6 Unbelievable Underwater Hotels to Stay At
Imagine lying in bed with fish swimming round your head, dining in the company of manta-rays or bathing with sharks. The new phenomenon of underwater hotels offers an exciting and unique experience for marine-loving guests. Here we look at rooms from the fairly affordable to the extremely expensive, however they offer an incredible once-in-a-lifetime hotel experience.
1. Utter Inn Hotel, Vasteras, Sweden
On the surface, the Utter Inn Hotel appears to be a small, typically Swedish house floating on the water. But this endearing façade is more than it seems, as beneath lies a simple room with panoramic underwater views. More an art-experience than a luxury hotel, this small floating vessel is designed by the local artist Mikael Genberg. Downstairs there is just room for twin beds, and a table. Amenities are also basic – there is no electricity, but there is a portable gas heater lighting, a toilet and a basic cooking facilities – but really, what more could you need when you are surrounded by your own real-life aquarium?
Guests are transported to the hotel, one kilometre offshore, by boat, and are left alone for their stay. If you don’t feel like cooking, book the deluxe package which includes delivered meals. Spend your days relaxing on the deck, watching the sunset, swimming in the clear waters or paddling your inflatable dinghy to a nearby island.
Cost: You can book the Utter Inn Hotel for just $360 per couple/night, deluxe packages starting around $500.
2. Jules’ Undersea Lodge, Key Largo, Florida
With its name a salute to Jules Verne, the author of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules' Undersea Lodge is an experience for the more adventurous guest. Sitting on the ocean floor, 9 metres below the surface of Emerald Lagoon, guests are required to scuba dive to get to their rooms. Beginning its life as an underwater research laboratory, the lodge is now a two-bedroom retreat that isn’t short of creature comforts. Hot showers, a well-stocked kitchen and movies are on offer, although no movie could compare to the experience of lying in bed watching the curious tropical fish approach the windows. Breakfast, drinks and snacks are provided and pizza dinners are delivered to the room. Don’t worry if you’re not an experienced diver, the hotel also offers scuba diving lessons.
Cost: Around $1000 per couple/night
3. Manta Resort, Pemba Island, Zanzibar
Luring guests with promises of “serenity” and “close encounters with nature”, the breathtaking Underwater Room at the Manta Resort is one of the most extraordinary hotel experiences in the world. This is not a luxury resort, rather an opportunity for escape to pristine, turquoise waters alongside a coral reef.
The Underwater Room is actually a private three-level floating island in the crystal clear waters of the reef. At sea level, the landing deck contains a comfortable lounge area for relaxing and a bathroom with an open-air shower. Climb the ladder to the top deck for sunbathing and night time star-gazing. The most magical experience awaits down below, where the bedroom is a glass bubble from which you can watch shoals of tropical reef fish and exotic marine life swimming by. At night, the underwater spotlights beneath each window attract some more unusual and shy marine creatures with squid, octopus and Spanish dancers dancing coming to visit and even attaching themselves to the glass panes.
All meals are delivered to the room at a pre-arranged time with and further snacks and delicacies are on board. For daytime adventures, a kayak, snorkel and fins are provided.
Cost: $1500 per couple/night
4. Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai
Atlantis is a majestic resort, built on The Palm, a man-made island in Dubai. This 5-star luxury hotel offers a next-level experience with two exotic underwater suites looking straight into the Ambassador Lagoon, the resorts’ aquarium that is home to more than 65,000 marine creatures. The ethereal Poseidon and Neptune suites offer stunning underwater views through floor-to-ceiling windows in the bedrooms, lounge and bathrooms. Here you can sleep, dine and bathe with the fish, who seem just as interested in you as you are in them. The soft-lit ambience of the lavishly furnished suites creates the perfect environment for the most romantic and memorable moments. Of course guests also have their own private butler, complimentary massages and access to spa facilities.
If you feel the need to leave the opulence of your underwater palace, just ask your butler to arrange a swim with the dolphins, or if you’re brave, try the Predator Dive, which provides an opportunity to hand-feed up to 14 different species of sharks and rays.
Cost: Around $5000 a couple/night
5. Poseidon Undersea Resort, Fiji
Thirteen metres under the sea in an off-shore lagoon of a private island, this five-star luxury hotel will set a new benchmark for the underwater hotel experience.
With 70 percent of the resort is made from acrylic glass, Poseidon Undersea Resort offers a stunning, ever changing underwater backdrop to your stay. With floor to ceiling windows, the pod-like suites also contain underwater lights and external fish feeders, ensuring eye-popping views of the colourful marine life. Promising “pure luxury” each suite also has its own Jacuzzi and is decked out for maximum comfort. The complex will also house two undersea spa treatment rooms, a restaurant, a gym and even a library, all encased in acrylic glass with views into the pristine waters, teaming with an abundance of sea life. For an unforgettable and unique wedding, you can book the undersea wedding chapel, its transparent wall overlooking a coral garden.
On the island will be more rooms, restaurants, tennis courts and a nine-hole golf course. Guests will be flown to and from the island on a private plane, included in the price. Further adventures include piloting your own three-person mini-sub, adventuring on a 300-foot expedition submarine and scuba diving in pristine waters.
Poseidon undersea resort is not yet finished, but more than 150,000 guests have registered to stay at the hotel and already potential locations are being investigated for a second resort.
Cost: $40,000 per couple/week, which includes two nights in a luxury underwater suite and four nights in a beach of over-water villa
6. Lovers Deep, St. Lucia
More a luxury submarine than a hotel, Lovers Deep takes the concept of underwater accommodation to new depths. Guests not only choose exactly how they would like their submarine to be decked out, but also where they would like their hotel to be moored, be it a stunning coral reef off the coast of St. Lucia or a sunken battleship in the Red Sea.
There is an element of James Bond to this submarine experience with sound-proof rooms, double showers, piped Barry White, and an aphrodisiac menu including oysters and a “fondant of chocolate with an essence of pomegranate”, there is plenty to get you in the mood. Optional extras include a rose petal scattering service and champagne breakfasts in bed.
Of course, such an unbelievable experience must come with an unbelievable price tag.
Cost: From $300,000 dollars per night