The Top 10 Weirdest Hotels in the World

When I was researching hotels online I must say that the ones I found to be weird I also found to be very creative. They were very unusual to me. When we travel, aside from the basics given in familiar named hotels/motels, the only amenities I need in the room are: air condition/heat, a refrigerator, a microwave and a coffee pot. Some of these hotels, being as different as they are were really beautiful. I think it would be awesome to travel from place to place just to stay at some of these odd hotels/motels. It would be interesting to have these on our "Things I Must Do Before I Die" lists.

The Sewage Pipe Hotel-Das Park Hotel in Ottensheim, Austria truly is to me the weirdest of the 10 hotels I found. The three rooms they offer are just round, 10-ton, gray, concrete drain pipes made into 6.5 feet in diameter sleeping rooms. They lay arms distance apart from each other on the ground. Each safe, tall-enough, locked room has in it a double bed, storage space, lights and power, a warm blanket and a sleeping bag. The toilets, showers and food are available nearby on the property. If you desire scenery, the Rodl Creek which runs into the Danube River runs in front of these sleeping quarters. Personally, I would never stay here but they must be doing well since they are still in business. I guess this is all you need as a place to sleep during your travels. The one big positive about these sleeping facilities is that you pay per night what you can afford, or want to pay. You can view these drainage pipe rooms online at: www.dasparkhotel.net

The Capsule Hotel in Japan is also weird - to me. They have several Capsule Hotels in different parts of Japan. The sleeping areas are little cubicles that were once used as escape pods, which hung outside oil rigs and were ready to be used in case of an evacuation. In each one there's only room for bedding and a small television monitor. To help you visualize what I am trying to describe, to me these little, bright orange cubicles remind me of closed-in, metal dog crates. These cubicles are situated against walls in high rows alongside each other. Lockers are located nearby to be used for storage. You can view this hotel online at: www.capsulehotel.info

Grand Daddy Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa only seems weird if you compare it to the popular-named hotels/motels we are used to. I bet cowboys, cowgirls, and people who love to sort-of "rough it" and keep it simple would actually like this place. The rooms in their Airstream Penthouse area are actually old, large, silver aluminum trailers - 7 of them situated around a really nice and large wooden patio area with tables and flowers. You might consider it to be a small trailer park, with a view of Table Mountain behind it. Each trailer has air condition, a shower and bathroom facilities, a double bed, mini bar and satellite tv. Local artists decorated each trailer with a different theme: Goldilocks and the Three Bears; The Ballad of John & Yoko; Afro-Funk (African theme); Love of Lace (and pink); Dorothy (light blue with white polka-dots); Earthcote Moontides; and Pleasantville (green and red 50s style). Outside each trailer is a standing usable U.S. Postal Service mailbox - maybe to help you feel like you're home. I know that can be very convenient because a lot of times when we are on vacation, it's hard to find a mailbox. Supposedly these trailers are clean, comfortable and cheap. You can view these online at: granddaddy.co.za

Cashmere Hills Wagon Stay located at 700 Cashmere Road in Christchurch, New Zealand looks like another cowboy/cowgirl/pioneer lovers place to stay. The wagon is a real Early Settlers' Pioneer Wagon and believe it, or not, the wagon has a balcony with glass doors opening up onto the balcony. If you think about it, this may be a way to re-live history and live like the pioneers did - with some added modernization. The wagon is comfortable for two people with heat and air conditioning, a queen-size bed, computer-controlled showers, flushable toilets, full kitchens, a table, a hair dryer, satellite tv and a DVD and CD player. All the furniture is made of beautiful wood. It sounds amazing and impossible to imagine all that in a Pioneer wagon, but it's true and very nicely done. The wagon is smoke-free. On the grounds is a heated bath and barbeques, with laundry service available, internet and cell phone availability if within range, complimentary tea and coffee and a continental breakfast. The wagon is situated on farmland, with beautiful trees, sheep, cattle and deer and there's views of the beautiful Southern Alps. Don't worry - restaurants and stores are only 5 minutes away. To me this seems like another place which might be fun to have on a "Things To Do Before I Die" list. You can view this accommodation online at: www.wagonstays.co.nz

Dog Bark Park Inn Bread & Breakfast, is located on US Highway 95 in Cottonwood, Idaho. How about staying in an Inn which is shaped like a dog? This is a two-story, beagle-shaped bread and breakfast Inn, which is the World's Biggest Beagle. The deck you enter from is one side of the beagle's rib cage, the main quarters is the stomach and up another level is the sleeping area inside the beagle's head and nose. Of course pets are allowed to stay here too. A huge wooden, brown and white beagle with a puppy beagle don the front of the grounds. This is definitely very creatively done and I'm assuming both owners - husband and wife are dog lovers - especially Beagle lovers. They built the structure as well as some of the furniture, as they continue to chainsaw and carve wooden replicas of dogs and other animals, fish, etc. sold in their gift shop. The grounds are on an isolated crop area on the Camas Prairie. Maybe because this place is a "Ma and Pa" place it received excellent reviews online. You can view it online at: www.dogbarkparkinn.com

While I'm talking about oddly structured hotels/motels and inns, there's the Hobbit Motel in Woodlyn Park, in Otorohanga, New Zealand. Since this motel was designed to replicate the hobbit dwellings in J.R. Tolkien's children's books, children may especially enjoy this experience. The windows and doorways are circular and the walls are red and beige. Fortunately though, the height of the motel is much higher than a typical hobbit dwelling. Each of the 2 units have two sets of bunk beds and a double bed, which can accommodate up to 6 people and they have a kitchen, and shower and toilet facilities. It might be fun to feel like a hobbit for a while. You can view this online at: www.woodlynpark.co.nz/thehobbitmotel.html

I have to go off on a tangent to beautiful for a second and I must say that this hotel although weird and different is absolutely beautiful. Hotel de Glace in Quebec, Canada is North America's only ice hotel which is built of snow and ice. It's unbelievably true and yes, the entire hotel has to be rebuilt every year. The structure including the archways are made of snow and there are beautiful, breathtaking (to me) crystal ice sculptures everywhere inside it. The thought behind designing this hotel was inspired by igloos and childhood snow forts. The suites are absolutely beautiful - all white with beautiful handmade designs on the walls. The hotel has a nordic relaxation area with outdoor spas and saunas. If you're planning a memorable (and very cold) wedding this white hotel is the place to have it. Many people have business meetings here too. Because of all it's whiteness and beauty this place reminds me of dying and being on the other side. To me it looks so peaceful and euphoric. You can view this weird but beautiful hotel online at: www.icehotel-Canada.com

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to sleep in a large prison, but not having the usual prison discomforts because you broke the law? I haven't, but there's a Prison Hotel in Malmaison, Oxford U.K. It used to be a prison and looking up from the bottom floor, the second floor still looks like the second floor of a big prison you would see in movies - with its' metal staircases and very narrow, metal walkways. When you look up from the bottom floor there's a very high ceiling and you can see all of the top guestrooms (converted cells). They still have the metal narrow bridges on the 2nd floor, which connect both sides. I have to say though that this hotel is in no way like "roughing it." On the contrary, It is a Las-Vegas type luxury hotel - with beautiful suites, elegant dining and beautiful architecture. You can still say though that you stayed at a prison. You can view this hotel online at: www.malmaison-oxford.com

If you don't mind motion, sleep in the revolving hotel at The Marmara Antalya in the Falez Hills of Antalya, Turkey. There are 24 very large guestrooms in a building that slowly spins - doing a full rotation every seven hours. I can tell you right now that my heart medication would never tolerate this. As you look out the window during different times of rotation, you can see different views of the Mediterranean Sea, the Taurus Mountains and the entire resort. If you don't mind the movement this is a very luxurious hotel and they also have guestrooms in a building that doesn't spin. You can view this weird but beautiful hotel online at: www.themarmarahotels.com

The Propeller Island City Lodge in Berlin can be considered weird and weirder every time you go back to it because of all the 45 possible different and weird guestroom themes you can stay in each time. If you would like to sleep in a coffin, on a bed suspended by ropes, in a silver Temple, in a wooden room with red glass walls in the bathroom, in a fully glassed/mirrored room that feels like you're in a kaleidoscope, in a therapeutic room, in an ocean room, on a circular bed, in an upside-down room with the furniture hanging from the ceiling, on a circular moving bed, in a green stain-glassed room, in a prison cell, in a lion's cage, on a wooden hill, in a room with a slanted floor and a flying bed, in a padded cell, in a totally orange room, in a room decorated with all graphic designs, in a cloud room, and/or in a room designed to look like a castle this is the place for you. Each room is totally designed based on one of the themes I just mentioned. Every room is very different than the other with sight and sound obviously elaborated on . To me, each room is a beautiful work of art and creativity. You can view each room online at:
www.propeller-island.com

It might be fun to use one of these hotels as a guide when we are trying to decide where to go to, for our next vacation.
Have safe and fun travels!