Oh, Dubai.

Whether you love it or hate it, you have to admit that Dubai is on some other level.

Known for luxury everything, from drone taxis to soaring skyscrapers, its newest development brings with it a little Italian flair.

I mean, I say a little, but by 2020 a miniature version of Venice will be “floating 2,5 miles off the city’s coast,” reports CNN Traveler.

It will host 12 restaurants, an underwater spa and even gondolas imported straight from Venice itself, and the resort claims to be “the world’s first five-star floating destination”.

Can you even?

Real Venice in that image above, fake Venice below:

Dubbed the “The Floating Venice” – wow, orignal – it will be able to accommodate up to 3 000 guests daily, and visitors will have to “travel by seaplane, boat, or helicopter in order to reach the resort”:

Upon arrival, they’ll check in at the underwater lobby before being transported to one of the mini-city’s 414 cabins—and 180 of those cabins, along with the hotel’s spa, restaurants, and bars, will be submerged, offering an immersive view of the Arabian Sea.

Of course, it’s no ordinary ocean view: The on-site coral nursery, with over 400,000 square feet of coral and marine life, will be the focal point of the subterranean rooms. More claustrophobic guests will be able to come up for air at one of the complex’s 12 floating beaches, and sample Venetian delicacies as they tan.

Odes to Venetian traditions don’t stop there; visitors will also be able to participate in some of Venice’s popular festivals:

The Carnevale di Venezia—Italy’s famed festival of masks—will be celebrated, along with the Regata Stoica di Venezia and the Festa del Redentore. Even operas will be performed on-site at the resort.

I’m not too sure who would prefer to go there over the real thing, but I guess once this whole climate change thing goes balls up and floods Venice, Venice-wannabe will be there, floating around, welcoming you and your money with open arms.

[source:traveller&cntraveler]