This new luxury hotel near Shanghai has been built in a former deep pit mine.
ADVERTISEMENTFrom converted cranes to Victorian-era forts and sewage pipes, hotels often appear in places you would never expect. For example, we already wrote about the world's first underwater residence earlier. The latest addition to this list is the world’s first underground hotel.
Located in Shanghai, the “earthscraper” Intercontinental Shanghai Wonderland Hotel was built vertically along the precipice of an underground, water-filled quarry over a 10-year period.
Exploited during World War II, the quarry was shut down in 2000 due to new environmental protection regulations.
Xu Rongmao, chairman of the Shimao Group, came up with the idea of building something unusual at the location in 2006.
"I think that this project is good for the environment. We could have abandoned this quarry. But we didn't. We turned it into a treasure", Shimao Group Vice-Chairman Xu Shitan said at a press conference marking the opening of the hotel on November 15.
UNESCO representative Michael Croft also lauded the project.
"I found the Intercontinental Shanghai Wonderland Hotel to be inspiring in terms of sustainable development, and certainly it's a model that has been inspired by a vision of a better future,” he said.
British architect Martin Jochman, who designed the hotel, said the project had made history as “the first time to turn an abandoned quarry into a wonderful hotel beneath the ground.”
Click on the video above to learn more about this unique luxury hotel.
