Space Hotel

Space hotel to give rich a thrill that's out of this world: Russian aerospace engineers join race to provide wealthy thrill-seekers with the ultimate holiday destination
(From The Guardian)

Mark's Hotel Review: 1/5 stars

When I saw this hotel advertised in the brochure it sounded wonderful: I could get away from the mundane life here and hang out with the stars! Well, after a long and arduous journey (public transport in the area is non-existant to say the least) I arrived. From the outside the hotel was clean. There was no graffiti, no mess on the streets, in fact, no streets! I felt a twinge of doubt about the lack of people in the area, it was somewhat creepy, the place was devoid of life!

The room I was staying in was comfortable, and I certainly felt a weight off my shoulders at having arrived and being away from the gravity of everyday life. The bedroom and facilities were remarkably clean, but that was hardly surprising: the cleaners would not have had much work to do as both rooms were tiny. Another negative was the décor. They had made the place to look like a space ship, so 1970's, so dated!

The view from the hotel was indeed stunning. Still, looks can be decieving. The surrounding area was inhospitable to say the least. When I asked the staff on duty if there were any cafés or museums around that they recommend they looked at me incredulously. Further, when I told them I was going outside to have a look around, I was told that I would not last long out there alive! Imagine being told that by the receptionist! Needless to say I was too scared to leave the building the entirety of my stay.

Resigning myself to my fate I decided to check out the resturant. Again, it was small, and the same weird space ship decoration was still in evidence there. The selection of drinks was particularly limited and (there is no polite way to put this) half the time it was as if I was drinking recycled urine! Also, the food was all reheated, as if even the staff didn't dare a trip out for fresh vegetables (perhaps even vegetables wouldn't last long around there and, thinking about it now, I don't remember seeing a single tree the whole time!).

Needless to say the hotel did not have a swimming pool, which is a great shame, as the weather was perfect all week. I was just glad to have bought enough to read: I had recently been getting into science fiction and had taken out several books from the library before I left. I do sometimes wonder what it would be like to be in space, quite fun I imagine, certainly better than that small hotel in the middle of nowhere! One out of five, a poor place for a holiday, stay away!

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So hope you enjoyed my review! Sorry for the long time between posts these days, but there is so much to be doing in the world! At some time I intend to put up some photos of my time in Romania, but it may be a while yet!
Regarding my actual views on space hotels, I am actually in great favour for. Not the hotel per se, but rather that technology is still developed in that direction.
I understand the argument that there are people not being fed enough down here to be wasting money up there. However, it doesn't work like that, it isn't that simple. The people doing this are not choosing between feeding the poor and going into space, they are choosing between building the worlds tallest building or such like and doing this. Besides, it is entirely possible to reduce world hunger and have an active space program.
And it is never just about space hotels, it is about learning how better to take stuff into space, how better to live and carry out experiments in space, about how to overcome huge technological feats. This technology all comes in useful. In a way this is a brilliant plan to save money. Instead of paying to build the rockets and the space centres, and paying the astronauts to go there, you get the astronauts to pay for project and to pay for the privilege of going!
Why do I think it is important to go into space? Well why is it important to explore new areas on the map, or to see how silicon conducts electricity? I think it is the same thing: because you might find something that changes life for the better such as new places to live, new ways to connect to others, new possibilities, things you cannot even imagine until you do the exploration.
There is another rather interesting thing to consider about space travel: for the majority of this planet's existence it has been uninhabitable, and not just at the start. Fairly often most of it is covered in ice, quite often masses of volcanoes trash the atmosphere and plant life all but vanishes. We just don't notice this because we are like mayflies, we live for a day, not even! Our stories that have been passed on for the longest still only tell us about what happened a week ago. Get some perspective - ask a mountain!

So long, and thanks for all the fish...
Mark