http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2012-02-14T18:42:29Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/Robert%20Bigelow http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/3/1/11427/76023 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/4912/BigelowSpaceHotel.jpg" class="top"></p> <p>True, there are only <a href="http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/2/28/03942/8131/travel/There+Are+Only+Two+More+Chances+to+Watch+the+Space+Shuttle+Launch%2C+Ever">two more Space Shuttle launches to go</a>, but geek idol and hotelier <b>Robert Bigelow</b> says that ain't no thing. The Budget Suites of America founder is planning a space hotel that could be in orbit as early as 2016. Yay, for <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/11/5/10142/9937/hotels/Listen_The_Space_Hotel_is_Not_Going_to_Open_in_2012">even</a> <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2010/9/30/121840/749/hotels/How_Many_More_Times_Do_We_Have_to_Hear_About_a_Planned_Space_Hotel_">more</a> space hotel rumors!</p> <p>What makes us actually, kinda sorta believe this one? For one thing, Bigelow has already launched two prototypes, through his holding company Bigelow Aerospace, so he's already much farther along than your average space hotel developer. (<a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/Richard%20Branson">Ahem</a>.)</p> <p>He's also got a plan to make some money, <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/os-nasa-commercial-future-20110227,0,1522468,full.story">reports the Orlando Sentinel</a>:<blockquote><p>Bigelow officials said they plan to target space-faring countries looking to expand their pbb 2011-03-01T14:01:34-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/11/14/93455/223 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3930/bigelow.jpg" class="imgborder"><p>It's looking more likely all the time that <a href="http://www.jaunted.com/tag/Space%20Travel">space tourism</a> will be led by private industry, not slow-moving NASA. So who better to get the infrastructure going than a hotel man? <p>The November issue of <i>Wired</i> magazine has an feature story on Robert Bigelow, billionaire founder of the <a href="http://www.budgetsuites.com/"><b>Budget Suites</b></a> hotel chain. Turns out he is a bit of a space nut, living in Nevada and owning a chunk of land where UFOs have been sighted. He has been pouring his fortune into <a href="http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/">Bigelow Aerospace</a>, a company that is setting up innovative space stations that inflate in orbit instead of having to launch in pieces. <p>You won't find the story online, unfortunately. Despite the magazine's Tim L. 2007-11-14T13:30:01-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/