That hotels can be made in the water bodies was known to the architects and designers right from centuries back during the medieval times. There are many palaces in India which have been either built on an already existing island inside a water body or have been made on the landfill. As distinct from these hotels are the floating hotels which are typically not developed on the land inside the water body but these are left floating on the waters, typically over the lakes or rivers. The floating hotels make use of the concept of buoyancy to stay afloat on the water surface. There are many hotels in the world developed on this concept.

The concept of buoyancy is related to the displacement of the water equivalent to the weight of the body immersed in the water. So, the design of the hotel has to take into consideration a range of factors such as the amount of water displaced by a particular weight and surface area of the hotel and the height of the hotel which will stay over the water. The design also has to take consideration of the materials with which the hotel is to be built so that it is able to stand erect in the water body and is also able to float. Measures are also undertaken to ensure that all the people inside are safe and adequate security measures are adopted after carrying out the due hazard assessments. Besides the natural hazards, due account is also taken of the sea animals and the place of stationing or the route of movement of the hotel is clearly laid out.

A decision is also to be taken on whether the hotel will be allowed to float in the water, in just the same way as the ship moves or it is to remain stationed close to the shore of the water. Certain hotels which are already developed remain stationed close to the shore so and are connected with the shore for the benefit of movement of guest in and out of the hotel.

In this way, a floating hotel is vastly different in design, operation and management functions as compared with the land-based hotels. There have been many innovations being done on floating hotels to make these environment-friendly. Some of the hotels have even used the solar panels to produce electricity for meeting a part of their requirements. These hotels provide a unique dining and staying experience to the guests as they can see the vastness of the water bodies or even have a glimpse of panoramic views.