Azerbaijan: Death Star Hotel · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

It looks quite impressive and futuristic on first glance — a hotel that bears an uncanny resemblance to the Death Star from the Star Wars films. Remarkably, however, the hotel will not be built in Las Vegas or Dubai. It is instead planned for Baku, capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Fan IQ thinks that the project is an attempt to increase Baku's chances of hosting the 2016 Olympic Games, and if so, the sports blog believes it might just have succeeded.
So although the 2016 Games are a long way off, if you're a city that wants to host them, you better get your act together.
Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, officially has it's #$%@ together. They're in the intense running for the 2016 Games – which will be announced next year – and I think they just took the lead.
How so?
Well, my friends, they're going to build a hotel based off of the Death Star from Star Wars for the Games.
The Geeky Traveler seems impressed too.
Azerbaijan is not a country that is usually top on the list for people desperately wanting a vacation, but they’re working on a concept hotel that may draw attention and interest. Although it’s designed in such a way that it changes appearance depending on the angle, from the front it looks remarkably like the Death Star from Star Wars, and I have to say that if I did end up needing to travel there for some reason, I would totally want to stay in the Death Star hotel!
The Gadgets Blog, however, wonders if there isn't more to the futuristic hotel than meets the eye.
I personally just think it’s a cover up for things to come and I’m taking the proper precautions.
The last time someone planned to build a Death Star, there was a little guy named Anakin walking around claiming to bring a balance in the force. And well, we all know how that one turned out.
If anyone needs me, I’ll be in a bunker in Iceland rounding up Wookies and Ewoks.
May the Force be with you.
Gizmodo gets equally excited, but then notices an important difference between the hotel and the intergalactic space station than can obliterate entire planets.
They call it “Full Moon” but they are not fooling us: this is a fully armed, fully operational battle station. And it shall be destroyed before it's too late, with a bunch of small fighters that can escape its turbolasers and drop proton torpedoes down an exhaust port. Or maybe not, if you look at it from its side.
Vagabondish also notes that the resemblance stops on further inspection, but brings us all back down to earth by sharing information that might actually be of more interest to potential tourists. The blog also remarks that it's interesting to note that the further east you travel, the more futuristic architectural design gets.
[O]n to the actual living conditions, and the interiors promise to be lavishly spacious – just 382 rooms spread across 35 floors and 104,182 square meters of space. The Full Moon Hotel sits on a wavy podium with two apartment complexes at either side, named, quite fittingly, Palace of Wind 1 and 2.
It’s interesting to see how so many of these futuristic looking designs are moving eastward. Traditionalists may cringe at the Full Moon Hotel’s design with thousands of hexagonal honeycombs running through its back, but you have to admit, it is a change from conventional tall, drab blocks of concrete with no defining features for miles.
Regardless, as About:Blank points out, whether it's officially called the Full Moon Rising Hotel or not, it will probably be referred to by everyone as “that Death Star Hotel.” Olympics or not, there will likely be a few Star Wars conventions in Baku. If so, count me in. The Hotel looks cool.