Often it's hard to get excited about a new destination when you open the door of your hotel room and all you see is a bar fridge and floral bedspread. For the occasions when a standard room just won't do, here are 11 of the world's wackiest and wonderful hotel rooms.
Paradise Stream Resort – Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania
There are no words (credit: Pocono Resorts)
Let's start this list off with a bang. The Champagne Tower Suite at Paradise Stream Resort is the stuff of romantic nightmares dreams.
The room doesn't just offer a round bed beneath a mirrored ceiling and a heart-shaped private pool, you'll also be spoiled with a huge champagne glass hot tub. Bom chicka wah wah.
Madonna Inn – San Luis Obispo, California
Madonna Inn's most popular room
Channel your inner Fred and Wilma Flinstone at San Luis Obispo's Madonna Inn. The Caveman is just one of the 110 themed rooms at the tacky and outlandish, yet totally fabulous Madonna Inn.
Mind the uneven floor; Caveman is a rocky cavern with animal print bedspread, lampshades and um... everything, a waterfall rock shower, rock basin and your very own switch-operated rocky waterfall. (There's even a rock urinal in the restaurant.) Rock on.
The Hamster Villa – Nantes, France
Ever wanted to live like a rodent? No? Neither have we, but for those few who do fancy eating grains, drinking out of a water tube and running on a human-sized hamster wheel, you can do so to your heart's content at the Hamster Villa. And you can even don a rat suit while you're at it. Whatever tickles your pickle, I guess...
Clover Clothes Free Spa and Hotel - Birmingham, UK
Leave all your cares and clothes at the door (credit: Clover Clothes Free Spa and Hotel)
Packing is overrated. There's nothing like that last minute rush the night before your trip where you throw in some clothes and hope for the best. But at the Clover Clothes Free Spa and Hotel, all you'll really need is a tooth brush. Rooms are comfortable and there's a day spa and bar, but who really cares when you can let it all hang out anywhere you like?
I believe it was Sebastian the crab who sung to Ariel, "Life under the sea is better than anything they got up there." And in an underwater Neptune or Poseidon suite at Atlantis the Palm Dubai, he's certainly right. So long as you've got a cool $10,000-$15,000 spare (that's per night, by the way).
For that price, you wouldn't expect cramped submarine-like quarters but you may not anticipate lavish living over three opulent floors with room for up to five guests either.
Each room has floor to ceiling views into Ambassador Lagoon, and if that's not enough, a butler is on call 24-hours a day. Plus they'll even throw in loads of complimentary extras including private cabana use and Dolphin Encounters.
"That's why it's hotter under the water."
The Beer Moth Truck Hotel – Aviemore, Scotland
Take your Scottish Highland experience to the next level at the Beer Moth Truck Hotel, a retired fire service vehicle with room for two. While you can bring your fur babies, you'll have to leave your real ones at home.
There's enough room for a kitchen, fireplace and Victorian double bed.
Kakslauttanen – Lapland, Finland
Snow igloos and glass igloos in the distance (credit: Kakslauttanen)
Kakslauttanen isn't just an ice hotel. There's a full range of incredible overnight options, from glass igloos to the gold digger's cabin, but nothing beats the real deal: a snow igloo. Light sleepers won't hear a peep from the outside world; you'll stay snug in a down sleeping bag and if the mercury drops below -40 degrees Celsius outside, your igloo stays a balmy -3 to -6 degrees.
Karosta Cietums - Liepāja, Latvia
(credit: Karosta100)
Ever wondered what it's like to spend a night in prison but without committing the crime? At Karosa Cietums, you'll sleep in a derelict cell on a rickety bunk and at meal times; it's prison gruel for you, inmate. Make no mistake; Karosta Cietums is no Orange is the New Black.
Book in for the full experience if you're up for 24-hours of non-stop, old-school Latvian prison life, including an unnerving interrogation by the Officer of the Guard. Oh, and the prison is said to be one of the most haunted places on earth. Sweet dreams.
Desert Cave Hotel – Coober Pedy, Australia
Claustrophobics may want to choose an above-ground rooms (credit: Desert Cave Hotel)
Right here in our backyard we can experience the finest in dug-out style living. In an underground room at the Desert Cave Hotel, you won't have a view (or any windows) but you'll still enjoy 4-star comfort.
Propeller Island Lodge - Berlin, Germany
If this gets too creepy, there is a normal bed in the room, too (credit: Propeller Island Lodge)
It's tough to pick one room from Propeller Island Lodge's 30, as they are all absolutely bonkers. Each room was painstakingly designed by Lars Stroschen, but the award for most bizarre goes to 'Gruft', the coffin room.
So, lid open or closed?
Lion Sands Game Reserve – Kruger National Park, South Africa
How's this for a treehouse? (credit: Lion Sands Game Reserve)
If you're up for total seclusion and a night under the African sky, look no further than Chalkley's Treehouse in the Lion Sands Game Reserve. All the 5-star comforts are at hand on your luxury perch, plus you get to fall asleep to a symphony of animals in the distance (or below) in an ultra-plush bed under the stars.
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