Dec 18 2008
Air Conditioning At the Beach - Dubai Does it First!
I can’t work out whether this goes under the “stramge hotel ” category or the “seriously wacky travel idea” category - but its weird. Versace is building a new luxury hotel at Dubai - OK so far, but the problem is how to be different. We have the 77-star hotel and the latest underwater hotel in Dubai so how to be have a “unique selling point” with another luxury hotel in Dubai?
The answer is obviously - add air-con , to the beach 
Yes I am not kidding ! The new Palazzo Versace Dubai will have a refridgerated beach! I mean why not - after all it gets hot in Dubai - up to 50C in the summer. And sand, in those temperatures, can really burn. So they are adding cooling circuits to cool the beach down, According to the Times Online
“The beach will have a network of pipes beneath the sand containing a coolant that will absorb heat from the surface.
The swimming pool will be refrigerated and there are also proposals to install giant blowers to waft a gentle breeze over the beach.”
As a way of getting a buzz going for your new hotel this is a seriously good marketing idea! Lets face it anything that annoys the tree-hugging conservationists who are concerned about global warming has to be good doesn’t it?
I don’t think Versace is taking the concept of the cool beach far enough though. How about the water - you have nice cool sand, nice cool air and then whammo the Arabian Gulf is a bit warm for your taste! From the looks of the concept drawings the Palazzio Versace will be on its own island, de rigeur these day for crazy hotels in Dubai, so what about offering a range of water temperatures as well? In fact the contrast is always nice: so why not do a bit of ice making to create floating icebergs in the pool would be a pleasent contrast to the warm sea - and will be a huge hit with all the Finns and Russians who enjoy rolling in the snow after the sauna!
What do you think about refridgerating the beach? Lets face it if you want a cool beach you cold just vacation in England or New Zealand? Or go swimming in the early morning or at night as most Australians are used to doing in the hotter climates?
