Luxury Floating Homes; Made in Slovakia

Austrian company Orsos Islands based in Graz is now giving a glimpse of what future living or holidays could be like for some on self-sufficient floating homes, or Orsos Islands.

The sundeck

According to the company, the floating island makes for an easy going, relaxed and personal holiday experience that combines all the positive aspects of mainland real estate and luxury yachts. The Island conception combines personal atmosphere, natur experience and the mobility of a yacht, with the comfort of a mainland home.

The Island has been especially developed for private use as well as the exclusive hotel industry. The islands are essentially aimed at the ultra-rich, with company owner Gabor Orsos quoting a price tag of around EUR 5.2 million to the AFP. Although the floating homes, will not be equipped with an engine, they can be relocated easily to anywhere in the world and they have their own autonomous power supply that works around the clock silently using wind and solar energy. The islands sleep up to 12 guests and 2 crew members.

Hungarian-born Gábor Orsós, the founder of the company, is using his many years experience in hospitality, fine cuisine and real estate and so hopes his ORSOS Islands  project will given a new dimension to living space design. Orsos told the AFP that there has already been great interest shown in the project with some preliminary orders already in. He expects the first prototype to be ready in 18-24 months, but ironically, the luxury floating homes will be built here in Slovakia and so will have to be transported down the Danube to the Black Sea then onward.

9 Comments

  1. Skanska have lost out then – if BnM keeps to his published loony plan, the lowest bid will not be accepted. Still, with the EU stumping up the dosh there is no point in accepting bids that don’t have a bit of slack in them for palm greasing and envelope fillings.
    Sk estimate = inflated price x the date + 10% for sweeteners – this is certainly the case when I ask for an estimate for work!

  2. As I have said many times before, price tags mean nothing in Slovakia . Reading today that construction company Skanska SK and Strabag have reportedly submitted the lowest bid for construction of one of the remaining sections of Slovakia’s main D1 highway. They offered to build the Lietavská Lúčka-Dubná Skala section, including the 7.5-kilometre of tunnel, for €338.3 million. Next bid was €382m, the next €410m.

    The state had originally assumed that the bids would be up to THREE TIMES higher.

  3. I am somewhat puzzled by this article. There is a long history of building fine riverine craft along the Danube, including yards in Slovakiabut I really don’t see the point in building such niche market craft here. Moving them down the Danube for onward transport to their final moorings seems an expensive option when they could be built in Black Sea ports or even in Turkish, Greek, Italian or Croatian yards closer to the potential markets.
    The price range is a bit suspect too, 5.2 million can buy a pretty decent powered vessel that gives the owner the freedom to up anchor whenever he wants. I can only forsee demand for these “Islands” in areas where real estate is expensive and those locations are not going to welcome a fleet of floating caravans. Does the price tag include the required kit to connect to the local services? many harbours and marinas don’t allow living on board unless the vessel is conected to the sewage system or has “Honey tanks” that can be pumped out.
    It may be worth watching to see if any of the derelict basins in BA suddenly get sold for a knock down price, in which case this guy will be in the right place at the right time!

  4. Yes I read that comment in the Slovak Spectator 6 hours ago. Sadly, this is all about self promo rather than any substance, all rather like that new national football stadium in Pz`lka … never happened .

  5. it would be in Komarno, still in talks

  6. Expat …when did the light bulb come on ….??

    ~~~I don’t know any huge ship building ports along the Danube in Slovakia…considering we only have a few Kilometers of water space!~~~

    This is another of those Karol Gott ate my hamster pranks .

  7. Thank will be a sight to see! Floating them donw the river will be interesting with the bridges! Getting the Floating Island (boat without a motor) across the ladn with Slovakian roads will be a funny thing to watch! Where would they build these? I don’t know any huge ship building ports along the Danube in Slovakia…considering we only have a few Kilometers of water space!

  8. Not sure what this advert has to do with Slovakia , other than `floating down the Dunube ` ….???

    Perhaps the American Embassy in Bratislava could however, be sent a ORSOS brochure and they could have one of these Islands as a misson, rather than that huge, ugly eye sore, bordered with tank traps and high walls, in the main tourist square, in middle of the old town ?

    How many years ago did they promise they would move house to a more appropriate location ?

    1. Well said George, if I had a contract to remodel or remove 5-10 eye sores from Bratislava the US embassy would be at the top of the list. We all know that Bratislava is really a tourist destination for architecture, cuisine and hospitality. We could prove this by raising the beer prices and telling the girls to cover up… the tourists would still flow in. The US embassy and the foreign police should swap buildings.

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