If visiting an icy region of Sweden isn't enough, you can even sleep in ice at the ICEHOTEL. As the world's first and largest hotel made of ice, the ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjarvi covers 5,500 square metres and is constructed from 2,000 tonnes of snow and ice. Inside, you'll find 65 rooms, an ICEBAR to enjoy ABSOLUT drinks 'on the rocks', and an ice church for unique weddings. Rooms from 3,200 krona (£313) per night.
Located on a 50-acre site overlooking Loch Long in the Rosneath peninsula, Cove Park's Fielding Retreats prove you can do a lot more with shipping containers than, well, ship stuff. The pods are industry standard shipping containers that have an open-plan layout with cooking and sleeping facilities for guests to spend the night. They even come with balconies overlooking a delightful pond and offer beautiful views of the surrounding hills. From £100 per night via Unusual Hotels of the World
The interior of the NEW Hotel in Athens is made of all sorts of recycled materials - old newspapers, ladders, bark cloth, you name it. Designed by renowned duo the Campana Brothers, the hotel fuses old with new, displaying bespoke furniture made from recycled and reinterpreted everyday materials. In the rooms you'll find jagged mirrors and quirky chairs made out of newspapers, and the handmade fixtures really make guests feel like they are living and breathing a major art installation. €160 (£138) for a double room including breakfast.
Night in a tram, anyone? The Controversy Tram Hotel in the Netherlands consists of five bed and breakfast rooms converted from city trams and railcars. The cool themed tram bedrooms used to run on the streets of Amsterdam and Germany, and there are double beds, shower and toilet facilities and a sink top unit on board. There is a cute terrace with a seating area inside a 'tram shelter' and a TV and VCR with 200 videotapes that you'll find inside a UFO! From €60 (£50) per night from Unusual Hotels of the World
Ever dreamed of sleeping in a concrete drainpipe? No, we thought not. But the rooms (or tubes) at TuboHotel are not the cold and uncomfortable kind you'd imagine. They're super luxurious with queen-sized beds, Egyptian cotton sheets and heated too! Located in Tepoztlan, Mexico, TuboHotel's rooms are stacked in a pyramid shape, reflecting the Aztec pyramid of El Tepozteco that overlooks the town. We bet you want to sleep in a pipe now, don't you? Rooms for two from $400 (£20).
Looking for ski accommodation with a difference? Maya Guesthouse in Valais is the first hotel built entirely out of straw bales. What makes the guesthouse unique is that it is stylish and elegant too. Although guests won't find straw spread across the floor, parts of the walls have windows displaying the bales. And there's no need to worry about keeping warm high up on the Swiss mountain location, as the 90cm-thick straw walls keep the building heated throughout the winter. Double rooms 160CHF (£112) per night.
Perfect for wine lovers, the Hotel Vrouwe van Stavoren in the Netherlands is where you can sleep in a wine barrel. Located in the old harbour of the once thriving trade town of Stavoren, the hotel was built from four 14,500-litre wine casks that were shipped from Switzerland and converted into comfortable and unique rooms. Each wine cask comes with a small sitting room, TV, radio, shower and bathroom, and the hotel is working on incorporating an additional eight casks from the Beaujolais vineyards of France, each with a capacity of 23,000 litres, so they'll be even bigger than the current rooms. Wine casks from €89.65 (£76.50) per night.
How's this for an eco-hotel? Built entirely from its surroundings, this hotel on the world's largest salt flat, Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, is a truly unique place to rest your head. Palacio de Sal's walls, floors, ceilings and much of its furniture, including its chairs, beds and tables are made from salt blocks. A huge one million 35cm blocks were used to construct the 16-room hotel and it features all the luxuries you'd find in an upmarket hotel - a dry sauna, whirlpool, steam room and even its own saltwater baths. Rooms cost $130 (£82) per night.
If you're claustrophobic or suffer from motion sickness, look away now! The Capsule Hotel in the Netherlands is made of oil rig survivor pods that have been repurposed to become floating rooms moored near The Hague. They're not the most glamorous of hotel rooms, but each pod offers cosy protection from the elements for up to three people. Inside, you'll find an emergency chemical toilet, snacks and a DVD player. From €60 (£50) per night from Unusual Hotels of the World
Forget nodding off on the train home from work. Instead, spend the whole night in a train at the Train Inn, located in Nova Scotia, Canada. The century-old train station in Tatamagouche has been restored and has seven train carriages dating from 1911 to 1978, which serve as deluxe accommodation. The station itself has three bedrooms in the original stationmaster's residence and below, on the first floor, is a railway museum, cafe and gift shop, which were once the men and ladies' waiting rooms. In the Dining Car, built in 1928, you can have a real first class experience and enjoy dishes, such as salmon and steak. Rooms from £128 per night from frontier-canada.co.uk