Nimbus, a five-star hot air balloon hotel in Saudi Arabia, is presumably in the works. The Saudi Arabian, carbon-neutral, hotel is intended to soar above the megacity NEOM as a stand-alone hotel room, stopping at 20 locations. An overnight stay in Nimbus will cost approximately SAR30,000 ($8,000). One of the presenters of the project said, “Imagine, the beautiful sensation of just moving. In a private hot air balloon, you can admire the beautiful desert landscape below.”
Project Nimbus is an eco-hotel that uses bio-propane and drone-assisted landing. The Saudi Arabian hot air balloon hotel will open out into an eco-hotel upon landing that resembles a canopy, encouraging remote, sustainable living. Nimbus will have a plush hotel room enclosed in a carbon fiber pod. There will be spaces for sleeping, getting dressed, and relaxing inside the Nimbus pod. Additionally, you will have access to a restroom, foyer, pilot service area, observation deck, and perhaps a butler.
According to Hotelier Middle East, a team of Cornell University students came up with the concept for the hot air balloon hotel in Saudi Arabia. Nimbus was chosen as the winning project for this year's Sustainable Hospitality Challenge. It is currently supported by NEOM and, with any luck, will soon be circling NEOM's Saudi Arabian airspace.
The four students who came up with the concept will be flown to NEOM to further explore the location's topography and meet the team responsible for developing the hotel, in order to assess the feasibility of carrying out the proposal. They provided a sample itinerary that included activities like snorkeling at a coral reef and having a picnic in an old canyon to show what a stay in one of the hot air balloon hotels would be like.
Like Nimbus, the hotel industry in Saudi Arabia is expanding, and there is a busy schedule of hotels scheduled to launch soon.
