Shanghai plans to build the country's first underground five-star hotel in southeastern Songjiang District. The hotel will be located in a 100-meter-deep pit near Sheshan Hill.

The hotel, part of a development announced yesterday, will be built in an abandoned quarry beside Tianma Hill, which is about 10 kilometer away from Sheshan Hill, the Youth Daily reported today. Currently, there is a lake in the bottom of the quarry pit.

It will have two floors above sea-level while the remaining 19 floors will be lower than sea-level attached to the wall of the pit. It will have an underwater restaurant and cafe.

The story didn't explain if the underground rooms will have windows.

Expected to be open to the public by the end of 2010, the hotel will have more than 400 rooms. But all the rooms will be above the lake water level, the report said.

Construction designers said they will set up spa rooms, restaurants, and other entertainment facilities on the 18th underground floor while the 19th underground floor will be home to offices and luxury suites, the report added.

The top two floors will host the hotel lobby, conference facilities, restaurants, entertainment clubs and exhibition halls, the report added.

Along with the hotel, the development program includes a three-star hotel and four service apartment buildings around the Sheshan Hill area, the report said.

(Shanghai Daily October 16, 2007)