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German Winter Pleasure Dome

Where: Tropical-Islands-Allee 1, Brandenburg, Germany

In Germany this winter looking for an escape, but don't have the time or money to get yourself somewhere tropical?  Then get in your fahrfugnugen and head to the Tropical Island Resort, however, don't expect to find a hotel inside the resort.

Tropical Islands Resort is housed in a giant, freestanding dome.  This dome formerly housed a large Soviet air base, and after that a zeppelin company named CargoLifter.  Once CargoLifter shuttered for good in 2002, Colin Au, a Malaysian multi-millionaire entrepreneur, bought the dome for €17.5 million and hatched Tropical Islands Resort.  Mr. Au has shoveled  £48 million into the project, all in the hopes that he will build a resort that will attract over two million visitors a year.

The concept makes sense.  Germany is as cold as the planet Hoth during the long winter months, so open up a domed oasis where summer persists all year long.  70 degree temperatures, palm trees, sandy beaches, any day of the year, just an hour from Berlin.

What's missing?  A hotel.  If you visit Tropical Islands, and plan on spending more than a couple hours, you will have to venture outside the dome into the hinterland every night to find your accommodations.  According to the resort website, the resort will help you pin down lodging outside of the weather dome, but alas, no rooms exist inside the structure.

Spend all day swimming in 70 degree weather, then walk out into the elements of a German winter to retrieve your car and head back to your hotel.  Hmm, sounds like a recipe to catch a cold to us.

Related Stories:
·    Dome sand and sea [Guardian]
·    Bringing The Tropics To Germany [Deutsche Welle]