7 craziest hotels around the world
Not everyone wants the typical room service, continental breakfast, and double bed of a chain hotel. Whether you still harbor a childhood dream of living in a treehouse, or you love wine so much you’d give anything to sleep inside a giant empty wine barrel, there’s a crazy hotel out there that fits your vacation needs. Sometimes, something whacky is called for. Here are 7 of the world’s most eye-popping, weird, and wonderful hotels. | By Maggie Gorman
Sala Silvermine Underground Suite, Sweden
All that glitters is not gold—sometimes it’s silver. Although, we’re not sure if there’s even enough light at 500 feet underground to cast a sparkle on anything. That’s the depth of the Sala Silvermine Underground Suite, but the one-room hovel is mesmerizing if only for being the deepest hotel in the world, carved in an abandoned 18th-century Swedish silver mine and sparsely furnished with silver-hewn pieces. Guests are treated to a brief tour and then left to weather the chilly, 36-degree room for the night—not a suite for the faint of heart.
Photo courtesy of Pappila Bild
La Villa Hamster, France
“Is it possible to put myself in the place of my hamster?” queries the website of this wacky place tucked on a humble Nantes side street. If this question resonates with you, La Villa Hamster holds the answer—and with its woodchip-lined bathroom, haystack beds, giant suspended foot-operated water bottle, and trés romantique hamster wheel for two, the answer seems to be yes. Yes, you can be a hamster for a night if that’s what you want, right down to the fur—the front desk equips each guest with hamster masks upon check-in.
Photo courtesy of La Villa Hamster
Bubble Tree Hotel, France
Living in a bubble isn’t just for Glenda the Good Witch anymore. In France, you can see what it’s like by booking a stay in one of designer Pierre Stéphane Dumas’s inflatable private pods. The see-through, surreal shelters are floating all over France in eight different nature-y locations. Guests have options when it comes to privacy (half-translucent bubbles are available) and size. And with a filter that removes all bugs, moisture, and allergens, along with ultraviolet-proof plastic, these glamorous orbs provide protection from the elements that’s much better than that of an actual bubble.
Photo courtesy of Pierre Stephanne Dumas
Read more about the 7 craziest hotels around the world
Sala Silvermine Underground Suite, Sweden
All that glitters is not gold—sometimes it’s silver. Although, we’re not sure if there’s even enough light at 500 feet underground to cast a sparkle on anything. That’s the depth of the Sala Silvermine Underground Suite, but the one-room hovel is mesmerizing if only for being the deepest hotel in the world, carved in an abandoned 18th-century Swedish silver mine and sparsely furnished with silver-hewn pieces. Guests are treated to a brief tour and then left to weather the chilly, 36-degree room for the night—not a suite for the faint of heart.
Photo courtesy of Pappila Bild
La Villa Hamster, France
“Is it possible to put myself in the place of my hamster?” queries the website of this wacky place tucked on a humble Nantes side street. If this question resonates with you, La Villa Hamster holds the answer—and with its woodchip-lined bathroom, haystack beds, giant suspended foot-operated water bottle, and trés romantique hamster wheel for two, the answer seems to be yes. Yes, you can be a hamster for a night if that’s what you want, right down to the fur—the front desk equips each guest with hamster masks upon check-in.
Photo courtesy of La Villa Hamster
Bubble Tree Hotel, France
Living in a bubble isn’t just for Glenda the Good Witch anymore. In France, you can see what it’s like by booking a stay in one of designer Pierre Stéphane Dumas’s inflatable private pods. The see-through, surreal shelters are floating all over France in eight different nature-y locations. Guests have options when it comes to privacy (half-translucent bubbles are available) and size. And with a filter that removes all bugs, moisture, and allergens, along with ultraviolet-proof plastic, these glamorous orbs provide protection from the elements that’s much better than that of an actual bubble.
Photo courtesy of Pierre Stephanne Dumas
Read more about the 7 craziest hotels around the world
