This Maldives hotel is offering football fans the chance to watch Euro final underwater
10 July, 2021
While most football fans will be watching the final between England and Italy from pubs or the comfort of their home, one Maldives hotel is offering its guests a new kind of viewing experience.
Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, a luxury five-star resort, is allowing two people the opportunity to watch the match from its Muraka villa, which is more than 16 feet beneath the Indian Ocean, and the world's first underwater hotel residence.
The package includes a two-night stay, during which the UEFA European Football Championship final will be beamed onto a screen that sits in front of a glass wall looking out onto the ocean’s abundant marine life.
The two-storey, three-bedroom residence boasts an undersea master bedroom and living space, plus a dedicated team of staff that includes a personal chef and butlers who are on-call 24 hours a day.
It won’t come cheap: the cost runs to about $24,990 for two people over two nights between Saturday and Monday or Sunday and Tuesday this week.
That price includes seaplane transfer from Male’s Velana International Airport and a three-course dinner with bubbly and beverages.
The culmination of the Euro is much-anticipated as England makes its first appearance in a major final since 1966, after a tense semifinal victory over Denmark on Wednesday.
The game is due to kick off at 11pm on Sunday in the UAE, which is 1am in the Maldives on Monday.
The Maldives is a popular travel hotspot with global travellers, and the Indian Ocean archipelago was the most-favoured destination for Emiratis to travel to in 2020, according to travel specialists at Rehlaty.
“With a convenient four-hour flight time from Dubai, and no requirement for a PCR test ahead of returning home for UAE nationals [flying into Dubai] it’s no surprise that Maldives' travel packages proved the top choice for travellers," said Rehab Mansoor, general manager at Rehlaty, which is part of the dnata Travel.
Maldives has been a particularly popular destination amid the pandemic as it has a strict one-resort-per-island policy, which allows for easy social distancing. The country also announced plans to offer tourists the Covid-19 vaccine, in a greater push for tourism.
Source: www.thenationalnews.com