London-based Thomson Holidays, one of the U.K.’s biggest tour operators, hosted the “Future Holiday Forum,” with leaders in travel, technology and design. The most surprising part of its report, “2024: A Holiday Odyssey,” predicted that the hotel of the future will be a foldable pod on stilts, which can be plunked down in remote locations. The pods will be self-sustainable, and guests can choose the images they want to be projected on the walls. When a destination falls out of fashion, whether due to demand or terrorism, the pod can simply be folded up and moved.
The idea behind it is that the pods will have a minimal impact on the environment,” says Rachel O’Reilly of Thomson Holidays. “They don’t require infrastructure like roads to get there, as guests can helicopter in.”
What’s even more surprising is that the pod could potentially be made and put into use. The architects behind the design, London-based m3 Architects whose projects include the London Eye (imagine a giant Ferris wheel with glass pods) and Berlin’s Reichstag, say the pod hotel is entirely feasible. “The technology is there,” says partner Nadi Jahangiri. “Someone just has to pay to build it.” Jahangiri estimates it would cost between $72 to $104 million to build, and says he has received a lot of interest from ship owners, who have dry docks and enough cargo space to accommodate the
construction of a pod.
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