Hartlepool's new floating hotel opens for bookings - and there's big interest

Potential guests flocked to the town during two open days at the weekend to find out more about the ‘floatel’.

They were treated to tours, and were serenaded by an acoustic guitar and a kajon which is a Spanish drum.

Bookings are now being taken for the floating hotel which was designed by Hartlepool entrepreneur Luke Robertson.

Luke has teamed up with Hartlepool Marina to set up On Water Living, which will promote the new hotel.

It is the first of a new ‘pod’ designed by Luke and more could eventually be created to become a small village of units in Hartlepool.

But the floating hotel is already kitted out with everything a guest needs to stay in style.

Marina director Adam Henderson said: “There has been a lot of interest, a lot of booking requests and a lot of enquiries.

“They have come from as far as Poole in the UK and even from Greece. It has attracted some attention and it is exciting.

“We think it is going to be popular, especially at this time of year, but with its on-board features and comforts, it is something that would be appealing all the year round.”

As well as the floating hotel, the new pod could be built to order for people who want to buy them and move them to other parts of the country.

Luke envisaged “a gap in the market, with the likes of the Lake District, national parks and marinas all around.”

The units have a living area, they are 8.5ft-high and have a total area of 172sq ft and the On Water Living team believes everyone from marinas to fishing lakes could be ideal venues for people wanting to have pods to take away.

Adam Henderson described the whole venture as “very exciting” and said it would challenge the idea that “Hartlepool Marina was a lovely place for a coffee, tea or ice cream but if you want to go on the water, you have to have a boat or lots of money. It’s a stigma but the reality is quite the opposite.”

The project, he said, was opening up Hartlepool Marina to more people.