If 2020 has made you miss the early noughties, you might want to take a trip to Margate in Kent. The Libertines have recently made the move from music makers to hoteliers, opening The Albion Rooms right by the seaside.
The hotel itself isn’t all that unusual, but the band say they’re “equal parts delighted and gobsmacked” they’re venturing into the hotel business – as are we.
The grand opening got us thinking about other unusual hotel rooms that have caught our attention, both in the UK and abroad.
It isn’t easy to visit them all right now with Covid-19 travel restrictions in place, but it’s fun to dream (or shriek in disgust, depending on your view). Here are just a few of the old and new, weird and wonderful options out there.
A sickly sweet stay
Club Med, which runs the La Rosiere ski resort in the French Alps, has launched a chocolate orange-themed room for winter 2020 – and we wouldn’t recommend looking at the colour scheme with a hangover.
On top of bright orange walls and ceiling, plus a segment headboard, the room offers chocolate orange-scented toilet roll and a stocking filled with chocolatey treats.
When the mini bar takes over
In 2018 BrewDog launched The DogHouse Hotel in Ohio, calling it “the world’s first craft beer hotel, where you can wake up inside a brewery”. The hotel includes draft beer on tap in each room.
Since then, the company has expanded its empire, opening mini hotels named The Kennels in Aberdeen and Ohio, with others set to follow in Paris, Manchester, Berlin and London.
At first glance The Kennels offer pretty standard hotel rooms, but you’ll be given a welcome craft beer at check-in and find a shower fridge filled with beer in each bathroom.
Have a (big) cat nap
Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve in Kent works with the Aspinall Foundation animal conservation charity to bring guests an “immersive” animal experience.
Their most exclusive hotel room is the Lion Lodge, which is apparently “the first of its kind worldwide”. The lodge is set within the lion’s spacious habitat, so they may or may not visit the window.
An interesting stop
This one is technically more of an apartment than hotel, but who are we to argue with the name? Bertram’s Hotel – named after the Agatha Christie novel – is a converted bus-turned-holiday-home situated on the North Devon coast.
Visitors should expect 1950s decor, plus company in the form of the five grazing alpacas who live in the field.
Blink and you’ll miss it
TreeHotel provides a series of rooms hidden amongst the the pine forest of Northern Sweden. Each room has a different name and design, but you might not even notice The Mirrorcube.
The room is surrounded by mirrored walls which both reflect and blend in with the surroundings, giving the room the illusion of invisibility. In reality, it sleeps two guests and has a bathroom within.
Sleep with the fishes
Atlantis The Palm in Dubai is home to the world-famous “underwater suites”, which gained notoriety after Khloe Kardashian posted a photo from her stay.
You’ll feel as though you’re immersed in the ocean, but the suite actually plays host to floor-to-ceiling windows within a 65,000 marine animal aquarium.