Ever thought about staying in a hotel to remember? Carl gives his take on the world’s most bizarre hotels…
As we enter the back-end of holiday season, talk begins to evolve into reviews about new and undiscovered places to go and the resorts you just want to avoid…Whether you’re a glamour puss who wouldn’t be seen dead beside the pool without a gorgeous designer bikini, or an adventurous globetrotter, you’ll be sure to appreciate this guide to the top 5 strangest hotels in the WORLD!
The Mirrorcube – Harads, Sweden
This hotel is phenomenal – it’s a lightweight aluminium 4x4x4 meter box suspended up a tree trunk and it’s covered in mirrors. Really. It accommodates two people at a time, and has a double bed, bathroom, a lounge and a roof terrace. You access the cabin via a rope bridge which is connected to the next tree. Because of the mirrors, it’s camouflaged with the rest of the tree canopy and gives you a 360 degree view of the surroundings. An ultraviolet light, only visible to birds is laminated onto the glass to prevent our winged friends from colliding with it.
Icehotel – Jukkasjarvi, Sweden
Another bizarre Swedish hotel is the Icehotel – it’s the world’s largest hotel made from snow and ice. Most of the furniture is made of ice, including the bed made from ice and snow which guests can stay in. Each year, the entire building melts and gets reconstructed so it’s different each year. In November a team of architects rebuild each room, bar and chapel with several hundred tons of ice. Temperatures are around -5 degrees Celsius so if your idea of the perfect get away includes donning ski gear and fur then this is the hotel for you.
Jules Underwater Lodge – Key Largo, Florida
Jules Underwater Lodge is the world’s first underwater hotel. It used to be an old research laboratory and sits on stilts 5 feet off the floor of a tropical lagoon, so you’re surrounded by swarms of aquatic wildlife. To get into the hotel, guests have to dive 21 feet under the sea and enter via the floor of the apartment. Compressed air keeps the water from rising up and entering the rooms. If you’re an uncertified diver you’ll have to complete a 3-hours scuba course.
Sandcastle Hotel – Weymouth, UK
This resort was made 100% from sand. A team of four sculptors worked seven 14-hour days to finish the hotel, which used about 1100 tons of sand. Guests could fall asleep under the stars and woke up to the tide lapping at their feet. With no outdoor toilets, it’s not for the high-maintenance among us…. It held up until the next big rainstorm in 2008, and here’s hoping they build another one!
Godiva Chocolate Suite – New York
This suite is designed entirely from chocolate. Yep, everything. The armchairs, bed, lamps and walls – even the artwork – is all made from chocolate. The hotel was moved to the Bryant Park Hotel for Valentine’s Day… romantic!
No matter your holidaying preferences, you can’t argue with the above as being uber-cool venues to spend the night in!
Have you been to one of them? We would like to know 🙂