Could We Soon Be Staying in Floating Hotels in the Future?

[PinkPanties]

London, England (CNN) -- We could one day be spending our holidays in a gigantic vertical airship that floats thousands of meters above ground if a design concept becomes reality.

The Aircruise is a radical new design that promises to accommodate guests in a 265-meter tall hotel that could float above city skylines or over dramatic landscapes according to its designers at Seymourpowell.

"The Aircruise concept questions whether the future of luxury travel should be based around space-constrained, resource hungry, and all too often stressful airline travel," Nick Talbot, head of transportation at Seymourpowell said.

"A more serene transport experience will appeal to people looking for a more reflective journey, where the experience of travel itself is more important than getting from A to B quickly."



While the Aircruise is only a conceptual proposal, designers have developed a detailed and achievable technical plan for the craft that could allow it to be built in the future.

A maximum of 100 guests and crew would be allowed onboard and there would only be 10 luxury apartments available for rent.

There would also be large internal spaces for dining as well as a bar and lounge area for passengers.

"I can't think of another way you can experience pure luxury travel," Talbot said.

"Imagine sitting in your stateroom and seeing the Serengeti below you or floating above the tallest skyscraper in the world."

Hydrogen gas would be used as the primary lifting gas and it would be capable of lifting around 1.2 kg per cubic meter of volume.

Large hydrogen fuel cells would also provide on board power and some drinking water.

The cruising speed of the Aircruise would range from 100 to 150 kilometers an hour and a journey from London to New York would take 37 hours.

"We think the new form of luxury will be those that have the time to enjoy an experience," Talbot said.

"We think of this as taking a cruise, except you'd be floating high above the earth."

The Aircruise's designers say that it would take a huge amount of money to actually build such a thing and at its current stage, it's only a feasibility study.

[guttsfukk]

a 37 hour cruise sounds a bit short though.

but the idea of floating around sounds pretty awesome

[kellyhound]

Can't wait

[PinkPanties]

I would love to be able to do that!

[shin]

can we say hindenburg?

[jsf]

Originally Posted by shin

can we say hindenburg?

I was thinking exactly the same thing....

[PinkPanties]

depends on newer technology, and how the engineers are able to stabilize any gasses used....