When you head out on vacation, where you stay can play a big role in how much you enjoy your trip. You can go with the standard hotel and flight package down south, where all of your food and drink is included (which is never a bad thing), but sometimes the "normal" just isn't what you are looking for.
Here are 8 hotel options that will be worth the trip, and will give you bragging rights for who had the best vacation among your friends.
1. Attrap' Reves - France
This hotel in the French countryside is comprised of six "bubble" units. These transparent domes give you a beautiful view of the night sky, and allow you feel as if you are camping out under the stars. What they lack in privacy, they make up for in pure beauty.
2. Les Cols Pavellons - Spain
Have you ever wanted to stay for a night in a building made completely of crystal? Well, now you can. The Les Cols Pavellons in Spain allows you to vacation in a dream world, where the floors are made of glass, and the walls are made completely of translucent crystal. The hotel's unique design even won the architect an award.
3. Crane Hotel Faralda - Amsterdam
Amsterdam is known as a vacation destination because of its culture, food, drink, and of course the fact that marijuana use is completely legal. If you are looking for an interesting stay in the city, you can always book a room in the Crane Hotel Faralda, a hotel built into an actual construction crane. With rooms 164 feet above the ground, what better way to enjoy your "high" than from high up. You can even bungee jump from the end of the arm while you are there.
4. Free Spirit Spheres - Vancouver, Canada
The western coast of Canada is known for its mild temperatures, great food, and of course beautiful forests. If you are looking to get back to nature you can stay at the Free Spirit Spheres on Vancouver Island. These spherical rooms are suspended above the ground, and offer you a place of quiet contemplation and relaxation. The climate also allows for the hotel to stay open all year round.
5. Natura Vive - Peru
These accommodations are not the faint of heart. The transparent pods are suspended from the side of a cliff, 1300 feet above the ground, and they offer you a breathtaking view of the surrounding countryside. One catch is, you actually have to scale the cliff or take a zip-line in order to get to your pod. If you have a fear of heights, this isn't for you!
6. The Hotel de Glace - Quebec City, Canada
Only open for the winter months (for obvious reasons), the Hotel de Glace offers you a chance to stay in a building built completely out of ice blocks. All 44 rooms are made from the cold stuff, and there is even an "ice chapel" in case you are interested in getting married inside a fairy tale. Oh, and if you get bored, there is a massive ice slide that you can ride to get back to your childhood.
7. Spitbank Fort - United Kingdom
This 138-year-old structure use be a British fort, but has since been converted into a luxury hotel. With only 8 rooms available, staying here, in the middle of the ocean, allows you a level of privacy you wouldn't be able to find anywhere else. Enjoy a drink on the roof deck as you relax away from civilization.
8. Treebones Resort - California
Located in beautiful Big Sur, California, Treebones allows you to live as the animals do in a "human nest" accommodation. You will need to bring your own sleeping bag in order to stay in these raised huts made out of twigs and other branches. If for nothing else, stay here for the view of the Pacific Ocean right outside your hut when you wake up in the morning.
Is it time to try something outside of the "normal" vacation hotel?