Partially-Undersea Water Discus Hotel To Be Built In the Maldives

Zothecula writes "Polish architectural and deep-sea engineering company Deep Ocean Technology has inked a deal with Ridgewood Hotels and Suites Pvt. Ltd. to build its futuristic part-underwater Water Discus Hotel just off the shore of Kuredhivaru Island in the Maldives. 'The luminous hotel features two large disc-shaped lounges seven-meters above the water, housing a luxury restaurant and spa. The lounges are connected to a glass tunnel plunging 30-meters below the water, leading to 21 opulent bedrooms. Not only does the hotel look like a spaceship -- it actually moves like one, with the largest underwater saucer-shaped room able to slide to the surface in emergencies. 'If you need to replace a window for example, it's very difficult underwater,' explained Podwojewski. 'So we wanted to build a building that can surface any time for maintenance or safety.'"

Comments

Jetsons!

[Anonymous Coward]

That is some straight up Jetsons shit right there...

Re:Jetsons!

[nospam007]

You could travel to Europe, for example in Germany there are many hotels that are partially submerged right now.

Re:Jetsons!

[I'm New Around Here]

While I have done that a couple times, I would rather mod up people who make good arguments, even when I don't agree with them. I just had mod points yesterday (Monday really, but I was exhausted from an install), and modded down one guy who was just a dope, modded up three who I don't agree with, and one who I did agree with. I didn't plan it that way, but those three made good points and hadn't been modded up yet. Most of the great posts I did agree with had already been modded up to at least 3, and they didn't need any help from me.

Okay

[MightyMartian]

There's got to be a morning after
If we can hold on through the night
We have a chance to find the sunshine
Let's keep on lookin' for the light

Oh, can't you see the morning after
It's waiting right outside the storm
Why don't we cross the bridge together
And find a place that's safe and warm

It's not too late, we should be giving
Only with love can we climb
It's not too late, not while we're living
Let's put our hands out in time

There's got to be a morning after
We're moving closer to the shore
I know we'll be there by tomorrow
And we'll escape the darkness
We won't be searchin' any more
There's got to be a morning after

Re:Okay

[sconeu]

+1 Poseidon Adventure...

Great cast....

* Ernest Borgnine
* Gene Hackman
* Roddy McDowall
* Red Buttons
and a cast of Thousands!!!!

and in tsunamis?

[Isara]

I wonder how the whole thing will be able to move if there's a tsunami? Obviously above-ground hotels don't fare too well there either, but I'm interested in the mechanics of a partially-submerged structure being able to handle that kind of hit. Still, sounds like a cool place to visit.

Re:and in tsunamis?

[Anonymous Coward]

According to some (especially one near the bottom), tsunamis are very rare, but there is no place on any of the Maldives high enough to get away from one. So I suppose this would be no more dangerous than any other hotel in the region.

Re:and in tsunamis?

[I'm New Around Here]

I don't think the Indonesia tsunami did any damage to those islands. The US military has a base, Diego Garcia, on the British islands a couple hundred miles to the south, and they saw no effect at all. Because tsunamis don't cross the ocean as a giant tumbling wave*. Those only build as they get to shallow water. And the islands are too abrupt to have a large shallows, so the ocean swells a few inches for a few minutes, then it's back to normal as the tsunami passes by.

*This is why it is no more correct to call these events a 'tsunami' than a 'tidal wave' like we did when I was a kid. The term 'tsu nami' actually means 'harbor wave', which is then meaningless out in the middle of the ocean. Generally, a tsunami is only destructive when it gets to shallows in front of land, and it doesn't matter if there is a harbor or not. So we should stop using the term, and find something more scientifically accurate.

Well that certainly is...

[Idbar]

Well, that's certainly a new low.

If you get the cheapest one, they may get you a room with no view, no windows and underwater.

That hotel looks like the lair for a Bond villain.

[sconeu]

n/t

Re:Search your feelings you know it to be true

[ArcadeMan]

Great place indeed, until the father shows up. He's always been kind of a dark figure.

Re:Jetsons!.... Nope, Bioshock...

[David_Hart]

That is some straight up Jetsons shit right there...

This looks more like the first step towards the underwater city of Rapture....

Another one?

[Animats]

Underwater hotels have been proposed many times, but no significant ones have actually been built. The Poseidon Underwater Resorts has a web site that looks real, but it's total vaporware. Atlantis Palm Hotel in Dubai was going to build one to go with their water park, but it didn't get built either.

But there are some really good renderings.

Where's Andrew Ryan?

[KodePhreak]

Rapture awaits! =)

Wrong way around

[johnw]

This proposed hotel is the wrong way around. Instead of a restaurant above the water and bedrooms below, it would be much more sensible to have the restaurant and leisure facilities under water (where you can really appreciate the undersea views whilst you're awake) and the bedrooms above (so if the thing springs a leak in the middle of the night you don't all drown).