Animal rights activists have urged guests to stay away from a controversial Chinese hotel built around a polar bear enclosure so guests can be entertained by watching the arctic animals from their hotel rooms:
While guests will be enjoying watching their exotic companions, the polar bears will be forced to spend most of their time in a small enclosure in the interior of the hotel so they can be in full view at all times.
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Jason Baker, Senior Vice President, PETA Asia condemned the idea, saying: "PETA urges patrons to stay away from this hotel and any other establishment that profits from animals' misery."
The first Polar Bear Hotel in the world officially opens its gates for visitors in 'Harbin Polar Land' this week (12 March) as part of the second phase of the Polar Pavilion, in the city of Harbin in the north-eastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang.
The hotel is being advertised as providing the extraordinary experience of having polar bears as 'neighbours 24 hours a day'.
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It has been reported that Harbin Polar Land invested CNY 100 million (£11 million) in the project. The hotel is equipped with a total of 33 pieces of tempered glass spread across all functional areas.
The polar bears can be seen through the tempered glass from any room in the hotel where visitors can observe the daily life of the animals.
The bears would be in sight not only when they are in their glass enclosure in the middle of the hotel but also when they go outside to their open-air enclosure.
According to Baker, polar bears are active for up to 18 hours a day in nature, roaming home ranges that can span thousands of miles, where they enjoy real life.
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Baker continues: "Polar bears belong in the Arctic, not in zoos or glass boxes in aquariums - and certainly not in hotels. The greedy, exploitative aquarium industry, which is out of place in today's increasingly aware world, is built on the suffering of intelligent, social beings who are denied everything that's natural and important to them."
Here in the UK there's a giraffe hotel where guests come face-to-face with the animals but it is situated on a nature reserve where guests can go on safari and see free-roaming giraffes and spectacled bears.
Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve in Kent, is set within a Grade II listed building dating back to the 15th and 16th century and will offer 10 bedrooms, as well as five cabins, all giving incredible views over the reserve where animals including lions, giraffes and wolves call home.