Don't settle for staying with any old hotel in 2013, as new, wacky lodgings have been cropping up since the New Year began. These three, shall we say, different dwellings are destinations unto themselves. You'll never hit the motel again.
EcoCamp Patagonia, Chile
EcoCamp accommodations certainly do not provide an average room, in fact, the rooms aren't rooms at all. They are eco-domes: glass, triangular-paned, igloo-like structures that come in standard, suite, suite dome loft or superior dome varieties. Rich Chilean land sprawls for miles beyond the windows. Trees, rivers and granite spires encircle the camp. All domes use solar and renewable energy, as well as, natural materials for heat and lighting. (Not to mention a state-of-the-art composting toilet.) Activities offered by tour operator Cascada Expediciones include horseback riding, rafting, kayaking and mountaineering.
Propeller Island City Lodge, Berlin
Ever stayed in a hotel with slanted, elastic floors? How about one with a toilet in the wardrobe? Although it seems like the stuff of fairy tales, this place does exist: it's called the Propeller Island City Lodge, located in the notoriously radically artistic city of Berlin, Germany. Each room is a work of art, with a different concept, theme, or color scheme. One, completely white, save for a row of artificial lamps, "allows you to see yourself 'in another light,'" Lodge's website boasts. Another room offers furnishings hanging from the ceiling; guests sleep in holed-out squares beneath the floorboards. Get lost in these truly mind-boggling rooms that are more like art installations than anything else.
Sleeping Around, Antwerp
Restaurants, parties and events are no strangers to pop-ups. But a pop-up hotel? Can a place to stay be that fleeting? For Sleeping Around, a hotel currently located in Belgium, it can. Sleeping Around offers four 20-foot sea containers that have been repurposed and refashioned into cozy rooms. The compact, yet sumptuous lodgings, come equipped with a bed, rain shower, air conditioning and iPod dock. The containers will be in the Antwerp area until May, whereupon they will pick up and pop-up in their next destination.
