In 2005, architect Ahmed Saleem deferred his dreams and settled for opening the world’s first underwater restaurant, Ithaa, at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island resort. At Ithaa, diners can eat five-star cuisine, five meters under the Indian Ocean, watching sharks and blue tangs swim past as they dine under an acrylic canopy. It’s an architectural marvel that would be the highlight of many designers’ resumes, but not for Mr. Saleem, as he is known around the resort. What Mr. Saleem really wanted to build was an underwater bedroom where he could spend the night dreaming under the sea and wake under the waves. This year, he finally got his dream in The Muraka, an all-glass hotel room that sits 16.5 feet under sea level.

Innovation lies at the heart of Rangali Island: The resort was the first hotelier in the Maldives to perch villas on stilts above the water, the first to open an underwater restaurant, and now they are the first to sink a residence into the briny depths. The Muraka, which translates to “coral” in the local language, Dhivehi, is made of steel, concrete, and acrylic, and designed with the local ecosystem in mind. (The hotel has marine biologists on staff to ensure that the sunken villa has minimal impact on the surrounding coral.)

The Muraka’s design turns the master bedroom into a human aquarium with fish swimming overhead and around the suite. Photo: Justin Nicholas

The entire lower suite was built on land in Singapore, fittingly made of acrylic from Japan’s premiere aquarium manufacturer Nippura Co., and sealed with Shin Etsu Marine sealant, which was used in the construction of Ithaa Undersea Restaurant. Then the 600-ton structure was hoisted by crane onto a specialized ship that could transport it to the Maldives and moor near the reef without damaging it. It was then submerged into the ocean and held firmly in place by 10 concrete piles that ensure it will not move or shift due to a high tide or rough seas.