This was published 14 years ago
World's weirdest and most wonderful hotels
14 ImagesThe international travel company TripAdvisor recently published its Top Ten "Weird Hotels," which includes one set up in Turkish caves and others in a converted Victorian prison in England, in Thai rice barges and inside a 9m-tall wooden dog.
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10. Dog Bark Park Inn, Idaho, USA. Inside "the world's biggest beagle" (named Sweet Willy) are two connecting rooms, one with a queen-size bed, plus stairs to a loft where two futon mattresses are available.
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9. Ariau Jungle Towers, Brazil. The region's largest eco-friendly resort comprises eight towers with 268 rooms, built at treetop height on the banks of the Rio Negro, with more than 8km of elevated catwalks.Credit:Wayne Walton/Lonely Planet
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8. Imperial Boat House Hotel, Koh Sumui, Thailand. Staying aboard an old rice barge may not be everyone's idea of five-star comfort but the 34 teakwood vessels (on dry land) that give this resort its name have been transformed into luxurious suites.
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7. Huvafen Fushi, Maldive Islands. Voted last year to be the world's best beach resort by Harpers Bazaar Travel Guide, Huvafen Fushi is on North Male atoll in these Indian Ocean islands.
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6. Tea Factory, Sri Lanka. On a 25 acre estate at an altitude of 2200m in the misty mountains of the Nuwara Eliya region of Sri Lanka. It maintains the ambience of the long-gone colonial era - tea-growing and packing began here in the days of the British Raj in the 1800s.Credit:Greg Elms/Lonely Planet
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5. Malmaison Oxford Castle, England. The castle in historic Oxford dates back to 1071 AD and was used as a prison from Victorian times until it closed in 1996; two basement cells with iron bars and 7.5cm-thick wooden doors remain.
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5. Malmaison Oxford Castle, England. Guests can lock themselves in for fun or just for the experience and photo opportunities, and are released "on good behaviour."
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4. Hotel de Glace, Quebec, Canada. Located in the village of Ste (Ste) Catherine de la Jacques Cartier, 35km from Quebec City, the hotel offers 34 suites and rooms and will hold its tenth season from January 4 to April 4 in 2010.Credit:xdachez.com
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Made entirely (and annually) from ice, there's an ice cafe, a ice wedding chapel and an ice bar - with drinks served in the bar in glasses also carved from ice - while in the ice-walled bedrooms guests snuggle down in sleeping bags on beds of ice.Credit:xdachez.com
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3. Silken Puerta America, Madrid, Spain. This unique hotel in central Madrid was co-designed by 18 renowned international architects, among them Ushida Finlay, Zha Hadid, Arata Isozai, Norman Foster, Jean Nouvel and Jon Pawson.
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2. Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa, Dubai. Lying amid 25 square kilometres of classical desert landscape a 45-minute drive from ultramodern Dubai City, this resort was designed to reflect a Bedouin Arab encampment.
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1. Gamisaru Cave Hotel, Ayvla Village, Cappadocia, Turkey. Set in a restored 1,000-year-old Byzantine monastic retreat built into a cliff over a stream, the 25-room "troglodyte" hotel combines marble bathrooms and other modern facilities with what has been called "a spiritual feel."
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1. Gamisaru Cave Hotel, Turkey. Remains of frescoes hundreds of years old can be seen at a nearby dirt-floored church, and the Middle Anatolian area has hundreds of volcanic pillars from which people carved homes.
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1. Gamisaru Cave Hotel, Turkey. It's certainly photogenic - from the Gamisaru's terrace near sundown, a lone shepherdess may be seen leading her flock.
