China builds a luxury underground hotel

Construction on the Intercontinental Shimao Shanghai Wonderland finally commenced last month, and the hotel is scheduled to open in early 2015.

The 19-storey structure will be grafted onto the side of the 100-meter pit, with 16 floors burrowing down towards the deep quarry floor.

It will hold about 380 rooms which are expected to start at about $320 per night. The building will also feature an underwater restaurant.

A massive 60-meter tall glass curtain wall adjacent to the main structure will descend down the rockface in a manner that will “mimic a waterfall”, while the surrounding cliffs will be given over to bungee jumping and rockclimbing.