A hotelship is a

passenger ship A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

which is used for a short period as a hotel. A botel or boatel is a

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

that serves as a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared b ...

. Currently there are few permanent hotel ships. The word is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words or larger purpose-built or converted boats or other

watercraft Any vehicle used in or on water as well as underwater, including boats, ships, hovercraft and submarines, is a watercraft, also known as a water vessel or waterborne vessel. A watercraft usually has a propulsive capability (whether by sail, ...

, to converted ships. They may be permanently moored or grounded, or spend part of the year taking guests on tours. The most famous examples are the Queen Mary, in Long Beach; and the Queen Elizabeth 2, in Dubai. Both ships were originally part of Cunard line. During the 2022 World Cup, Qatar chartered three cruise ships to mitigate accommodation shortages.

United States

There are two permanently moored hotel ships in the USA. The Queen Mary is in

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, California, and the former Lake Michigan carferry City of Milwaukee is used seasonally as a hotel in Manistee, Michigan.

Japan

The Ocean Liner

Hikawa Maru is a Japanese ocean liner that Yokohama Dock Company built for '' Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha'' ("NYK Line"). She was launched on 30 September 1929 and made her maiden voyage from Kobe to Seattle on 13 May 1930. She is permanently berthed as ...

is a hotel in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

Netherlands

The former Ocean liner

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

is currently on display in

Germany

At times when accommodation shortages can be predicted, for example during

trade fairs A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and cu ...

or big events, hotelships can complement the already existing permanent hotels in a flexible fashion. In Germany, hotelships are evident during trade fair periods in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

and

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...

. The moorings are usually located near the town centre. During a large trade fair such as

Drupa The drupa is the largest printing equipment exhibition in the world, held every four years by Messe Düsseldorf in Düsseldorf, Germany. The word drupa is a portmanteau of the German words druck und papier; ''print'' and ''paper'' respectively. ...

or Medica in Düsseldorf, up to 40 ships can be moored to accommodate visitors. River cruisers are used as hotelships for a limited time and intermittently. Whereas a hotel has a fixed address and is used permanently, hotelships are only in any one location for a defined duration. Ship owners and shipping companies are particularly keen on this use of river cruisers as, unlike in the case of deep sea

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

s, there is no seasonal transfer of ships to warmer areas. The result is therefore more efficient use of the ships outside the main cruising season. The main thoroughfares for

river cruises A river cruise is a voyage along inland waterways, often stopping at multiple ports along the way. Since cities and towns often grew up around rivers, river cruise ships frequently dock in the center of cities and towns. Descriptions River da ...

in Europe are the rivers

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

Main Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

and

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

. Since many cities here lie directly on the river, this is also a particularly interesting area for hotelships. Moorings are usually conveniently located in the city centre, for example at the Konrad Adenauer Ufer in

, the Altstadtufer in

or the Holbeinsteg at the Nizzawerft in

. These locations are all close to the city centres and the trade fair grounds. Because of this network of inland waterways, hotelships can be positioned where and when required, and usually without lengthy transfers.

Background

The origins of hotelships in Germany can be traced back to the 1970s. During international trade fairs it was often difficult to find good quality accommodation in a convenient location because of shortages of hotel rooms. During the International Textile Trade Fair in

, the idea was born to moor a river cruiser on the banks of the Main and thus increase bed capacity in the city centre. Even today, the Frankfurt am Main harbour authorities offer moorings for hotelships on the Nizza Werft. During the last 10 years, river cruises in Europe have become a growth area of the tourism industry. Since the completion of the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, the fall of the Iron Curtain and the expansion of the EU, there has been a huge increase in the potential for river cruising as part of the cruising industry. River cruising has become more comfortable and so has increased in popularity, allowing it to compete with European coach tours. As a result, there has been a steady increase in the number of ships available in recent years and therefore the availability of cruise ships for use as hotelships has also increased. Another reason for the increased use of hotelships is the huge peak in demand for hotel rooms in trade fair cities. Local hotels demanding heavily increased prices during trade fair events has recently led to cutbacks in trade fairs or even their complete withdrawal. Many visitors have stayed away or just come for the day and have been able to do so because of reduced transport costs with budget airlines or ICE train connections. Hotelships redress the balance during these temporary peaks and, in spite of criticism from local hotels, help make trade fair locations more attractive and more competitive.

The market

Hotelships operate as a balance in the hotel market where the market is too inflexible to react to periods of high demand such as is the case during trade fairs. Additional capacity through the construction of new hotels is not always possible and indeed not always desirable since in times of low demand outside the trade fair season, this creates excess capacity. The introduction of hotelships takes account of this situation and helps to balance occasional high demand with supply. Hotelships are usually marketed by charter agencies who make use of accommodation made available by

shipping companies The following articles list companies that operate ships: * List of freight ship companies for companies that own and operate the freight ships (Bulk Carriers, Container Ships, Roll-on/Roll-off (for Freights), Tankers and Gas Carriers). ** List o ...

such as

Viking River Cruises Viking (formerly Viking Cruises) is a cruise line providing river, ocean, and expedition cruises. Its operating headquarters are in Basel, Switzerland,Adam H. Graham"The Rising Tide: How Viking Changed Cruising" '' Departures'', 21 November 201 ...

from Luxembourg, or

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

independent shipping companies. Their role is to charter ships and position them in the relevant cities whilst at the same time ensuring and maintaining agreed standards. The charterers keep in close contact with trade fair organisations and tourist offices in the relevant cities in order to provide hotelships as and when required. Hotelships are therefore seen as a way of accommodating more trade fair visitors in the city, rather than in outlying areas. Guests include individual clients as well as companies who usually book their hotel accommodation via specialist

travel agencies A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destinatio ...

or directly with the local

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

office. During the 6-month season in 2008, hotelships in Germany boosted the market with an extra 100,000 beds and their turnover was about 10,000,000 Euros. This only represents a small part of the total hotel capacity in Germany. Berlin alone, for example, has a daily capacity of 97,441 beds (figures from December 2008).

China

During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

river cruise ships A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

were used to provide nearly 1,500 beds for medical workers in the worst affected city,

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the List of cities in China ...

Sweden

The

Viking (barque) ''Viking'' (also known by the ship type as a prefix, Barken Viking) is a four-masted steel barque, built in 1906 by Burmeister & Wain in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is reported to be the biggest sailing ship ever built in Scandinavia. In the 21st cen ...

is a converted sailing ship floated in Sweden.

Indonesia

Former cruise ship Doulos Phos currently operates as a hotel in

Bintan Bintan Regency (formerly Riau Islands Regency; id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Riau) is an administrative area in the Riau Islands Province of Indonesia. Bintan Regency includes all of Bintan Island (except for the city of Tanjung Pinang which is sepa ...

Gallery

File:Bellis Botel at Pickwick Landing, Hardin County, Tennessee.jpg, The ''Bellis Botel'' at Pickwick Landing on the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

Hardin County, Tennessee Hardin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,831. The county seat is Savannah. Hardin County is located north of and along the borders of Mississippi and Alabama. The county was ...

File:Zebra Botel.jpg, Botel ''Zebra'' in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

File:Amstel Botel, Amsterdam 01.jpg, ''Amstel Botel'' in Amsterdam File:Podolí, botel Racek, z mostu.jpg, ''Botel Racek'' ("Seagull") in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

File:RMS Queen Mary Long Beach January 2011 view.jpg, RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach File:SS Rotterdam pic2.JPG, ''Rotterdam'' as she is today, permanently moored as a hotel and museum.

References

{{reflist

Ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

Ship types