Unusual Beds, Odd Roofs, And Stories You’ll Remember
Travel can feel like a predictable routine with its milling about in airports, taking Ubers, settling into AirBnbs or familiar chain hotels. But sometimes, the best memories are stitched from the strangest accommodations. They may not come with room service or a continental breakfast, but they come with something else: the thrill of novelty that informs the stories you tell years later. The roof might leak, or the mattress might not even qualify as a mattress, but that’s part of the experience. It’s less about comfort, more about curiosity. Here are twenty places you can stay that defy convention.
1. Treehouse In Costa Rica
Climbing into bed after climbing into the forest canopy is its own reward. As you lie there, you listen to the rustle of howler monkeys instead of traffic outside your window. If you’re lucky, a lightning storm rolls across the distant hills while you sway in your hammock, watching the jungle spark above you.
2. Old Lighthouse In Maine
The spiral staircase may be narrow, but once you reach the lantern room, the view opens up in every direction. The foghorn that echoes out over the ocean sounds like an ancient beast clearing its throat. It’s not a tranquil spot, but then again, tranquility was never the point.
3. Converted Train Caboose
Somewhere in rural Pennsylvania, an old caboose sits on rusting tracks. Inside, the bunks are bolted to the wall, and the faded upholstery smells faintly of dust and grease. You awake at dawn half expecting the disconnected train to lurch forward down the tracks.
4. Monastery Guest Cell
There’s something delightfully ascetic about the stone walls, narrow bed, and silence so thick it almost seems to echo against itself. Breakfast consists of bread, cheese, maybe fruit. You walk the courtyard in the evening, counting the echoes of your own footsteps and begin to realize why monks commit themselves to this lifestyle.
5. Houseboat On A Dutch Canal
The water slaps against the hull, a sound that’s equal parts comforting and alarming. Ducks quack outside, begging for breadcrumbs. You wobble every time you stand, but the gentle buoyancy instills a sense of quiet tranquility that lulls you to sleep at night.
6. Japanese Capsule Pod
The pod itself looks like a space-age washing machine. The glow of a control panel and the hum of the ventilation make you feel like you’re in some tiny life-support vessel. And you only paid thirty bucks.
7. Ice Hotel In Sweden
Everything from the walls to the bed frame is carved from ice. To survive this outing without catching hypothermia, you have to sleep inside a sleeping bag designed for Arctic expeditions. At three a.m., your eyelashes frost over, but the rest of you is deliciously toasty.
8. Tipi On The Prairie
The canvas fabric and metal support poles creak in the wind. A fire burns low in the pit, and smoke curls up through the flap. The stars outside aren’t just pinpricks of light; they’re endless, like spilled sugar across the firmament. You fall asleep smelling of woodsmoke, feeling more peaceful than you have in years.
9. Salt Flat Dome In Bolivia
On the edge of the Salar de Uyuni, a geodesic dome gleams white against an endless white horizon. Inside, the air feels dry, thin, and charged with silence. Step outside at night, and the ground mirrors the stars so perfectly that you lose track of where the sky begins.
10. A Cave In Cappadocia
The walls are carved from soft volcanic stone, with rounded corners that feel comfortingly smooth. Lanterns glow against the uneven surfaces, and the air is cool even in summer. You lie in bed thinking about how people have been sleeping in caves for tens of thousands of years.
11. Airplane Hostel In Sweden
This hostel consists of an old jumbo jet parked near an airport, its fuselage gutted and filled with bunks. There’s no turbulence on this trip, unless you count your excitement.
12. Shepherd’s Hut In England
This is a wagon on iron wheels, with a wood-burning stove in the corner and quilts folded neatly on the bed. The kettle whistles in the morning, and sheep graze just beyond the tiny window in the green pastures; their bleating is the only sound punctuating the silence.
13. A Yurt In Mongolia
The walls are constructed of thick felt, and a stove in the center offers heat during the cold nights. The doorframe is low, so you bang your head every time you duck out. You eat dumplings by candlelight, the kind filled with mutton and onions, and the night stretches out into forever.
14. Fire Lookout Tower
Once you’ve ascended the 60-foot ladder, you’re suddenly living above the treetops. The tower has glass windows on all sides, and the tree-covered hills glow pink at sunset. At night, it’s just you and the sound of wind whistling by.
15. Converted Jail Bus
This Arizona jail bus has peeling paint on the outside and mismatched furniture crammed on the inside. Somebody stuck a futon where the rows of seats once were. The steering wheel’s still there, a reminder that this vehicle once moved.
Thomas R Machnitzki (thomasmachnitzki.com) on Wikimedia
16. Igloo In The Alps
You crawl inside this miniature ice fortress, your breath clouding from the cold. The cold is oppressive, yet somehow with the walls glowing faintly from lantern light, the temperature is manageable. You wake in the middle of the night, nose numb, but the silence is so absolute that it feels like you’re in a space outside of creation.
17. Library Loft
Yes, really. There’s something novel (no pun intended) about sleeping in a tiny bed squeezed between stacks of dusty books. The air smells of paper and ink. You fall asleep halfway through a forgotten novel from 1923.
18. Floating Tent On A River
It’s anchored for your safety, but you still drift just enough that the shoreline shifts as you close your eyes. The canvas walls ripple with each wave. It’s not the safest spot on our list, but that’s part of the thrill.
19. Barn Loft In Vermont
With its hay bales stacked high and dust floating in sunlight, this spot is agricultural in the best way. At night, the barn creaks and settles. A mouse scurries across the beams. You fall asleep smelling hay and wake up to a rooster.
20. Hammock On A Jungle River
A hammock is a bed you can take with you. All about you, the jungle hums with the sounds of frogs, insects, and distant howls. Your sleep might be intermittent, but waking up here feels like a precious gift.
