Normally when you travel, a hotel is just a place to rest your head at night while you spend your days exploring the attractions in the nearby area. Generally there is nothing particularly special about staying at a hotel, but what it if it was. What if your hotel stay was a memorable experience in itself . An experience like no other. These 25 unique hotels are certainly worthy of that description and are guaranteed to leave you awestruck.
1. Giraffe Manor, Kenya
‘The most unforgettable bucket-list breakfast in the world. ‘ is the caption on the giraffe manor website and they aren’t wrong. Imagine sitting down for your morning eggs and waffles, as a giraffe sticks his long, stretched neck in the window in hopes of a treat or two. In terms of a unique hotel experience you certainly don’t get more unique then that.
2. Sun Cruise Resort, South Korea
When you first hear the name Sun Cruise Resort you may not think much of it. “Seems like a standard cruise ship name” you may say . Once you see this monolith structure of a cruise ship, not situated in the nearby sea, but rather built on to a cliff well above the waterline, you will quickly realise that this is certainly not your standard cruise ship.
3. Costa Verde, Costa Rica
Ever Wonder want it would be like to live in an old airplane. Stay in a refurbished vintage 1965 Boeing 727 airframe, which, in its prior life, shuttled globetrotters on South Africa Air and Avianca Airlines (Colombia). This fully outfitted, meticulously detailed, two bedroom, Boeing 727 fuselage suite jets out from the jungle canopy, affording you views that will make you feel like you’re flying. To top it all off it is only a few steps from the beach.
4. No Man’s Fort, U.K
Old sea fort converted to hotel. Only reachable by private boat. If you want some privacy away from it all this is the place for you. The hotel comes equipped with free Wi-Fi, a bar, restaurant, laser tag area and a personal lighthouse. Perfect for a little weekend getaway on the ocean.
5. Icehotel, Sweden
No doubt you have probably heard of the famous ice hotel in Sweden. It is a true masterpiece that is not only a hotel but a expedition of beautiful art, and since the whole structure is ice, the designs of the rooms and sculptures are constantly changing. You may stay in a room one year and come back a year later and find the same room completely changed.
6. Propeller Island City Lodge, Germany
This dog themed hotel has taken aesthetic to a whole new level. The world’s biggest beagle sleeps four and is full of dog-shaped art. Of course it goes without saying that dog lovers will love this unique structure.
8. Mira Mira, Australia
Located in Berlin, Germany this hotel has been named one of the weirdest in the world. Every one of the 30 rooms is an art piece, all extremely unique, and a treat for the senses. Some of the rooms you can stay at include a floating bed, a prison room, a room completely covered in mirrors, and you can even sleep in a coffin in one of them. The artist’s philosophy towards this hotel is ‘to copy nothing and always be original’.
7. Dog Bark Park Inn, U.S.A
Located in beautiful Gippsland Region, just 90 minutes from Melbourne and situated on 22 acres of bush land, Mira Mira is a collection of four self contained, two bedroom fantasy retreats where guests have an opportunity to ‘Live in Art”. The four retreats are the Japanese Zen retreat, the Cave retreat, the Tanglewood retreat and the English Cottage retreat. This is a place to fuel your creativity as well as to relax.
9. Poseidon Undersea Resort, Fiji
Imagine waking up to a underwater paradise view, surrounded by schools of fish and beautiful coral reefs. This super-luxurious five-star hotel resort, located in Fiji, one of the most beautiful and romantic settings on the planet, has an amazing selection of suites built under the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The hotel has air conditioning and is pressurised to match the surface pressure.
10. Hotel Marques De Riscal, Spain
This luxury hotel stands in contrast to the beautiful winelands of the Spanish countryside. The flowing metal panels of this spectacular building was designed by the famous architect Frank O. Gehry who also designed the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum.
11.Crane Hotel Faralda, Netherlands
The owner of this very original hotel realises that sleeping 45m up in an converted industrial crane is not for everyone, but the ones that do will remember the experience for life. This spot is frequently stayed in by DJs and creatives alike. The crane offers three luxury double story rooms, a studio room and a rooftop pool with spectacular views of the area.
12. Hang Nga Guesthouse, Vietnam
Stepping through the entrance of Hang Nga ( otherwise known as the appropriately named, Crazy House ) is like stepping into a whole new world of fantasy and imagination. This complex maze of weird structures has become a tourist attraction in itself. The architect designed the Crazy House as a way to bring back a nature based design to today’s overly industrial society.
13. V8 Hotel, Germany
Car fanatic? Then this hotel is definitely for you. Each of these rooms in this hotel are unique in design and theme, and they all use car parts from classic cars to create the furniture, like the beds and couches. The hotel also offers tours focused on the automobile industry to nearby museums like Motorworld , Porsche Museum and the Mercedes Museum.
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14. Magic Mountain, Chile
Located in a nature reserve and surrounded by trees this pyramid like structure stands out like no other. This hotel is often covered in moss and foliage and a really cool feature of Magic Mountain is that it spews water down the sides like some sort of volcano. Crossing a monkey bridge you will find the rooms inside are very rustic in design, with different shades of wood every where you look. A big focus of this hotel is ecotourism.
15. Treehotel, Sweden
Located in remote Sweden, Treehotel is not a single hotel but rather seven different treehouse structures that you can choose to stay in. All of the treehouse structures are different and there are a few that really stand out. For instance there is the Mirrorcube that is a 4x4x4 metre cube that is entirely covered in mirrors, or the bird’s nest that is entirely covered in sticks and there is even a treehouse that looks like a UFO. This is a place that will give you a unique relaxing experience in nature.
16. Karostas Cietums, Latvia
Most of us will never experience what it is like to spend a night behind bars and many more of us never want to. For the vast majority of law-abiding citizens, prison is not a concern we have deal with. It is a distanced reality from our own. That doesn’t mean that we aren’t curious about life behind bars though.
At Karostas Prison you can dispel your curiosity by sleeping a night locked up. The prison also offers a range of activities involving the prison theme, like escape games and a prison show based on true prison stories.
Staying here is definitely not for everyone but for those daring enough this may be the perfect adventure for you. Just be warned though . It is said that Karostas prison is swarming with ghosts. Spooky
17. Silostay, New Zealand
Located in Little River, a small NZ town, is these converted silos you can stay at. The Silostay’s mission is to provide you with peacefulness and isolation away from the daily grind which allows you to focus inwardly on personal introspection.
18. Palacio de Sal, Bolivia
OK so we have talked about a hotel made of ice but what about a hotel made of salt. Ye you heard that right. The entire hotel is made of salt and salt is even incorporated into the furniture and art pieces. This hotel is located on the edge of Salar de Uyuni (Uyuni Salt Flats) ,the biggest salt lake in the world. The spacious standard rooms are built in the style of salt igloos, with domed salt-brick ceilings and large, comfortable beds made of salt. Tours are offered out to the flats from the hotel.
19. Free Spirit Spheres, Canada
Another treehouse hotel, this one shaped into perfect spheres. These spheres are the perfect place to relax in nature and to serve as a base for exploring Vancouver Island .
20. Skylodge Adventure Suites, Peru
Adventure is literally in the name of these capsule like pods, suspended on the cliffs of the Sacred Valley of Cuzco. To sleep at Skylodge, people must climb 400 mt. of Via Ferrata or hike an intrepid trail through ziplines. The Natura Vive Skylodge is composed of three exclusive capsule Suites with a total capacity of 8 people. Spectacular views, remote location, mountain trek, this is truly a stay for the adventurous at heart.
21. Fantasyland, Canada
Located in West Edmonton Mall – one of the largest malls on Earth – the Fantasyland Hotel features themed rooms to resemble your wildest dreams.
Every room is a different theme ranging from the very pink princess room, to the roman room and my personal favourite the space room.
The mall itself is more like a theme park than a shopping centre and there is plenty to do during the day including the actual theme park called Galaxyland, home to the world’s largest indoor rollercoaster. Or what about the NHL-size hockey rink? There is an indoor bungee jump and an IMAX cinema, so entertainment will never be far from your fantasyland hotel door. This is an accommodation for the whole family to enjoy.
22. Kakslauttanen Artic Resort, Finland
Spend a night or two watching the northern lights and snuggling up to your partner under a glass igloo in remote Finland. It doesn’t get much better than that. The resort also offers log cabin accommodations for bigger groups and families.
23. The Grand Canyon Caverns, U.S.A
There is more to the Grand Canyon then beautiful views, like for instance ‘The largest, oldest, deepest, darkest, quietest motel room in the world’ as the cavern website describes it. This cavern is located 220ft (67m) below the surface and is only accessible by elevator.
The cavern itself is 200 (60m) by 400ft (122m) and has a 70ft (21m) ceiling and it sleeps up to 8. The quietness down there is like nothing you have ever experienced. It is a place of absolute stillness. It’s one of those once in a lifetime experiences that you will never forget.
24. Helga’s Folly, Sri Lanka
With a caption ‘If expecting a regular hotel experience, best look elsewhere, thank you’ you know you won’t be staying at a regular hotel if you stay here. Helga’s Folly is a very whimsical hotel with eccentric murals, art pieces, and furnishings every where you look. The theme is a mix of fantasy and other worldly experiences that really showcase the original owner, Helga’s, imagination and creativity.
25. Nakagin Capsule Tower, Japan
Although technically Nakagin Tower is not a hotel, but a apartment complex, for Japanese bachelors, I had to include this capsule tower because of its unique, futuristic design, despite it being very old. This building is an architectural marvel although sadly over recent years it has fallen into disrepair.
So we come to the end of all these crazy, wild and most definitely unique hotels.
So which one of this 25 Unique hotels would you love to stay in for a night or two? Drop a comment below.
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