QE2 300-room floating hotel for Dubai

The Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship will become a 300 room floating hotel, according to its Dubai based owners. Istithmar, an investment company owned by the Government of Dubai, bought the QE2 for US$100 million (Dh367.2m) from Cunard in June 2007. The original plan to refurbish it and install it on The Palm, an artificial island off Dubai, was abandoned in 2011 due to financial constraints and limited water depths around The Palm. Now Istithmar plans to keep it at Port Rashid, where Dubai already runs a thriving cruise ship terminal, said Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the chairman of DP World and the head of Istithmar said in Dubai today. The fit-out will be completed in 18 months and the ship will be part of a new development at the port which will also include a maritime museum.