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The world is awash with hotels, much of them pretty similar if we’re really honest about it. However, there are hoteliers out there striving to create stays with a difference, stays that will remain in your memory for all time. Here, we’ve rounded up the 10 quirkiest hotels, hostels and nooks from across the globe.
10. Secrets on the Lake, Australia
If, as a child, you dreamed of nights spent sleeping in a treehouse, then this is the spot for you. You’ll find five treehouses (and several cabins) nestled amidst dense rainforest on the edge of Lake Baroon in Australia’s Queensland. Treehouses sound a bit back-to-nature, but we can assure you that these are luxury affairs. You’ll find plush furnishings, sprawling balconies and even spa baths in the more expensive options.
Price: We’ve found rooms from £198 per night.
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9. Malmaison, Oxford
This former Victorian prison in Oxford has now been rebirthed as a boutique hotel. You can stay in what used to be the prison’s cells, however they’re now a whole lot more luxurious with bouncy double beds and modern en suite facilities. It’s not always clear from the decor in the rooms what the history of this place is and yet, the same can’t be said of the corridors and metal staircases that connect them.
Price: Cell rooms available from £207 per night.
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8. Hotel Costa Verde, Costa Rica
This hotel deep in the Costa Rican rainforest features not one but two aeroplanes that now function as suites. Thanks to their location, it looks as though these planes crashed into the jungle and have remained there ever since. Think Lost but with a whole lot more luxury. There’s air conditioning and cable TV, so it feels a lot less rugged a stay than you might expect!
Price: Airplane Sky Loft (sleeps eight) from £708 per night.
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7. Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai
Atlantis, The Palm is one of the world’s plushest hotels. It’s an embodiment of Dubai—glitz and glamour, all on an incredibly grand scale. Home to world-famous restaurants, opulent bars and the world’s biggest waterpark, a stay here is always quite the experience. However, the rooms here that are most talked about are the extravagant Underwater Suites: rooms with a view right into the hotel’s giant aquarium. You’ll awake to sharks, rays and multicoloured fish gliding by.
Price: Underwater suites from £6,628 per night.
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6. House on water, Colombia
This famed hostel started off life as a luxury holiday home, but now welcomes in backpackers from across the globe. It’s located in the middle of the sea, amidst the San Bernardo Islands. The only way to get here is by boat, and the transfer time from Cartagena is two hours. While it is incredibly picturesque, the experience of staying here is very back-to-basics. There are no running showers, and the toilets are long drop-style so book with that in mind. We think it’s well worth it for the experience of drinking a cocktail with your legs dangling in the sea alone!
Price: Beds in the dorms start at £58 per night.
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5. Giraffe Manor, Kenya
For a stay that marries old-school luxury and close up encounters with the natural world, look no further than Nairobi’s Giraffe Manor. The hotel itself has an English manor house feel to it, and the rooms boast four-poster beds and intricately wrought iron balconies. Located within 150 acres of sanctuary dedicated to Rothschild’s giraffes, you’re well away from the hustle and bustle of city life here. What makes this hotel so famous is the relationship between the hotel and the giraffes, who arrive often to poke their heads through open windows in search of food.
Price: Rooms start at £1,673 per night.
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4. Palacio de Sal, Bolivia
Located right beside the salt flats, the Palacio de Sal makes the most of its surrounds. The bricks used to build this hotel are made out of salt, and as is much of the furniture. It doesn’t stop there either, an ever-changing display of salt sculptures by local artists adorn the communal areas. This could sound a little bleak, but the hotel is decidedly high end, with a sleek Scandinavian-style spa, comfortable rooms and uninterrupted views out over Salar de Uyuni.
Price: We’ve found rooms from £161 per night.
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3. Dog Bark Park, Idaho
This unique guesthouse is the only dog house that you’d pay to stay in! Located beside the Highway 95 and with Idaho’s rolling prairies stretching as far as the eye can see, this beagle-shaped building can be spotted for miles. The beagle only sleeps one group, with a comfortable bedroom and a separate room located in the dog’s head. The toilet, amusingly, is in a separate building below the dog’s tail.
Price: £125 a night
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2. ICEHOTEL, Sweden
Travellers who want to test themselves, but in uniquely beautiful surrounds, will be intrigued by the chance to sleep on ice at the world’s oldest and largest ice hotel. The winter ice hotel opens from late December to mid-April each year, and is slightly different for each iteration (having melted entirely in the interim summers). While we highly recommend braving a night in the ice rooms, there are warm rooms too—and with ice bars and lounges, you won’t totally miss out on a chilly experience by choosing this option.
Price: Ice rooms are available from £627 per night. Warm rooms start at £120.
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1. Skylodge Adventure Suites, Peru
The Skylodge Adventure Suites are heart rate-soaring and cosy all at once. Clinging to a sheer rock face in Peru’s Sacred Valley, you’ll have to don hard hats and traverse perilous-looking metal steps and wire guidelines to enter your private pod. Once in your pod, you’ll be rewarded with views out over the surrounding area and an uninterrupted vista of the sky (something that is particularly lovely come nightfall). While you’ll be sad to leave your adventure here, exiting the pods involves ziplining out, which is definitely one of the most fun hotel check outs you can experience.
Price: £771 a night.
