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The world's most unusual hotels
  • These giant see-through bubbles provide a Space Age moon camp look, for a fresh air-conditioned alternative to traditional camping in France. The eco-friendly BubbleTree bubbles each have their own private showers and toilets too.

  • This unusual futuristic space pod sits in the foothills of the Argentinean Andes at the Entre Cielos resort and is surrounded by cherry trees and vines, producing some of Argentina’s most exquisite wine. To really make the most of the spectacular wine location, the vineyard loft stands above the hotel’s own vineyard on stilts. It has a bath on the terrace and a window in the roof offering first-class starry sky views. Entre Cielos is also home to the first authentic hammam and spa in Latin America, where vinotherapy uses wine in a more unusual intoxicating experience.

  • The edgy Chrome Hotel is located in an extraordinary, contemporary building, which appears domino-like by day and at night is illuminated by slow-changing LED lights in a myriad of colours. On entering the hotel, the work of art continues - the 24′ high entrance lobby has a wall of varied rectilinear composition of wood and glass that curves into the ceiling, slowly fragmenting into individual suspended glass cuboids, creating a sculptural effect. Setting a new level of architectural design in Kolkata, Chrome Hotel was designed by Sanjay Puri, one of India’s leading architects, who has won many prestigious international design awards.
  • Set in Paris’s trendy St Germain district, Le Bellechasse Hotel has ravishingly eccentric interiors designed by Christian Lacroix and inspired by the 18th century artistic and cultural influences of Paris’ left bank. If ever there was a hotel where a high-fashion dress code had to be enforced, this haute couture gem of a hotel would be it. The chic hotel is hidden away in a narrow street in St Germain, allowing travellers and aesthetes to meet privately in its relaxing lounge or attractive courtyard.
  • Ever wondered how it feels to be an Eskimo? Well wonder no more because at Quebec’s Hotel de Glace you can spend the night in an artisan ice hotel, painstakingly rebuilt with a new design each winter. From dramatic crystalline ice sculptures to vast snow vaults and the chance to go dog sledding, this unusual holiday spot is also popular for icy weddings abroad.

  • Dubai's Atlantis The Palm has the clue to it's claim to unusual fame in it's name. Guests, who have included Robert de Niro and Lily Allen, have a choice of the two top suites, the £5,700-a-night Neptune or Poseidon. The floor-to-ceiling windows look straight into the Ambassador Lagoon and its 65,000 marine creatures, separated from the bedrooms and bathrooms only by a set of curtains and some very high specification glazing.

  • You don't have to be barking mad to stay at Dog Bark Park Inn in Cottonwood, Idaho... but if you are, it helps. Guests entering the 12-foot tall beagle will find a world of canine wood carvings and dog-shaped cookies on their pillow. There's a bedroom in the dog's head and a cosy alcove in the muzzle and lots of glorious countryside all around for walkies.
  • Based on the edge of the New Forest National Park, Chewton Glen Country House Hotel & Spa offers its guests the chance to stay in a luxury tree house quite unlike any experienced in childhood. The sophisticated tree houses are built on stilts and offer floor-to-ceiling panoramic views from within the forest canopy, with the Treehouse Hideaway Suite also featuring an outdoor hot tub on its terrace deck.

  • Set against the backdrop of the charming Spanish village in Rioja Alavesa wine country, Hotel Viura is an architecturally flamboyant, modern hotel with dramatic mountain views of the Sierra de Cantabria. The Small Luxury Hotels of the World property resembles a pile of precariously placed cubes that give way to a series of balconies and terraces, plus a spectacular outdoor lounge on the top floor.
  • Loisaba Wilderness in Kenya has Mukokoteni beds on raised platforms, leaving you open to the African skies with wide views of the bush and its wildlife. A team of Maasai and Samburu are always close at hand to stop any encounters with dangerous animals getting too close for comfort.

  • Designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, the Hotel Marques de Riscal in Northern Spain, offers you the chance to sleep in a Guggenheim Museum-style hotel. It is located in the midst of the country’s famous Rioja producing region and the titanium panels were made to reflect the flow and ebb of Rioja, with several tinged a delicate pink to represent the faint Burgundy stain of the region’s world-famous wine.

  • You won't throw money down the drain at Das Parkhotel, Austria - you'll be living in it. These giant concrete drain pipes have a double bed, storage, light and power but despite all the piping, there's no toilet or shower - public facilities are nearby. Guests pay according to how much they can afford. The drainpipe idea has proved so popular that five more drain pipes will soon open near Essen, Germany.
  • Eco-conscious globe trotters will love Patagonia's EcoCamp where environmentally friendly domes linked on raised walkways are powered by micro-hydro turbine and solar panels, giving guests a holiday with no negative eco impacts.

  • Sweden's Sala Silver Minesuite, fit for two guests, is around 500 feet underground in what used to be Sweden's main silver mine. Guests sleep and dine in polished caverns originally created by the men working underground. If the Mine Suite isn't deep enough, there is the chance of guided tours to go even deeper underground and tour the vast underground halls created by generations of men working the Silver.

  • Nestled within tropical rainforest, Hotel Costa Verde’s unusual Fuselage Suite consists of a refurbished vintage 1965 Boeing 727 airframe which was part of South Africa Air in a previous life. It sits atop a 50-foot pedestal just beyond a majestic national park and is furnished with Costa Rican teak panelling and Indonesian teak furniture.

  • The Treehotel is a collection of unique tree house suites in a remote Swedish Pine forest modelled on tangled bird nests, ultra modern mirror cube rooms and a UFO. Guests can experience an isolated escape from the stresses of modern life with spectacular views of the forest and the rapid Lule River below. The tree houses are complete with eco-friendly toilets and water-efficent sinks.

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