If you dream of watching the Northern Lights in decadent style, then you should wait until 2017—when this wonderful, floating, snowflake-shaped hotel will be ready in the icy reaches of northern Norway.
The creation of Dutch Docklands, which specializes in the construction of floating structures, the 86-bedroom Krystall hotel is planned to float in the fjords near Tromso. It will be built in sections and then towed into position and tethered with cables. While it will move up to six to ten feet from its theoretical position, guests should, apparently, be unable to notice its movements.
The glass-roofed hotel will provide a space from which to view the Aurora Borealis in luxury. Mercifully, though, the hotel is said to not just be "self-sustainable" but also to have a minimal impact on its environment. All of which sounds expensive. But while it certainly doesn't come cheap, the structure has been budgeted as "almost the same as a land-based hotel of this type, but with an additional 15 per cent increase to cover the cost of the floating foundation."
The build is expected to start in mid-2015, and should be completed 18 months later by the end of 2017. Now what a Christmas present a trip there would make. [Telegraph via Verge]
Image by Koen Olthuis and Dutch Docklands