A huge moon hotel that can be built in Dubai

The team behind Moon World Resorts thinks so — sort of.

Here on planet Earth, they want to build huge dome-like hotels that look like the moon. More precisely, in Dubai.

Each dome will be a 360-degree recreation of the moon on a grand scale, complete with realistic-looking holes and textures. Each recreated moon can rise 735 feet high (224 meters) by 2,042 feet in circumference, depending on location and planning permits.

Canada-based Michael R. Henderson, co-founder of Moon World Resorts, told CNN Travel that Moon is a “recognizable brand” at the heart of the project.

“Seven and a half billion people know him, they all love him,” he says.

It’s going international.

Each Lunar World resort pictured here includes all the usual amenities in a luxury hotel, like a spa, but with a Lunar twist.

Courtesy Crescent World Resorts Inc.

According to Henderson, each Moonworld resort will be “a very luxurious and modern, fully integrated destination resort, with many elements that one already knows” — such as a convention center, restaurants, a spa, each with a Moon spinner.

Artist’s renderings feature spaceship-style interiors and themed recreations — including what Henderson envisions as the attraction’s highlight, an experience that replicates what it would be like to walk on the moon.

“We’re giving you the ability to walk on what you believe is the surface of the moon in your lifetime,” Henderson said.

Moon World Resorts has been in operation for two decades, a timeline Henderson, who previously founded a medical services company, suggests fits the slower pace generally associated with space tourism.

Here’s what it’s like inside the Moon World Resort nightclub.

Courtesy Crescent World Resorts Inc.

The project comes with “incredible technical challenges,” Henderson explains, but he and co-founder Matthews are working with independent engineers and architects to make the idea a reality.

“We basically have a lot of teams around the world that we pull in as needed, but obviously once the project starts to build, they’re in a certain region,” he said.

The long-term goal is to build four lunar resorts, one in North America, one in Europe, one in the Middle East and North Africa, and one in Asia. Moon World Resorts is a licensing company, so Henderson has the idea of ​​licensing each Moon World resort to licensees with a splash of cash.

The United Arab Emirates, particularly Dubai, has been identified as the “front runner” by the company to open its first Moon World resort. Henderson says this is because the UAE is “very popular with tourists” and home to “many infrastructure” projects.

However, Henderson declined to share more for now, suggesting that “other options are emerging.”

Fun of the moon

Founder Michael Henderson suggests Moon World Resorts could be a more affordable alternative to space tourism.

Courtesy Crescent World Resorts Inc.

Henderson says the Moon World Resort experience will be much cheaper, saying it will cost guests $500 to sign up to walk on the resort’s “moon surface.”

Cost may prevent future projects like Moon World Resorts from getting beyond the concept stage, but Henderson suggests the licensing model will make the project viable.

“Looking for capital is not so much,” he explains. “Like us, the goal of a licensor is to get the license. And once you confirm the licensor, then you get money for the projects that are already there – because we are not talking about small companies, these will be major international corporations.

Henderson, which is expected to invest $5 billion in construction, was the first licensee in 2010. It hopes to be safe by the end of 2022. Five years later, in 2027, it predicts it will open its first Moon World resort.

Henderson hopes each Moon World resort will become a destination in its own right. Even if people don’t stay there or check out the space-age amenities, he envisions travelers simply closing in on the building.

He cites architecture such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao or the Burj Khalifa in Dubai as inspiration on this front.

“Obviously, people like to see an interpretation of what’s going on inside. But I think a lot of people enjoy it when you look at the big picture of the world — I think that’s mind-blowing,” he says.