I Want to Move Into a Floating Hotel Suite and Never Come Back

Living on solid ground starting to bore you? Feel like you’d rather live on the open seas like an international criminal mastermind or a glamourous person of leisure? Have at least one eye on your environmental footprint?

Well, if you’ve got a spare $630,000, we might have the solution for you. Anthénea is the new eco-friendly floating apartment design that could have all your dreams of living on the open sea come true.

Seemingly inspired by the deep-sea criminal headquarters of Karl Stombert, the villain from the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, the completely autonomous ocean pod was designed by French naval architect Jean-Michel Duacancelle. It looks like a cross between a UFO and a submarine, with strong villain lair vibes.

Anthénea Floating Hotel Suites

“The strange floating saucer in which the famous British spy was sailing in the 10th movie of the James Bond franchise started my obsession,” Duacancelle admitted.

Thus the Anthénea floating home was born: The fifth iteration of its prototype, which has taken fifteen years to perfect. Currently, you can find it floating off the coast of France.

Unlike the deep sea headquarters of the Bond villain, however, the Anthénea is designed to improve the world, rather than take it over.

Designed with environmental factors in mind, the pod is equipped with technology that helps minimise its impact on the environment, including five solar panels that make it completely power-autonomous and lets it exist completely off the grid.

“I am passionate about the idea that tomorrow’s habitat will absolutely have to be eco-friendly and be put at the heart of our natural environment,” Duacancellem said.

To back up the solar panels, the pod carries six large capacity batteries to store power for cloudy days and a generator in case you run low. The lotus-flower design means that it sits on the surface of the water so it doesn’t impact any marine life, and is equipped with an innovative anchoring system that minimises damage to the ocean floor.

To the greatest extent possible, the Anthénea is constructed from sustainable materials, all of which can be recycled at the end of its life. It also has a saltwater filtration system and an environmentally friendly waste treatment system which earned the pod the Innovation Trophy from French tourism magazine L’Echo Touristique. Anthénea is also able to withstand a cyclone, dramatic weather changes and an attempted siege by a secret agent—if that’s one of your concerns.

Beyond its environmental credentials, the pod offers a taste of the suite life. French fashion icon Pierre Cardin—who has personally invested in the company that funded the Anthénea—designed the interior, and it’s everything you would expect from a man of his taste.

Anthénea is 31 feet across and can accommodate two adults comfortably, or a family of four if you can’t leave the children at home.

The first thing you’ll notice about the interior is the expansive glass bottom that allows you unrestricted views of life underwater. The Anthénea is designed to have three living spaces—a lounge room with a sofa, kitchenette and minibar, a bedroom with a circular bed and a hot tub, and an outdoor living room that fits twelve comfortably and offers a bar and a 360° solarium.
And, of course, if you tire of one luxurious ocean-front locale, you can just drive the Anthénea away to the next destination of your choice.

Based on the success of the prototype, the French company has announced that we are likely to see the first commercially available pods—both for hotel or Airbnb stays and long-term accommodation—early next year. Sign us up.

Watch the video to see more of the Anthénea in action.

While you’re here, check out NYC’s new floating park.