Ever wanted to look at exotic aquatic animals from the comfort of a hotel dining room?
That’s the reality that’s been created at a luxury hotel in Taiwan, which shared the same infrastructure as an aquarium in Taiwan.
The hotel Cozzi Blu and Xpark aquarium give visitors the chance to watch penguins swimming through tunnels, sharks and colourful fish meandering around the main tank.
From the jellyfish-inspired lighting to the deep-sea diving and ship’s wheel decor, the nautical theme is obvious.
“Our hotel was designed following the ideas of the French novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” explains Sandra Yu, a Cozzi Blu representative.
Even tucked up in bed, hotel guests get a salty taste of the sea.
As well as paintings shaped like portholes, there is the opportunity to see the aquarium without even leaving the room.
One channel on the TV provides a real-time view of what’s going on in the main tank.
From staff diving in to maintain the aquarium to shoals of fish swimming past the camera, the channel is designed to fascinate and relax.
One of the big draws at the Xpark is the penguins.
Vistors can watch them swim in their tanks, disappearing down one hole, only to emerge from another.
And the aquarium has installed an ingenius system of transparent tunnels that run through the cafe.
The birds can swim and play in them while diners watch below.
“This is the first time we have visited this café and we see penguins swimming through the tunnel. I think this is so special and I feel so excited,” says Chu, a visitor.
“This is a very rare experience to have a meal with my kid accompanied by marine creatures.”
The park hopes these tunnels will be a new way to learn about penguins.
“In the penguin section, we can see penguins’ behaviours both on the land and in the water. We built a tunnel for them so that they could travel between the land and the water,” says Athena Ku, Xpark aquarium’s representative.
“They can use the tunnel to play either on the land part or in the water, and the tunnel is also shown as part of our café. So people can look at the penguins while they are having a coffee.”
The price of a night’s stay at the Cozzi Blu hotel varies according to packages and times, but on average costs around $170.
