DUBAI // An underwater hotel more suited to a sci-fi comic than Dubai's coast could be ready to welcome guests in less than five years, developers say.
The Water Discus hotel, announced in May last year, is still in the initial planning stages and has yet to achieve full financing.
But the company behind the project, Swiss firm BIG InvestConsult, believes it will not be long before the flying saucer-like structure is built off the coast of the emirate.
"I think it will be within five years," said Bogdan Gutkowski, president of the company.
But Mr Gutkowski said the company had still to choose the final design and an exact location.
"This is still under negotiation and discussions with the final investor," he said. He declined to say how much it would cost to build and how much of the financing was still outstanding.
Connecting the hotel to land by a bridge was an issue, said Mr Gutkowski, and the Palm islands were being viewed as a possible location.
But, a lot would depend on the final design, he added.
The project was announced last year after BIG InvestConsult signed an agreement with Dubai's Drydocks World to act as contractor.
"Our expertise lies in developing future strategies aimed at advancing the construction of technology-driven pioneering projects in the maritime sector," said Khamis Juma Buamim, the chairman of Drydocks World and Maritime World, said at the time.
The project is not connected to Hydropolis, an underwater hotel for Dubai announced in 2003 and planned to be finished by 2009.
Projected to cost Dh1.1 billion, the start date for Hydropolis was postponed several times, and work never quite began.
But Uwe Hohmann, the chief executive of Crescent Hydropolis, the company behind the proposed hotel, said the idea was still alive.
"There is something happening, but I cannot yet disclose it," he said. "This is typical in this type of business. Sometimes it works, sometimes it takes some time.
"The idea is still alive."
He declined to say whether the company was still looking at Dubai as a possible site for the hotel.
Ian Albert, the regional director of Colliers International, said the prospect of an underwater hotel could boost the tourist sector.
"The hotel market here is strong," Mr Albert said. "The hotels in the prime spots are full, and the occupancy levels across the city are rising.
"To introduce something that is a new concept to that market, it should be well received, even if people want to stay there for one or two nights just to have a different experience.
"The more new attractions Dubai continues to build, the greater the longevity of its tourist space."
mcroucher@thenational.ae
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: SimpliFi
Started: August 2021
Founder: Ali Sattar
Based: UAE
Industry: Finance, technology
Investors: 4DX, Rally Cap, Raed, Global Founders, Sukna and individuals
Company%20Profile
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Thailand v UAE, Tuesday, 4pm (UAE)
TV: Abu Dhabi Sports
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The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.