Plans to turn Pisa tower into luxury hotel

Italian authorities are under fire over controversial plans that could see the Leaning Tower of Pisa turned into a luxury hotel, The Telegraph reports.

The proposed hotel - to be called 3.99 Degrees, reflecting the angle at which the landmark tilts – would provide cash-strapped local authorities with much-needed extra revenue, which would in turn be used to help preserve the building. It is hoped wealthy holidaymakers will pay upwards of €20,000 (£14,511) a night to sleep in such historic surroundings.

A document outlining the details of the project, leaked to Telegraph Travel by an outraged consultant, suggests that each floor could be renovated to accommodate a single spacious bedroom with 360-degree views. Each could be named after a hero of the Italian Renaissance, from Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo to Botticelli and Titian, it suggests.

The sixth floor and viewing balcony above it would become the centrepiece Galileo suite. Tentative starting rates for the top floor room are €50,000 a night (£36,278). This would make the suite among the most expensive in the world, surpassed by just a handful of rooms, including the Royal Penthouse Suite at the President Wilson Hotel in Geneva, where rates start at £41,672 a night.

The tower has been offered to an anonymous Dubai investment firm on a 50-year lease, and the document suggests that Middle Eastern tourists would be a key target market. A condition of the contract is that a portion of the rent is used to maintain the building, and other important sites in Pisa.

While there would be no space in the tower for cooking or dining facilities, plumbing could be installed to provide guests with baths and loos, the proposal says. There is also a suggestion that the hotel could partner with local restaurants to provide in-room food and drink.

Non-guests would still be permitted to tour the grounds surrounding the tower. They would also be allowed to climb the spiral staircase to the top floor during a two-hour window each day – presumably while the rooms are being serviced.

A local carpenter has even offered to create special beds with legs of varying lengths to help combat the slopes for the comfort of guests.