Bed Of Ice Or Treetop Paradise: 20 Of The World's Wackiest Hotels
Would You Pay $1,100 A Night To Share Your Room With Giraffes?
Once you've stayed at a couple of Hiltons and some Holiday Inns, you no longer just want a comfortable room when you're on vacation, you want a memorable experience. That doesn't necessarily mean dishing out a thousand dollars to stay at the Four Seasons, it means staying in a treehouse, a converted jail, a grounded plane, or on top of a crane. These are the kinds of places that not only offer a restful night of sleep but add a whole other element to your holiday. Here are 20 of the most creative hotel concepts in the world.
1. No Man's Fort - England
This Victorian-era fort was built to protect the town of Portsmouth from a French invasion. It's been turned into a quirky luxury hotel with stunning sea views, a lighthouse, and a cabaret club.
2. Salt Palace - Bolivia
Salt Palace is the epitome of working with what you've got. On the salt flats of Unuyi in Bolivia is this neat hotel almost completely constructed out of salt, including much of the furniture.
3. The Dog Bark Park Inn - USA
This Idaho hotel is situated inside a 12-foot beagle. Not a real beagle, of course, one made from wood by the owners who are also chainsaw artists. It sleeps four and is, fittingly, pet-friendly.
4. Icehotel - Sweden
As the name suggests, this hotel is made from ice. It was the world's first ice hotel and it gets rebuilt every year as soon as it's cold enough, finally giving you something to look forward to in winter.
5. The Liberty Hotel - USA
What used to be a jail in Boston has had a significant facelift. It's now a gorgeous luxury hotel that still pays homage to its past with cheeky references like the Alibi bar and CLINK restaurant.
6. The Crane Hotel Faralda - Netherlands
Built 180 feet high inside a converted crane in Amsterdam Noord is this extraordinary hotel with the best views in the city. It's become a favorite venue of world-class DJs and artists and on special occasions, they open a spa pool on top of the crane.
7. The Capsule Hotel - Australia
Looking for budget-friendly lodging in Sydney that isn't a hostel? The Capsule Hotel, located in an art deco building in the Central Business District, offers guests a self-contained sleeping pod. But it's not just any sleeping pod, each one has its own climate and lighting controls, mirror, shelf, and small TV.
8. La Balade des Gnomes - Belgium
Tucked away in the enchanting woodlands of Belgium's Ardennes is this whimsical guesthouse. The hotel offers 12 unique rooms, each designed to transport guests into a world of fantasy and fairytales.
9. Treehotel - Sweden
In Sweden, they've built a hotel out of treehouses, but these are not like the treehouse you built in your backyard as a child. Each one has a unique design with one resembling a UFO, and another, a reflective cube.
10. SiloStay - New Zealand
In New Zealand, just off Christchurch's Little River Trail, they've converted industrial grain sylos into sleek, eco-friendly accommodations, complete with kitchens, balconies, and TVs. The hotel offers gourmet microwave meals upon request.
11. Jules' Undersea Lodge - Florida
Jules' Undersea Lodge in Florida is the US's only underwater hotel. It's situated at the bottom of the Emerald Lagoon, a natural nursery for several species of fish and each room has 42-inch round windows where you can take in incredible views of the underwater environment. The only way to access the hotel is by scuba diving 21 feet underwater.
12. Jumbo Stay - Sweden
Jumbo Stay is a grounded Boeing 747 airplane turned into a hostel near the Stockholm Airport in Sweden. The best room is a luxury cockpit suite with a panoramic view.
13. Fantasyland Hotel - Canada
Fantasyland Hotel is like they built a hotel around all your childhood fantasies. Inside the West Edmonton Mall in Canada, it's one of the most unique hotels in the world. Each room has its own distinct theme from dinosaurs to luxury camping and space.
14. Das Park Hotel - Austria
Das Park Hotel in Austria did the unthinkable: turning old sewage pipes into chic accommodations. The rooms have been specially designed to give the maximum amount of comfort for minimal space, and what's more, the hotel has a "pay what you like" policy.
15. Aurora Express Bed & Breakfast - USA
In Fairbanks, Alaska, you can stay in beautifully restored vintage railroad carriages. The railroad sits high on a hill overlooking the town. Each suite is decorated to represent a different period of Alaskan history.
16. Giraffe Manor - Kenya
Kenya's Giraffe Manor is a boutique hotel with its own resident herd of giraffes who routinely poke their heads into rooms or join guests for breakfast. The manor itself is inside a historic building within 140 acres of indigenous forest.
17. Magic Mountain Lodge - Chile
This hotel in Chile's Huilo Huilo reserve is shaped like a mountain and has nine fairy tale-inspired rooms. The main lodge even "erupts" water from the roof. The land surrounding the hotel boasts natural hot springs and direct access to the Mocho Choshuenco volcano.
18. Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort - Finland
The Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort is made up of a series of glass igloos perfect for taking in panoramic views of the Northern Lights. The igloos are made from heated glass which keeps the inside cozy and prevents snow and ice from forming.
19. La Villa Hamster - France
Have you ever wondered what it's like to live like a hamster? Neither have we, but clearly, the minds behind La Villa Hamster did when they created this eccentric hotel that's designed to resemble a hamster's cage. It's located in an 18th-century caretaker’s room in Nantes, France.
20. Crazy House - Vietnam
Crazy House is an avante-garde guesthouse in the laid-back mountain town of Dalat. The building has no right angles, each room is named after an animal, and the main house looks like if Salvador Dali illustrated Hansel and Gretel and Antoni Gaudi brought it to life in the real world.
