Though there are lots of great hotels in most parts of the world, there are people that think we should go even further and build hotels in space for those adrenaline junkies that can afford paying thousands and thousands of dollars. We already know it would be an extraordinary experience, but would it be more fun and comfortable than on Earth? Place your bets, because these are the six hotels humans want to build in space (soon).

1. Once playing along with NASA in building space-based residences for the US space program, Bigelow Aerospace are now on their own, and have already released prototypes of their inflatable hotel
that should be ready (in space) in less than a decade.

The company believes in their invention and say that inflatable modules which will use several layers of vectran (twice as strong as kevlar) will be more solid than rigid ones, and will better sustain micrometeorite impacts.

Rumors have it that Bigelow is going to open gates in 2012 so better save some cash. A four-week orbital stay goes for $15 million and if you want another four weeks, you’ll only add 3 more million. For ultra-rich there’s also going to be a lease program where for $88 million you get a full orbital facility for one year, while $54 million will only get you half.

2. Galactic Suite is a Barcelona-based private space tourism company that plans another orbital project, that should be up and running by 2012. Total cost is going to be close to £3billion ($5.27 billion) so I suppose that explains why a three night stay in its zero-gravity rooms will cost nothing less than £2 million ($3.51 million), which includes special training.

What you get for that money? It spins around Earth every 80 minutes so you get to enjoy the spectacular sunrise, 18 times a day (Earth Days :))

The Galactic Hotel is going to be small and will only include three bedrooms. The Spanish architects already have the plans figured out so that the hotel will include up to 22 pods (23ft long by 13ft high) clustered around a central nucleus.

3. The Lunatic Hotel is exactly what you think. It’s a hotel on the Moon that explores the unique conditions and the building materials available there. Work of Hans-Jurgen Rombaut of the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture in the Netherlands, the hotel is going to feature two 160m high slanting towers and teardrop-shaped “habitation capsules” looking like small airships, which of course are rooms. If it’s entertainment you need, rest assured the Lunatic Hotel is going to offer “low-gravity games”, abseiling and “flying” using special suits with bat-like wings.

It’s one of the best solutions for a hotel on the moon so far, with most of the aspects being taken care of, so why not expect something like that to be built by 2050. Let’s hope we live that long.

4. Some 450km above Tokyo, Shimizu Construction would be interested in building a 64-room space hotel that should be opened to guests in 20 to 30 years.

But they’re doing it the right way, because the 7,500 ton facility plans on rotating 3 times per minute to artificially produce a gravity of 0.7g.

They’ve been working on their Space Project since 1989 but when ready it should offer round-trip journeys in space for 10 million yen ($83,000).

5. One of the most ambitious plans to offer regular people (rich regular people) the journey of their lives in space, is the Martian Settlement. Japanese construction giant Obayashi Corporation spent the last 10 years researching ways of building a Martial colony.

They’ve gone so far with estimations that we already know that in 2057 there will be 500 people living on Mars. And if you want a better picture of what these guys plan, their research data proved that the Martian economy will make up 5% of the solar system’s GDP by 2090 when there will be some 50,000 inhabitants. Better get your Mars plane tickets before things get really tensed, because in 2092 the Martians may declare independence over Earth.

6. If built, Aeroscraft - the gigantic 400-ton blimp, is indeed going to be the flying luxury hotel of the future. It’s actually a spacious luxury flying hotel, packed in a two-football-fields-big balloon that hangs in the air (atmosphere I suppose) thanks to 14 million cubic feet of helium.

It’s not really up there in “space” but the fact that 250 passengers will enjoy a ride at 174 mph at 8,000 feet above ground and will get to lose money in a casino, eat fine dishes in a restaurant or just enjoy a great vacation, is stunning. Responsible for the design, is Igor Pasternak.

So would you go for a week in space?

All images courtesy of 1, 2, 3, 4