Space hotel to open in 2012 at $4.4 mln 3-night rate

BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- The first commercial space hotel is expected to open in 2012, according to a plan of the Galactic Suite Space Resort company as quoted by media reports Thursday.

An artist's rendition of the the "Galactic Suite", the first hotel  planned in space, which is expected to open for business in 2012  and would allow guests to travel around the world in 80 minutes. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

If the hotel opens, the Barcelona, Spain-based architects of Galactic Suite say it will cost about 4.4 million U.S. dollars for a three-night stay at the hotel.

Galactic Suite plans to transport its travelers to space via Russian rockets from a spaceport to be built on a Caribbean island. The trip to the hotel will take one day and a half and guests will undergo an eight-week training course in the Caribbean prior to launch.

The hotel is expected to be constructed of connecting pods around a central hub. Each pod will be able to hold four guests and two astronaut-pilots.

During guests' stay, they would see the sun rise 15 times a day and travel around the world about every 80 minutes. They would wear velcro suits so they can crawl around their pod rooms by sticking themselves to the walls like Spiderman.