Already drawing the crowds in the South American resort of San Alfonso del Mar in Chile, this artificial lagoon and swimming pool has been acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the the biggest and longest swimming pool in the world.
The pool is 1013 metres (3,324 feet) long and covers an area of 8 hectares (19.77 acres), had a 115ft deep end and holds 66 million gallons (250,000 cubic meters ) of water. It is even navigable in small boats !
The idea to create this resort came as far back as 1997, when Chilean real estate developer and biochemist Fernando Fischmann, wanted to create a revolutionary resort. The motivating factor to create such an immense pool was the Pacific Ocean itself. The waters of the Pacific Ocean coast of Chile is cold, unclean and dangerous, so Mr Fischmann wanted to create a place for people to swim and enjoy water sports in a comfortable and safe environment. Rather than creating just another small swimming pool, he wanted something totally extraordinary.
The water is pumped in from the Pacific Ocean and treated before being pumped into the pool. The water temperature is kept at 26°C. It is 9°C warmer than the adjoining sea, allowing it to be used on cold days
It took five years to build, cost nearly £1billion and the annual maintenance bill will be £2million.
French industrial designer Jean-Marie Massaud believes that slow cruising in an airship could be the next step in air travel and he is partnering with Onera, France’s space agency, to create the world’s first luxury airship.
“Manned Cloud” will have a top speed of 170 kilometers per hour, but will generally travel at 130 kilometers per hour, a more comfortable speed for sight-seeing. The vessel, which will be 210 meters long, 82 meters wide and 52 meters high, will only require re-fuelling after 5,000 kilometers and will be able to remain airborne for roughly three days.
Massaud Studio is promoting the futuristic vessel as an ecologically friendly way to travel. Landscapes will be enjoyed from above rather than being disfigured or damaged by tourist infrastructure. A restaurant, bookstore, fitness studio and bar will provide entertainment, should watching the world go by through the enormous panorama windows, or tanning on the sun deck on the top of the vessel, become boring.
Intrigued by Massaud’s spaceship-like design and the possibility of a new aeronautics market, Onera has been testing the aerodynamics and flight-control capabilities of a scale model for the past year.
This spring, the agency recommended a slightly less grand version of the airship, capable of carrying 15 passengers and traveling at 80 mph. Massaud hopes the new design will attract the attention of private investors, from whom he aims to secure as much as $15 billion to begin building the Manned Cloud, with a sail date of 2020.
A reference in modern architecture and originality, Unique’s spacey, green copper façade alone makes this hotel unlike any other. The imposing hotel, shaped like a modern Noah’s Arkbalances on two thin concrete walls, which anchor the semi-circular monolith to the ground.
Located in the well-heeled residential area of Jardins, and just meters from Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo’s largest green area, the building rises like a gracious ocean liner in dry-dock.
The funny thing is that when pharmaceutical heir Jonas Siaulys decided at the last minute to scrap a shopping mall project and build a boutique hotel instead, his architect Ruy Ohtake delivered new sketches within 48 hours. “I think he realized that the possibilities for a hotel were greater than for a mall,” says Siaulys. “And he knew that we’d give him creative freedom.”
Shielding dark glass and a desert garden of mini, sand-toned cubes of rock, palms and agaves are the first impressionsthat the hotel offers. Dramatic high internal spaces such as the lobby are excentuated and illuminated with walls of beige marble, and sharp, geometric themes make the spectacle even grander.
In the rooms, the bathrooms borrow a page from the driver’s manual of a Ferrari convertible. Pop open the vertically sliding divider and guests can soak in the bathtub with a full view of the bedroom and television. Pop it closed for privacy.
And when the time comes to go for a swim, backstrokes can be done in a slender red pool on the top floor. The sun deck offers a privileged view of São Paulo’s imposing skyline.
The “Bridge Suite” ranks third in terms of most expensive hotel rooms in the world, at $25,000. Even with its large price tag, the suite currently has a five-year waiting list, and requires guests to stay at least four nights in the suite. It is located in the span that connects the two Royal Towers.
This is the hotel’s presidential suite, which has ten rooms with more than 5,000 square feet (460 m²) of living space. The Bridge Suite comes with its own butler and cook, and the kitchen has its own entrance so that the staff never bothers the guest. The suite include gold chandeliers, a baby grand piano, and balconies on both sides.
Hotel Everland, the creation of Swiss artists Sabina Lang & Daniel Baumann, on the roof of Palais de Tokyo is an art consisting of an actual one-room hotel. It offers 1970′s-style glamour, a turquoise-tiled bathroom, a record player with a collection of vinyl discs, & a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower but remember no TV.
If you are interested in the room in the hotel, you can actually stay in it & is offered at a price of 333 Euros per night during weekdays & 444 Euros at weekends. But do remember it will remain atop the Palais de Tokyo until the end of 2008 only.
The Palazzo Versace Hotel in Dubai will ultimately be one of 16 luxury branded resorts located around the world, which will take Gianni Versace inspired ostentation to a new level.
The completed hotel will incorporate 169 private flats all decorated and furnished in the Versace style.
Some of the more interesting features will include Hand cut mosaic floors, Communal areas will have immense seawater aquariums with exotic Red Sea fish and also under beach cooling system to ensure you don’t burn your feet.
This market seems to be defying the global doom with 100 units already sold. Kate Hudson is reported to be one of the purchasers having bought a 2,210 sq ft flat for £2.23 million ($4.46 million).
Palazzo Versace already have a resort on Australia’s Gold Coast with other’s planned for Goa, Abu Dhabi, India, China, Russia, Paris, London, New York and Rome.
Already drawing the crowds in the South American resort of San Alfonso del Mar in Chile, this artificial lagoon and swimming pool has been acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the the biggest and longest swimming pool in the world.
Source : reuters
