Thursday, June 4, 2009

The World’s 10 Weirdest Hotels

Hotel de Glace, Quebec, Canada. 
From mountainous dens to underwater abodes, the following destination hotels offer more novel and memorable experiences than your typical Ramada Inn. 


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. 



Try falling asleep in this church. Icehotel, Jukkasjärvi, Sweden. 


No ice hotel would be complete without an ice garage. Icehotel, Jukkasjärvi, Sweden. 


Cave Hotel

The Cappadocia region of Turkey draws in hordes of amazed tourists with its whimsical landscape, filled with fairy chimneys into which the buildings, including hotels, are carved.

 

A Dr. Seuss wonderland. Göreme, Cappadocia, Turkey, 


Göreme, Cappadocia, Turkey. 
High class cave dwelling. Urgup, Cappadocia, Turkey. 
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.
 

The kitchen. 


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.


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. 


Tokyo, Japan. 
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. 


Floating and Underwater Hotel

The Utter Inn floats one kilometer 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. 




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.


Yurt Hotel

Yurts hold a special symbolism in Central Asian culture, adorning the Kazakhstan coat of arms and the Kyrgyzstan flag.

Nayrn, Kyrgyzstan. 


Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.