Photo Credit: Grand Kameha Zürich hotel
It’s not in outer space, but could be the next-best thing. Kameha Grand Zurich has introduced a space station suite with a detailed astronaut motif.
German artist Michael Najjar designed the suite to immerse crew members (guests) in the atmosphere of a space station. Naggar had plenty of personal experience to draw from, including cosmonaut training in Russia, where he spent the past three years preparing to become one of Richard Branson‘s Virgin Galactic Pioneer Astronauts. The designer seeks to be the first contemporary artist in space.
Najjar also was inspired by several space movies, including Dark Star and 2001:A Space Odyssey.
The suite isn’t really designed to replicate a current space station. For one thing, the hotel suite still has gravity and other earthly features. Rather, it is a sci-fi model of the interior of a luxurious space vehicle, even though Najjar’s purpose was art, not comfort.
The large living room, which includes an Apple TV, is not at all modest like NASA’s International Space Station. Overhead lights are meant to mimic jet engines, but they only emit about 40 watts.
The suite’s “zero gravity” bed is designed to look as though it’s floating, but it doesn’t give you the feeling of being at zero gravity. Astronaut Scott Kelly‘s bed on the ISS, on the other hand, was designed to hold him to it while he sleeps.
And while the astronaut’s glove coming out of the wall to serve as a cellphone holder is a nice touch, in space gloves have a bit more of an important function.
Oh, and the cost? Merely $2,000 a night.
