For many years man has always pushed for what can be considered the highest form of luxury that a hotel could potentially offer it guests. There are many great hotels out there that can offer you exceptional views, amazing amenities, and terrific service. However there are only a few that are completely underwater. Underwater hotels when first conceived were thought to be something that only occurred in dreams, however there are a few today that are making those dreams tomorrow. There are also some terrific sounding hotels that could be just around the corner. We are going to examine a variety of different hotels that are located underwater.
Jules Undersea Lodge
The first underwater hotel that we are going to look at is Jules Undersea Lodge, appropriately named after Jules Verne. Jules Undersea Lodge has the bragging rights to say that it was the first underwater hotel in the world. Back in 1970 a group of scientist, engineers, and marine biologists created the La Chalupa Research Laboratory. At the time this was the most advanced water-based habitat/laboratory. After the crew finished with their work they had this massive underwater station and nothing to do with it. Sometime around the 1980’s the lab was transported to Key Largo, Florida to where it was converted into a hotel.
The hotel is about 30 feet under the water and is located on the bottom of the Emerald Lagoon. If you want to book a room here then you must be prepared to scuba dive as guests will have to dive underwater to get into the hotel. The hotel can provide you with all the gear needed to get to the hotel, and including tours of near by diving spots. This hotel is also the only underwater hotel in the United States. If you want to stay overnight at the hotel it will cost you about $675 dollars per night. The hotel is really small and you wont be getting five-star service, however this is realistically one of the only underwater hotels out there as we will soon find out.
The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island
The next hotel is located in the Maldives and is pretty exceptional. The hotel is not really an underwater hotel at all as nearly all of the rooms are above water, however they have a small restaurant that is underwater. The Ithaa Undersea Restaurant is the first of its kind and was rated “the most beautiful restaurant in the world” by the New York Times. While it is a restaurant if you are extremely wealthy, the people at the Conrad will turn this amazing restaurant into a premium room that you can stay in.
Hydropolis and Poseidon
As of right now there really are not that many underwater hotels out there. However there are two promising hotels that are currently could be the most exclusive and luxurious underwater hotels in the world: Hydropolis and Poseidon.
Hydropolis (mock up pictured above) is currently being developed off of the coast of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. If there is anyone in the world that can achieve a billion dollar underwater super-hotel then it would be people in Dubai. They gave us indoor ski rinks, manmade islands shaped like palm tress, and the amazing sail-like Burj Al Arab hotel. The hotel is planned to be about 20 meters off the cost and will cover around 260 hectares of space. The hotel was designed by Joachim Hauser and Roland Dieterle. The hotel would be comprised of three different segments: a land station, a connection train, and then the underwater hotel itself. The hotel was planned to open in 2006 but got pushed back many times for financial reasons. It is currently in limbo as to the status of its production, but if it were to be built it would probably be the nicest hotel in the world.
The Poseidon Underwater Resort is another underwater hotel still in the drawing boards whose fate remains unknown. This hotel would be located in Fiji. It is supposed to be built 40feet underwater and was developed by the submarine engineer Bruce Jones. The hotel would have many rooms, a restaurant, lobbies, and a variety of other features. However again this hotel is still in limbo as well, and there is no news about when or if it will be opening. While underwater hotels seem really amazing, they currently might just be too good to be true, at least for right now. We hope to see these two hotels open up because they could be some of the nicest in the world.
Photo from Conrad Maldives, Jules Lodge, Hydropolis
