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Dubai plans to convert cruise liner QE2 into dockside hotel fitted with original furnishings

July 2, 2012 |The Associated Press

A woman passes a shop aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2 as Istithmar World, the Dubai state investment company that owns the ship, outlined plans Monday to turn the retired cruise liner into a 300-room hotel, ending years of speculation about its fate, in Port Rashid, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Monday, July 2, 2012. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II launched the QE2 in 1967. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Dubai has settled on a use for the storied Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise liner it bought for $100 million, with plans to make it into a floating hotel fitted with the original furnishings.

The chairman of the Dubai company that owns the ship said Monday he expects the 300-room hotel to open within 18 months at the city's downtown Port Rashid.

Istithmar World Chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem says the company realized visitors want to see the QE2 as it originally looked, so is not planning major changes as part of the conversion.

The ship's fate has been the subject of intense speculation since Dubai bought it in 2007. Original plans to completely overhaul it as a luxury hotel were scrapped when Dubai's economy tumbled into crisis.

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