Top 10 most unusual and unique hotels in the world

For the adventurous and wacky traveler who wants to break free from daily life’s routine, a standard luxury hotel is just plain boring. If you’re one of them, or you just want something different on your next trip, then you should consider a thrilling, memorable stay in one of the following 10 eye-popping and unusual hotels.

10. JUMBO STAY, SWEDEN

Ever wanted to spend the night in the cockpit of a real, converted jumbo jet – on the ground? Here’s your chance. The plane is a used out jumbo jet model 747-212B from 1976, which was originally built for Singapore Airlines and later served with legendary Pan Am. It has been awarded a brand new, modern interior decoration, offering guests a memorable overnight experience. It’s an exciting budget hotel for aviation enthusiasts and families with children but also caters to business people since it’s located at the entrance to Arlanda airport.

• Hotel website: Jumbo Stay

9. GIRAFFE MANOR, KENIA

The exclusive boutique hotel Giraffe Manor is located in one of Nairobi’s most iconic buildings, and its timeless elegance recalls the 1930s when European visitors first flocked to East Africa to enjoy safaris. With its stately façade, elegant interior, verdant green gardens, and delightful courtyards, guests often remark that it’s like walking into the film Out of Africa. However, the most fascinating thing about this unusual hotel is its herd of resident Rothschild giraffes who visit morning and evening, poking their long necks into the windows in the hope of a treat, before retreating to their forest sanctuary. 

• Hotel website: Giraffe Manor

• Other accolades: Giraffe Manor also features in my top 10 list of the most Instagrammable hotels in the world.

8. TREEHOTEL, SWEDEN

Why not create a hotel that gives people a chance to experience nature amongst the tree-tops, while also providing a uniquely designed housing experience? These questions led Scandinavia’s leading architects to create Treehotel in Harads, where rooms are suspended 4-6 meters (13-20 ft) above ground with spectacular views of the  Lule River valley, miles of forest and a powerful river. The Mirrorcube is the hotel’s most exciting accommodation, camouflaged by mirrored walls that reflect their surroundings. Treehotel was inspired by the film ”The Tree Lover” by Jonas Selberg Augustsen.

• Hotel website: Treehotel

7. SUN CRUISE RESORT, SOUTH KOREA

Located on a coastal cliff in Jeongdongjin, a tourist destination known for having the best view of the sunrise in South Korea, Sun Cruise Resort is one of the country’s biggest tourist destinations. The hotel is a specially designed cruise ship on land. It is constructed high on the edge of a mountain, so that a stroll on the sun deck allows its guests to feel they are out at sea without suffering from motion sickness. Sun Cruise Resort features 211 rooms, both condominium and hotel style, a Western and a Korean restaurant, revolving sky lounge, a night club, a karaoke, and sea water pool.

• Hotel website: Sun Cruise Resort

6. CONRAD RANGALI ISLAND, MALDIVES

Conrad Maldives Rangali Island welcomes guests to dive into in an extraordinary experience both above and below the surface of the Indian Ocean in the world’s first underwater hotel villa, called the ‘Muraka’. This villa is a triumph of modern design and technology, delivering a truly transformative journey suited to amaze the most sophisticated explorers across the globe. Located more than 16 feet (5 m) below sea level in the middle of the Indian Ocean with glass walls, the Muraka is a two-level aquarium where you can fall asleep to fish swimming overhead and wake up to the swaying arms of coral.

• Hotel website: Conrad Maldives Rangali Island

• Other top 10 accolades: Conrad Maldives Rangali Island also features in my top 10 lists of the world’s most over-the-top hotel experiences and the world’s most amzing underwater hotels.

• Tip: get complimentary VIP perks when booking via Virtuoso (e.g. upgrade on arrival, daily buffet breakfast, early check-in, late check-out, $100 USD resort credit, and a luxury sunset fishing excursion for two, once during stay).

5. COSTA VERDE, COSTA RICA

Costa Verda is located on a coastal rainforest bluff nestled between the lush green of Manuel Antonio National Park and the incredible blue of the Pacific Ocean. The resort is home to one of the world’s most unusual hotel suites, a refurbished Boeing 727 airframe (built in 1965), which in its prior life shuttled globetrotters on South Africa Air and Avianca Airlines (Colombia). This fully outfitted, meticulously detailed, two bedroom, Boeing 727 fuselage suite jets out from the jungle canopy, affording you views that will make you feel like you’re flying.

• Hotel website: Costa Verde

4. PALACIO DE SAL, BOLIVIA

Located on the banks of the majestic Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, just 25 km (15 mi) from the city of the same name, you will find the Palacio de Sal hotel, unique in its class for being entirely built with salt: walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, sculptures … everything! The hotel was created in 1998 by the wild initiative of an hidalgo man, Juan Quesada Valda, pioneer in the salt hotels worldwide. With a unique and sui generis architecture, the hotel provides its visitors a place to find a balance with nature and enjoy a pleasant and unforgettable rest.

• Hotel website: Palacio de Sal

3. ICEHOTEL, SWEDEN

Icehotel is the world’s first hotel made of ice and snow. Founded in 1989, it is reborn in a new guise every winter, in the Swedish village of Jukkasjärvi, 200 km (125 mi) north of the Arctic Circle. The hotel has around 150 warm and cold rooms respectively. The latter have an ice décor and a bed made of ice which is covered with reindeer hides (you sleep in a thermal sleeping bag). The hotel also includes an ice church, ice bar, ice sculpting studio and pillar hall, in addition to two heated restaurants, lounge, four meeting rooms and two wilderness camps.

• Hotel website: Icehotel

• Other accolades: Icehotel also features in my top 10 list of the world’s coolest ice & snow hotels.

2. NO MAN’S FORT, UK

Built as a line of defence against enemy attacks on the Solent and Portsmouth, No Man’s Fort is the largest of three spectacular man-made forts that form the collective, Solent Forts in Portsmouth. From the moment you catch a glimpse of the impressive No Man’s Fort on the horizon, as your private boat makes its approach, it’s impossible to feel anything short of excited. Boasting 22 luxurious rooms and suites, the real draw of this outstanding but unusual hotel is the vast and varied nature of the facilities and activities on offer.

• Hotel website: No Man’s Fort

1. HOTEL MARQUES DE RISCAL, SPAIN

Since its unveiling in 2006 this masterpiece hotel created by Frank Gehry has become a highly sought-after contemporary, luxury retreat. Design, art, gastronomy, wineand the lush landscape all combine to create a memorable sojourn among medieval towns in Elciego. The hotel’s luxurious interior bears the unmistakable stamp of Gehry’s design. Tilted walls, zigzag windows, cathedral-height ceilings and a host of bespoke details create the impression of accommodation as a work of art in its 43 rooms & suites.

• Hotel website: Hotel Marqués de Riscal

• Tip: get complimentary VIP perks when booking via Virtuoso (e.g. upgrade on arrival, daily buffet breakfast, $100 USD spa credit, early check-in, and late check-out).