Beyond the overwater bungalow in Guadeloupe
By the Caribbean Journal staff
It’s one step beyond the overwater bungalow.
It may just be the first of its kind in the Caribbean — a floating hotel.
It’s called Aqua Lodge, and it’s set off the coast of the town of Saint-Francois in the French Caribbean department of Guadeloupe.
The just-launched Aqua Lodge consists of a two-bedroom bungalow with 800 square feet of living space, a bathroom, a kitchen, a terrace and a rooftop solarium.
Water comes from a built-in desalination machine, and energy comes from solar panels. The structure even has its own water treatment.
It’s about 42 feet long and built on a floating platform in a relatively shallow lagoon off the coast.
And it even comes with its own dinghy, kayak and stand-up paddleboard.
“Who hasn’t dreamed, for a moment, of being Robinson Crusoe?” the hotel asks on its Web site.
It includes the aforementioned dinghy to go back and forth to shore for things like rhum agricole, golf or eating bokits, the popular street food that may just be the best sandwiches in the Caribbean.
It’s the brainchild of entrepreneur Philioppe Chevalier, who has created something that is so eco-friendly that it claims to be entirely autonomous in operation.
The property’s site is www.aqualodge.fr.