Qatar is hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the premier event of professional football (or soccer depending on where you’re from) and has innovative plans to handle the expected influx of fans, including a fleet of floating hotels and two large cruise ships docked as hotels.
The identical hotels, each with 101 rooms, a lounge bar and a restaurant, will be anchored along an artificial island that’s been built for both the World Cup and future recreation and tourism plans. Power for the hotels will come from solar installations. No word on whether the hotels will remain after the Cup.
Qatar’s other World Cup plans include seven new stadiums with open-air cooling to deal with extreme temperatures. The tournament has been shifted to winter dates, but will still be far hotter than previous venues. The decision to hold the games in Qatar has been controversial and linked to the financial scandal that toppled the long-time FIFA leadership.
