China builds a luxury 'groundscraper' hotel in old quarry
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Would you spend upwards of $300 to stay in a hotel resort more than 300 feet below the Earth's surface?
Construction began last month on Shanghai’s first “groundscraper”, soon to be the InterContinental Shimao Shanghai Wonderland, a 19-story, 380-room luxury hotel and theme park, reports Smart Planet.
The building, being built in an abandoned quarry at an expected cost of some $555 million, is an engineering feat designed by U.K.-based engineering firm Atkins, the company behind the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai. According to the developers, the hotel will be grafted onto the side of the quarry, where three floors will be resting above ground on the crater, and another 16 floors will be underground. A massive 190-feet tall glass curtain wall that is designed to mimic a waterfall will cascade down the rockface, reports CNN.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Below the surface the resort will have restaurants, luxury hotel rooms, spa services, an underwater restaurant, an athletic complex for water sports and a 32-feet deep aquarium.
Above ground, guests will be able to use the quarry’s cliffs for extreme sports like bungee jumping and rock climbing.
The hotel is due to open in late 2014 or early 2015, and rooms is expected to run at a rate of $320 per night.