Article Posted on : - Aug 18, 2011

An artistic representation of the space hotel

LONDON (PTI): It sounds like something straight out of a science fiction movie, and the ultimate fantasy of many travelers -- a vacation in space.

But, for those fed up with overcrowded resorts with no room to move, it will be a real holiday with plenty of space, thanks to a Russian firm which is to build a hotel in orbit 217 miles up.

Just getting there will be an adventure in itself -- it will take two days aboard a Soyuz rocket and it won't be a budget holiday: A five-day stay will cost you 100,000 pounds on top of 500,000 pounds for journey, the 'Daily Mail' said.

The hotel, or the Commercial Space Station to give it its proper name, is due to open by 2016 and it will be "far more comfortable" than the International Space Station used by astronauts and cosmonauts.

The hotel would house seven guests in four cabins and have huge windows for views of the Earth turning below.

And, in the weightlessness of space, visitors can choose to have beds that are either vertical or horizontal, while showers will be sealed affairs to stop water going where it shouldn't.

Tourists, who will be accompanied by experienced crew, will dine on food prepared on Earth and sent up on the rocket, to be reheated in microwave ovens, says the company behind the unique project.

Iced tea, mineral water and fruit juices will be available, but alcohol will be strictly prohibited. Toilets will use flowing air instead of water to move waste through the system, according to Orbital Technologies which will construct the hotel.

Waste water will be recycled, while air will be filtered to remove odour and bacteria and then returned to the cabin.

Sergei Kostenko, chief executive of Orbital Technologies, said: "Our planned module inside will not remind you of the International Space Station.

"A hotel should be comfortable inside, and it will be possible to look at the Earth through large portholes. The hotel will be aimed at wealthy individuals and people working for private companies who want to do research in space."

Tourists might also find themselves playing host to unexpected guests -- there is a plan for the hotel to be used as an emergency bolthole for astronauts aboard International Space Station if there is a crisis, rather than bringing them all the way back to Earth.