Famed Queen Elizabeth II ship turns into Dubai-based hotel

The Queen Elizabeth II ship is set to finally open as a floating hotel in Dubai.

A "soft opening" will take place on April 18 before a "grand launch" in October.

Visitors will be welcomed on board the Cunard ship almost a decade after it completed its final voyage from Southampton to the Middle East in November 2008.

After being bought by a Dubai government-owned company for $100 million (£70 million), the vessel was expected to be quickly reinvented into a hotel - but the global financial crisis delayed the project.

The ship has undergone a £70 million transformation.

Its owners say that it has now been "thoughtfully restored to her former glory" after 2.7 million man-hours of work.

The 13-deck hotel is docked permanently at Port Rashid and features an interactive museum on the QE2's history.

Guests staying in the smallest rooms will have just 17 square metres of floor space while those in the royal suites will enjoy 76 square metres including a private veranda, conservatory and dining room.

The maiden voyage took place in 1969 from Southampton to New York and since then it has crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times and carried more than 2.5 million passengers.

It was even used during the Falklands War as a means of transporting soldiers.

The ship took its maiden voyage in 1969.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in ITV News on Tuesday April 17th, 2018 http://bit.ly/queenelizabeth2