares of floor space and will dwarf less super yachts in the marina.

Befitting a five star hotel, the 167 guest rooms, four executive rooms and 18 suites are expected to cost between £200 and £2,000 a night. All of them feature wall-to-wall and floor to ceiling panoramic windows and 90 per cent of the rooms have an outdoor area.

The oceanic behemoth boasts 189 rooms

The oceanic behemoth boasts 189 rooms, banqueting suites, bars, restaurants, casino, a spa and gym, cocktail lounge, pool, sundeck and even a ballroom (pictured) and will be one of the most luxurious places to stay in the Mediterranean

Gibraltar's Sunborn Yacht Hotel came about as the company realised there was demand for a new luxurious hotel but no room to build one on the exclusive island

Gibraltar's Sunborn Yacht Hotel came about as the company realised there was demand for a new luxurious hotel but no room to build one on the exclusive island. A sundeck connected to a suite is pictured

Gibraltar's Sunborn Yacht Hotel came about as the company realised there was demand for a new luxurious hotel but no room to build one on the exclusive island.

The floating hotel is designed to be permanently moored in Gibraltar and will be attached by six strong hydraulic arms, each weighing eight tonnes.

Guests will enter the exclusive hotel through an enclosed glass bridge and Sunborn Gibraltar CEO, Brian Stevendale said that unlike cruise ships, guests will feel as if they are staying on dry land.

The floating hotel is seven storeys tall and has 15,500 metres squares of floor space and will dwarf less super yachts in the marina

The floating hotel is seven storeys tall and has 15,500 metres squares of floor space and will dwarf less super yachts in the marina

The floating hotel (pictured) is designed to be permanently moored in Gibraltar, attached by six strong hydraulic arms, each weighing eight tonnes

The floating hotel (pictured) is designed to be permanently moored in Gibraltar, attached by six strong hydraulic arms, each weighing eight tones. He told CNN: 'It's intriguing that something so large can literally just be plugged in to a port.' The concept of a hotel on water was in answer to there being little space on the British territory of Gibraltar, which measures under seven square kilometres. Monaco and Singapore have similarly thriving economies and a glamorous allure for holiday makers but accommodation and space is limited.

Befitting a five star hotel, the 167 guest rooms, four executive rooms and 18 suites are expected to cost between £200 and £2,000 a night

Befitting a five star hotel, the 167 guest rooms, four executive rooms and 18 suites are expected to cost between £200 and £2,000 a night

All the rooms feature wall-to-wall and floor to ceiling panoramic windows and 90 per cent of the rooms have an outdoor area

All the rooms feature wall-to-wall and floor to ceiling panoramic windows and 90 per cent of the rooms have an outdoor area. Mr Stevendale said: 'In Gibraltar there's a huge demand for hotels, but how do you do it in such a small jurisdiction?' 'Unlike traditional building -- which involves trucks, cranes and a huge amount of disruption -- we have a ready built product that can be delivered to these prime areas.' Further hotels could follow in or places where a land-based development is impractical because a site is environmentally sensitive, has heritage status, or because there is simply no more room to build new hotels.

Despite its over-the-top interior (a dining room is pictured), the company behind the super yacht claims it is eco-friendly compared to building a new hotel on land

Despite its over-the-top interior (a dining room is pictured), the company behind the super yacht claims it is eco-friendly compared to building a new hotel on land

The ship is being constructed in Malaysia complete with internal fittings (a restaurant is pictured) and has an engine to take it to its final location at Gibraltar

The ship is being constructed in Malaysia complete with internal fittings (a restaurant is pictured) and has an engine to take it to its final location at Gibraltar. Despite its over-the-top interior, the company behind the super yacht claims it is eco-friendly compared to building a new hotel on land. The ship is being constructed in Malaysia and has an engine to take it to its final location at Gibraltar, but because it has the ability to travel, Sunborn said similar yachts could be used at temporary events such as the Olympics or World Cup. There are plans for similar hotels in London and Barcelona as well as tentative plans for others in North America, South East Asia, the Middle East and Russia. The Gibraltar vessel is the second floating hotel by the company, which opened the 'Sunborn Princess' at Naantali Spa Resort in Finland in 2002. 

 

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