Exploration
Would you rather spend the night tethered to a cliff-face, or at the bottom of the sea?
When adventurers stay in a hotel, they want more than soft fluffy towels and room service. They want somewhere that is off the beaten track and far from civilisation.
We’ve picked out the 10 most extreme places to stay on the planet. They aren’t necessarily five-star hotels but they might just offer you a five billion star night sky to gaze at before you go to sleep.
1. Skylodge, Peru
Perched high above the Sacred Valley of Cuzco in Peru, you will find the Skylodge, a totally transparent capsule suspended nearly 400m above the valley floor. Getting to your bed is an adventure in itself. Climb the 400m via ferrata to the sleeping capsule which has its own private bathroom and dining room. You’ll be served a gourmet dinner on the side of the mountain (as well as breakfast the next day) before ziplining back down the mountain.
Price: Double rooms from £335 per person for one night's stay (including via ferrata, zipline, dinner and breakfast).
2. Pic du Midi de Bigorre, France
Ever fancied sleeping on top of a snow-capped mountain under the stars? At 2,877m, the Pic du Midi is the highest observatory in the west, located in the French Pyrénées. For years this astronomical observatory was reserved only for scientists studying the universe and earth’s evolution. Now it’s open to the public. There are 11 rooms for guests to stay in and witness an unparalleled view of the starry night sky for themselves.
Price: Double rooms from £337 per person per night (inc. breakfast and dinner).
3. Cumberland Caverns, USA
There’s nothing like making a sweaty entrance to your bedroom. At Cumberland Caverns in Tennessee, you will climb down 20ft wooden ladders, squeeze through narrow passageways and crawl along muddy trails before you reach your bed. Campers stay in the 10 Acre Room among the stalactites. Breakfast is served in the Volcano Room, 333ft underground. The beauty of camping in a cave is that there are no bugs and no chance of getting caught in the rain down here. If you are lucky enough, you might catch a concert down here from a local bluegrass band.
Price: One night stay ranges from £36 to 52 per person (inc. breakfast).
4. Ice Hotel, Sweden
Did you know that you can sleep in a frozen ice hotel, 200km north of the Arctic Circle? The Ice Hotel in Sweden is constructed entirely from giant ice blocks. The beds are carved into the ice, there’s an ice bar and even an ice chapel in case you are thinking of getting hitched. The temperature inside the hotel hovers around -5°C to -7°C. You’ll be sleeping in expedition-style sleeping bags, so there’s no worry about suffering from frostbite overnight. 2017 is the first year the Ice Hotel will be open year round, so you can experience a night under the midnight sun.
Price: Double rooms from £900 per person for a three night stay (inc. breakfast).
5. The Manta Resort, Zanzibar
Who hasn’t wanted to spend a night underwater sleeping with the fish? Off Pemba Island in Zanzibar lies one of the most famous hotel rooms in the world – the underwater room at The Manta Resort. Created from local hardwood by Swedish engineers, it’s a three-storey floating hotel room with a 360 degree view of the surrounding coral reef from the underwater bedroom. Keep your eyes peeled for octopus, trumpet fish and dozens of other species peering at you through the windows.
Price: Double room costs £1,100 for two people per night.
6. Ilulissat, Greenland
Have you ever dreamt of sleeping in an igloo surrounded by snow in Greenland? If you love wilderness and seclusion, Hotel Arctic could be the perfect place for you. Located in Ilulissat in eastern Greenland, you’ll be sleeping in an aluminium igloo overlooking the beautiful Disko Bay. Ilulissat is known as the birthplace of famous polar explorer Knud Rasmussen, the first European to cross the Northwest Passage with a dog sled. Outside you’ll see icebergs gliding silently past the window and whales breaching in the icy waters.
Price: A double room in the igloo costs from £218 for two people per night.
7. Bivacco Gervasutti, Italy
Mountain refuges are usually pretty basic places to stay, but they offer mountaineers warm, dry shelter from the harsh elements for the night. This refuge in the Italian Dolomites, however, is a cut above the rest. Bivacco Gervasutti is built on a rocky outcrop 2,835m above sea level. In winter, you can only reach it on skis. There are two dormitories plus a lunch room with hot plates for cooking and a computer connected to the internet via satellite. The whole pod is powered using solar panels. How awesome is that?
Price: Single bed costs £9 per person per night.
8. Free Spirit Spheres, Canada
Every child dreams of sleeping in a treehouse one day, right? Free Spirit Spheres in British Columbia, Canada have made this dream a reality. They have constructed spherical treehouses and suspended them from the canopy of this ancient rainforest. There are currently three spheres you can stay in. Each one has a bed plus a sitting area with tea and coffee-making facilities, so you won’t miss out on your morning brew.
Price: Double rooms from £104 per person for one night.
9. Hotel Everest View, Nepal
When Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay summited Mount Everest for the first time in 1953 I’m sure that they wouldn’t have imagined that one day people would be sleeping in a hotel with the view of this famous peak. But in 1971, Hotel Everest View made the impossible possible. At 3,380m, it was listed as the highest placed hotel in the world by the Guinness Book of Records in 2004. Hotel Everest View boasts of views of Mount Everest from every room, but getting there is no mean feat. It takes three days trekking to reach this hotel. Avalanches, earthquakes and storms are a constant threat but needless to say, it’s worth it when you finally arrive.
10. The Frying Pan Tower, USA
The Frying Pan Tower used to be a US Coast Guard lighthouse, located 32 miles off the coast of North Carolina. This area was known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic” because so many ships were wrecked on this treacherous stretch of water. After being left abandoned in 2004, a guy called Richard Neal bought the lighthouse for a crazy $85,000. It’s now a hotel with hot showers, full electricity and even a recreation room. If you like fishing, there is an amazing array of fish – from black sea bass to mahi mahi and giant African pompano – to hunt out in the clear waters below.
Price: Double room from £479 per person for two nights (inc. meals).
Like this? Check out: 10 winter glamping sites in the UK
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