What Is an Underwater Hotel?
As there is no hotel in the world (yet) that is entirely underwater, any hotel with a substantial section of its premises underwater – either a hotel room or a restaurant or bar – may be colloquially referred to as an underwater hotel.
There are currently thirteen hotels around the world that can host guests underwater.
The Maldives, has six underwater hotels, all six of which have restaurants in their underwater section but only one, Conrad Rangali Island, also has an underwater hotel room.
Atlantis the Palm Resort Dubai has two underwater hotel suites to go with its underwater restaurant. Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore has eleven suites and one restaurant underwater while Intercontinental Shanghai Wonderland in China and Reef Suites, off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, both have two underwater suites with the former also having a restaurant underwater.
All are exclusive and expensive, luxury resorts but somewhat more basic, and cheaper, underwater accommodation can be found at Jules’s Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida, The Manta Resort, Pemba Island, Tanzania, and Utter Inn in Lake Mälaren, Sweden.
How Are Underwater Hotels Constructed?
Constructing safe inhabitable spaces underwater is a complicated feat of engineering, with pretty much zero room for error.
It goes without saying that they have to be completely waterproof but, even at shallow depths, water pressure can prove testing for all but the sturdiest of specialized structures.
The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island’s underwater suite (pictured left, under construction), to give an example, was made from concrete, steel, and thick portions of the type of acrylic glass used for aquariums and submarines. And then finished with vast amounts of heavy-duty marine sealant.
It was prefabricated, almost in its entirety, on dry land in Singapore and then shipped to the Maldives. There the 600-tonne structure was lowered underwater and fixed firmly in place with concrete and steel piles. The total cost? $15 million.
All 5 Star hotel underwater sections will have a fairly similar, and similarly expensive, engineering story.
Jules’s Sea Lodge in Key Largo though will have cost a lot less, as a converted marine research laboratory, though much less of it is glass. It was built of alloyed steel and other metals in common with submarines and with similar small acrylic glass windows.
It is connected to the surface via cables that supply power, water, telecommunication and fresh air. It lies just off the sea bed and is only accessible by scuba dive.
Utter Inn in Lake Mälaren and The Manta Resort were both built for purpose but both have a similarly cost-conscious, practical design. Both being basically sealed boxes of alloyed metal with acrylic glass windows fixed between the lake/sea floor and a surface-level access section.
How Much Do Underwater Hotels Cost?
As I mentioned, that single Conrad Maldives’ underwater room cost a pretty staggering $15 million to build so you’d be very right in thinking a stay there would not come cheap.
To put it bluntly – these things are expensive.
You’d want to budget about $15,000 USD a night for the privilege of a stay there at Conrad Maldives’ underwater room in 2024 (And that’s if you can – it’s almost always booked out).
Atlantis the Palm Dubai’s two underwater suites won’t be much cheaper – they’re around $15,000 USD in 2024.
Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore though is much cheaper at under $2,000 USD while the cheapest of all these 5-star underwater rooms is at InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland.
Their, equally impressive underwater room, can usually be got for less than $1,500 USD a night – an absolute steal in relative terms!