Though the mammoth cruiser made its final journey from NYC to Dubai in 2008, it has largely just sat in its current home in Port Rashid harbor ever since. Meaning not only did the ship itself remain unused, its location in the older part of town, away from all the flashy new hotels that have gone up along Sheikh Zayed Road, caused it to remain off the radar for most tourists and sightseers in the city.
Originally, the QE2 was supposed to be moved out to Palm Jumeirah to sit alongside The Atlantis. But now it seems Dubai wants to keep her exactly where she is, in hopes of making the neighborhood into more of a tourist attraction.
Of course, as far as we're concerned, this will all depend on the finished rooms themselves. Cute, fun, nautical-themed rooms = lots of tourists. Boring, uninspired rooms = ghost ship. So which will it be?
The Telegraph reports:
"Initially the owners had hoped to transform the ship into a lavishly-appointed 1000-room hotel, but now they say it will feature just 300 rooms, and will retain many of its original features.
'Unfortunately we had many ambitious plans but they didn't work,' said Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, chairman of Istithmar. 'There were plans to renovate it in such a way that it becomes something totally different.... but we realised that a lot of people like the ship as it was.'"
Mmm, sounds like they're going for more of a museum vibe. We could get on board with that.
[Photo: Flickr / Worlddiscoverer]
Comments (0)
Post a CommentReturn to » The QE2 Is Finally (Hopefully) On Its Way To Becoming Dubai's First Floating Hotel
Join the conversation!