Although the Titanic's remote watery grave is almost 2.5 miles under the icy waves of the North Atlantic Ocean, enthusiasts may soon be able to spend the night at the luxury liner's birthplace. Plans are currently afloat and pending official approval in Belfast, Ireland for a new Titanic-themed boutique hotel, according to an article published in the Belfast Telegraph on September 7th, 2009. If all goes according to plan, a five-star, 90-bedroom hotel with a spa, swimming pool, and gymnasium will occupy the former Harland and Wolff Headquarters building at Queen’s Island in Belfast, Northern Ireland, near the shipyard where the infamous vessel was constructed.

The plans are part of an ambitious project linking the vessel to it's origins in North Ireland. The Telegraph reports that the new hotel will be part of an extensive waterfront redevelopment effort called "the Titanic Signature Project." The project aims to restore 185 acres of former shipyard, known as "The Titanic Quarter," including the Thompson Dock and the slipways where the Titanic was built and berthed before her tragic maiden voyage on April 15, 1912. According to the Telegraph, the Titanic Signature Project also includes plans for a cultural center and a £90 million, state of the art visitor space at the Titanic's original slipway. Proposals were put on the table in January 2009 to refurbish Harland and Wolff's elegant drawing offices where the doomed luxury ocean liner was designed, according to a report run by the London Daily Mail on September 7th, 2009. The space will be used for public events.

James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet immortalized the ocean liner's unfortunate saga on the silver screen and spawned widespread international interest in the maritime calamity. 12 years later, the project's developer, Titanic Quarter Ltd, appears confident there is still plenty of interest in Titanic-related attractions. It is estimated that the completed waterfront project will draw 400,000 visitors a year, according to an official press release. The developer's spokesman is quoted in the press release on the unsinkable potential for a Titanic-themed hotel. “Given the enormous global interest in the Titanic and the building’s close association with the ship, such a hotel will add to the Northern Ireland tourist experience," a spokesperson on behalf on the Titanic Quarter Ltd. said in the press release.