Floating hotel rooms launched off the coast in Africa

The increased demand for accommodation over the World Cup period has led to low availability in hotels and hostels across South Africa.

As World Cup fever takes hold and football fans head to South Africa for the fixtures, a range of floating, ‘overflow’ hotel rooms have been launched off the coast of South Africa to cater for this need.

Hotels.com is in discussion with Flotilla Hotels to be the only online hotel booking site to offer these state-of-the art off-shore ‘pontrooms’.

Expected to be able to accommodate up to 1,500 football fans, the ‘pontrooms’ are reached by boat and serviced from the mainland by an amphibious ‘front desk’. There will be a variety of accommodation options to suit all tastes and budgets:

The five-star Ile Flottante Suites are luxury floating rooms which come equipped with a four-poster bed and Jacuzzi. French cuisine is available on demand and cooked by the hotel’s ‘Cuisine Catamaran’.

The three-star Aquari Rooms are all glass bottomed rooms – ideal for those football fans wishing to get close to nature and do a bit of wildlife spotting whilst on their World Cup break.

The two-star Lilypads offer basic raft accommodation for those fans hopping from fixture to fixture on a budget – perfect for families and larger groups of friends. Features include the ‘Big Fish Little Fish’ activity centre where kids can learn to swim and snorkel with a fully-qualified rep. Additionally, ‘Ponds’ with interlinking Lilypads can be created to cater for group bookings.

At an extra cost, guests who wish to see matches in different locations can be ‘tugged’ along the coast to ensure they are moored in the most convenient locations at all times.

Alison Couper, Director of Communications, Hotels.com, said “The World Cup means so much to so many people, hence there is no surprise that South Africa has seen such a rise in demand for hotel accommodation. We’re delighted to be able to offer something a little different and innovative to our customers who don’t want to miss out on this year’s must-see football action.”

More information about pontroom availability

31 March 2010