Floating hotels are quickly becoming a reality. Sea levels are rising at alarming rates – a serious problem for low lying islands like the Maldives, and countries that are already fighting the rising water with pumps, like Holland. The solution? Accommodation that floats, of course.

Most are anchored to one spot using chains or stilts and only appear to float, but they’re still amazing. Now, architecture firm Dutch Docklands is taking things to a whole new level with a new free-floating hotel. Called the Krystall (no doubt because it’s modelled like a huge floating water crystal), the five-star eco-luxury hotel will open at the end of 2016, to give visitors a completely unobstructed view of the mesmerising northern lights visible off the coast of Tromsø.

This is no small project either. Expect 86 rooms, spa and wellness facilities, and a conference room, all on one completely self-sustaining floating glass snowflake in one of the world’s most beautiful natural environments.

If you doubt the feasibility of the idea, don’t worry – everyone else did too. Koen Olthuis is one of Dutch Docklands’ lead architects, and he’s explained that the hotel’s guests won’t feel any motion caused by winds and waves, thanks to a system built in to combat them.

Work has begun, and we honestly can’t wait to see how it turns out!

Words: Modupe Oloruntoba
Image: Dutch Docklands