It was a goofy idea when it was first proposed and mocked on this blog, in one of its earliest posts, in February 2006. But the idea isn’t going away: A luxury hotel on an abandoned oil rig.

The idea was first floated (ooh… no pun intended) by Mohamed al Fayed, Britain’s retail kingpin, but late last year, he gave up on the dream:

It was hoped the oil rig visitor centre, which was to include an upmarket hotel and restaurant, could provide a massive boost to the local tourism industry by attracting 500,000 people a year to the area.

And hopes were high that the project could go ahead when, in February 2006, former Race chief executive Maitland Hyslop confirmed that he had located a suitable oil rig.
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There has been no news on the oil-rig proposal since then, and Balnagown estate manager Martin Lynch yesterday admitted they were no longer “actively pursuing it”.

“We haven’t totally given up on it, but it’s on the back burner on a very low setting,” said Mr Lynch.

“The whole programme was founded on the donation of an oil rig, and I think that, in the current climate, is highly unlikely,” said Mr Lynch.

A for-profit lodging business founded on the idea of a donation? Why on earth wouldn’t that work…

(In an ironic twist, Fayed found oil on the grounds of his (landlocked) estate. At least he has a rig of his own.)

But this goofy idea is still bobbing on the high seas, gasping for air, if in the hands of another firm. Morris Architects of Los Angeles has won the award for “Radical Innovation in Hospitality” for their oil rig hotel design. The prefab building units would be shipped to decommissioned rigs, which would be reinvented as offshore resorts. The architects are clearly using the artificial islands of Dubai as an inspiration here.

I still don’t get the appeal. On the one hand, it’s not that different from a cruise ship — you’re essentially trapped on a buoy offshore — but at least a cruise ship goes to interesting and pretty places. The oil rig doesn’t strike me as the place to be.

I suppose there could be an offshore gambling component to this, or a way to transact business in international waters. Any other ideas? And is this a vacation you’d actually want?