The world's best floating hotels: From London and Paris to remote corners of Thailand and Canada
As a new ‘floatel’ drifts into the UK capital, here are five of the globe’s best addresses on water
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Your support makes all the difference.Good Hotel, London, UK
Opening this weekend, Good Hotel floated over to London from Amsterdam, where it’s been welcoming guests since 2012. Originally built as an immigration detention centre, Good Hotel now operates as a social enterprise, training up and hiring long-term unemployed people. It’s moored at Royal Victoria Dock, with views of the O2, and has 148 rooms, a rooftop garden and café, as well as a communal “living room”. Doubles from £120, room only (goodhotellondon.com).
Off Paris Seine, France
The French capital’s first floating hotel opened this summer on the Left Bank of the Seine. The rooms are stacked over two levels, and there’s a bar with great river views, plus a lap pool – complete with a much-Instagrammed gold inflatable swan – and deck. The décor is chic, minimalist and – in the entry-level rooms, at least – mostly monochrome, with touches of dark wood. Doubles from €160, room only (offparisseine.com).
Read more: Best Paris hotels
The Manta Resort, Tanzania
At the Manta Resort, on Tanzania’s Pemba Island, guests can check into a pontoon that comes with a bedroom four metres below the surface. The submerged room is essentially a glass box, accessible by ladder, with underwater spotlights beneath each window, allowing you to check out the marine life outside. Fancy coming up for air? Soak up the sun on one of the two decks. Underwater room from US$1,500 (£1,209), all inclusive (themantaresort.com).
River Kwai Jungle Rafts, Thailand
Floating on wooden rafts atop the River Kwai in western Thailand, the rooms here look like traditional huts, complete with furniture made by local villagers. There’s no electricity, and instead guests are brought kerosene lamps in the evenings, while during the day you can lounge on the shared terrace, take a snooze on your private hammock or cool off by leaping into the river (life vests are provided). Doubles from THB2,467 (£55) (riverkwaijunglerafts.com).
King Pacific Lodge, British Columbia, Canada
You wouldn’t think it at first glance but this huge lodge is in fact floating. Open only in summer and accessed by sea plane, it’s aimed at anglers, with the owners organising fishing trips for guests, and once the season closes it floats off to its winter mooring. Inside, the style is log cabin chic, with chunky wooden furniture, wood panelling and open fires. Five-day fishing packages from C$5,295 (£3,156) including accommodation and instruction (kingpacificlodge.com).
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