The Australian Floating Hotel That Ended Up in North Korea https://t.co/qyXwTVgQvk
— Amusing Planet (@AmusingPlanet) December 24, 2019
A floating hotel? Isn't that just a cruise ship? Not exactly. Back in the 1980s, cruise ships weren't as big as they are now. And this particular hotel was unique- seven stories tall and situated on the Great Barrier Reef off Australia's coast. A spectacular place to stay.
The Four Seasons Barrier Reef Resort was the brainchild of Townsville developer Doug Tarca, who wanted to put a hotel on the Great Barrier Reef so that tourists could have immediate access to it. The original plan was to permanently moor three cruise ships around the reef, but this was deemed impractical. A chance encounter with a Swedish company who specialized in building floating dorms for oil rigs transformed that idea into a floating resort instead.
As for the story about it ending up in North Korea, no, it didn't just float there on its own. Rather, circumstances decreed that the floating hotel wasn't going to make money in the long run, and it ended up being sold over and over again. Read the story of the floating Four Seasons Barrier Reef Resort at Amusing Planet.