Dubai's proposed moon hotel, United Arab Emirates
A huge moon-shaped hotel may soon be landing in Dubai. The proposed $5 billion complex from architects in Canada would stand at more than 600 feet and feature several thousand suites, plus a range of space-themed attractions.
According to reports, guests would be able to experience low-gravity walks on a mock-up of the moon’s surface and explore what the designers have described as a “vast working lunar colony”.
So far, so outlandish, and onlookers might well be sceptical. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time an ambitious hotel project has been breathlessly announced, only to be quietly shelved a few years later. From hotels floating in space or on the actual moon to bombastic circular skyscrapers, here we run through the wacky projects that never came to fruition. We also take a look at the hotels that actually did manage to open, or are at least still being built, including a French chateau atop a high-rise and roving underwater suites.
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Maison Heler Metz, France
Status: Ongoing
It's not often you see an 18th-century-style Alsation house plonked on top of a 14-floor skyscraper. This is exactly what French designer Philippe Starck had in mind for Metz's first high-end hotel, labelling it as an 'out-of-scale phantasmagoric' design. The house is intended to have a rooftop terrace and garden, 119 rooms, a fitness centre and a restaurant and lounge bar. Originally due to open in 2020, construction has moved at snail’s pace (no doubt slowed by the pandemic), though recent pictures show the grand turrets have finally been erected.
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Source: MAISON HELER
Six Senses Svart, Norway
Status: Opening 2024
The hotly anticipated Six Senses Svart – Norwegian for 'black' – sits at the foot of Almlifjellet mountain and has a distinctive shape that resembles an extra-terrestrial cruiser. Its design was inspired by a fiskehjell – a wooden structure used to dry fish, and the stilts are a tribute to rorbuer, which are fishermen's huts extended on poles. As well as marking itself as another top location for watching the Aurora Borealis, the hotel aims to be an energy-positive “powerhouse”, designed to produce more energy than it consumes.
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Source: Six Senses Svart
Planet Ocean Underwater Hotel, moveable
Status: Opening 2023
This roving hotel, which lies underneath the water, has 12 aqua pods set some 28 feet beneath the surface and guests are able to view surrounding marine life from the comfort of their rooms. One of the main goals of the holiday spot is to help restore coral reefs and find new ways to prevent further destruction of the planet through funding and implementing projects. Originally set to be based in Florida, the suites’ first stop is now Dubai (where else) with guests entering a raffle in order to win an overnight stay. Other destinations in the pipeline include the Maldives and Red Sea.
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Source: Planet Ocean Underwater Hotel
Water Discus, Dubai
Status: Abandoned
Another outlandish design fated to be consigned to Dubai’s dustbin of design history, the Water Discus was a wildly ambitious hotel that aimed to give a taste of under the sea living. While part of the structure designed by Deep Ocean Technology was intended to be situated over water (housing the restaurant, lobby and spa), other areas of this hotel such as the 21 rooms were to be positioned up to 10 metres below the surface. The rooftop was to have a seawater swimming pool, training pool and exotic garden, with guests expected to spend days enjoying watersports and diving, before retiring to the restaurant in one of the upper discs with panoramic views.
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Aurora Station, Space
Status: Abandoned
It seems plenty of hoteliers have their heads in the cosmos. In 2018, Houston-based company Orion Span announced it was developing a modular space station hotel that was expected to welcome guests this year – for the astronomical sum of $9.5m (£6.7m) per person for a 12-day stay. The station would apparently have completed its orbit of Earth every 90 minutes, and those on board would be able to see 16 sunrises and sunsets in 24 hours, plus glimpses of the northern and southern auroras. Unfortunately, in March last year its website announced that operations had been shut down and deposits were refunded.
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Credit: MARK YOUNG
Source: UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON HILTON ARCHIVES
Shanghai InterContinental Wonderland, China
Status: Open
The space-age InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland hotel, which opened in 2018, trickles down the scarped slopes of an abandoned quarry, and jumps out in a city better known for its rising skyscrapers. It has been labelled the world's first underground five-star resort – and the bottom two floors sit underwater. Expect waterfall views from each room (except for the submerged spaces, where schools of fish will float past instead). Naturally, adventure sports such as bungee-jumping and rock-climbing are encouraged and there are plans for a glass-bottomed bridge and theme park to be added.
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Source: Shanghai InterContinental
Burj Al Alam, Dubai
Status: Abandoned
Designed to resemble a crystal flower, this 108-storey monolith in Dubai would have been one of the world’s tallest buildings. Plans featured private apartments, rooftop gardens, and a five-star hotel with the highest bedrooms in the world. Its lofty crown would also hold the world’s highest Turkish bath – developers in Dubai are certainly never shy of a record-breaking challenge. The project broke ground in 2006, but stalled and was officially cancelled in 2015, a victim of the Global Financial Crisis.
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Source: Burj Al Alam
Hôtel des Horlogers, Switzerland
Status: Open
The phrase ski-in/ski-out is one that fans of the sport will be familiar with, but 'ski-on' is undoubtedly not so common. This hotel, which was built by Danish architect firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) for Swiss watch brand Audemars Piguet in La Vallée de Joux, has a sloping zig-zag roof consisting of five slats that enables guests to literally clip into their skis and go. Elsewhere, the hotel has two restaurants, a bar and a spa. In warmer seasons, the snow melts to expose a carpet of grass underneath.
Contributions by Charlotte Johnstone, Hazel Plush and Lee Cobaj
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Source: bjarke ingels group
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