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An Underwater Hotel May Appear in Eilat
The Eilat municipality has approved a very unusual project – an underwater hotel developed by architect Daniel Libeskind. This is a truly futuristic building that offers something we have never seen before. Guests will be able to stay and relax in their underwater rooms with fish swimming past windows. Without a doubt, if this Eilat hotel is ever open, it will become a new iconic landmark of the city.
According to the proposal by Libeskind, the hotel will float on the water and will have an underwater part that will descend by 15 meters into the Red Sea. The guest rooms will look like capsules that will be built in a coral reef, so visitors will be able to admire a simply mesmerizing view. However, just like some other projects by Libeskind (for example, the Jewish Museum in Berlin), the underwater hotel is highly controversial and has many critics.
This hotel in Eilat is set to appear next to Mall Hayam or Mall or the Sea and opposite the Kisovsky beach. In the past, an underwater restaurant was located on that site, but it closed later. The restaurant was small, but the hotel is a significantly bigger construction and it may cause harm to the reef. This is one of the reasons why so many people are against the underwater hotel. The report by the Inter-University Institute of Marine Sciences in Eilat states that building of the hotel means the destruction of the reef. Moreover, according to the project, the hotel will be located on the beach. Currently, that’s a public beach, but it will be closed once the hotel starts operating.
Nowadays, there is only one place in Eilat where visitors can see the underwater life. This is the famous Coral Beach Underwater Observatory that is open to the general public as an adult ticket costs US$23. If the underwater hotel in Eilat opens, it is likely to serve only a limited number of wealthy guests, and the benefit from such a project is questionable. Nevertheless, the architect and developer prepare for the start of building works.
The reported cost of construction is US$57 million. The hotel with the total area of more than 25,000 square meters might get from 82 to 106 guest rooms. Both the Tourism Ministry and Eilat City Hall support the project. Eilat is one of the most popular vacation destinations in Israel. This resort is well-known for its sunny weather, excellent beaches, coral reef, and a well-developed infrastructure. The city’s tourism declined sharply in the period from 1997 to 2015, with the drop of 83%. However, during the first part of 2017, 26% more tourists visited Israel, and many of them stayed in Eilat.
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