The world’s 9 weirdest hotels [PICs]
From mountainous dens to underwater abodes, the following destination hotels offer more novel and memorable experiences than your typical Ramada Inn.
1. Ice Hotel
Built every winter only to melt in the spring, Icehotel in Sweden is constructed entirely from ice and snow; that includes the walls, fixtures, and furniture.
Luxury suite for two. Icehotel, Jukkasjärvi, Sweden / Photo: bjaglin
Try falling asleep in this church. Icehotel, Jukkasjärvi, Sweden / Photo: bjaglin
No ice hotel would be complete without an ice garage. Icehotel, Jukkasjärvi, Sweden / Photo: Köttbullekvist
2. Cave Hotel
The Cappadocia region of Turkey draws in hordes of tourists with its landscape of fairy chimneys, into which the buildings — including hotels — are carved.
A Dr. Seuss wonderland. Göreme, Cappadocia, Turkey / Photo: Curious Expeditions
Göreme, Cappadocia, Turkey / Photo: Adam Franco
High class cave dwelling. Urgup, Cappadocia, Turkey / Photo: Jason Devitt
3. Forest Hut Hotel
For a nominal fee, travelers in Kolarbyn, Sweden, can be left to fend for themselves while roughing it in a rustic forest hut. Food drops are optional.
Photo: Tom Williams
The kitchen / Photo: Li-Lian Williams
4. Survival Pod Hotel
These bright orange mod pods anchored in The Hague were part of an art project before being capitalized on as adventurous getaway. Packages range from basic survival with a sleeping bag and food rations to something a bit more James Bond-esque.
Photo: Roel
5. Capsule Hotel
In special discount hotels in Japan, guests stow their luggage in lockers, then buy automated tickets to little cubicles that leave enough room for bedding and television monitor.
Tokyo, Japan / Photo: Massa
Tokyo, Japan / Photo Andrés Monroy-Hernández
6. Sewage Pipe Hotel
Austria’s answer to the capsule hotel, Das Park Hotel has the same premise of buying a ticket from an automated machine, but, supposedly, guests pay whatever amount they want. Fair, considering it’s a concrete sewage pipe.
Das Park Hotel, Ottensheim, Austria / Photo: Foam
7. Floating and Underwater Hotel
The Utter Inn floats one kilometer out on Lake Malaren as a solitary island, and beneath the surface lies a bedroom with a panoramic underwater view.
In dry dock. Lake Malaren, Vasteras, Sweden / Photo: Jonas Wallinder
8. Prison Hotel
Nine centuries old and originally the historic residence of Empress Matilda, the Oxford Castle has also been a prison. Now, it’s a hotel and shopping complex.
Photo: Miladus Edenensis
Photo: Jim Fruchterman
9. Yurt Hotel
Yurts hold a special symbolism in Central Asian culture, adorning the Kazakhstan coat of arms and the Kyrgyzstan flag.
Nayrn, Kyrgyzstan / Photo: Rob
Naryn, Kyrgyzstan / Photo: Rob
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