I like ambitious projects in any field, new and out of the ordinary. One of these comes from a Chinese real estate company, which will radically change tourists' view of luxury hotels.
The project is called "Shanghai Shimao InterContinental”And is the first hotel built underground. The expression is a bit forced. In reality, the tourist complex will be built in an old stone quarry, and its dimensions are: 100 meters deep, 240 meters long and 160 meters wide.
The "land of wonders" will extend over an area of 428.000 sqm. It will consist of a luxury hotel that will house 19 shops, 380 luxury rooms, underwater restaurant, swimming pools, waterfalls, sports grounds and recreational facilities.
The developer of the project is Property Group Shimao, which works with the British company Atkins (the one who also made the famous Burj Al Arab in Dubai). The opening of the complex is planned for the end of 2014 or the beginning of 2015. Costs for the hotel and the amusement park are estimated to be at least 555 million. Tourists will have to pay a minimum of 320 dollars / night for a room, double as compared to other luxury hotels in China.
I should point out that this complex will be in the vicinity of Shanghai. From the 3D image the complex looks good. Sounds kind of weird, but anything is possible in the 21st century. The work has already begun and I hope to see new images taken from the site.