With mega resorts and generic chain hotels increasingly asserting their rule on the American accommodation landscape, finding a unique hotel stay experience is getting harder than ever. Heck, even our beloved B&Bs are starting to suffer from the symptoms of sameness.
To renew your faith in American accommodation, we’ve checked into 5 of the country’s weird but wonderful hotels to bring you a good night’s sleep like no other.
1. Jules Underwater Lodge: Key Largo, Florida
Life is better under the sea and the Jules Underwater Lodge is living proof.
After strapping on your scuba suit, you’ll dive 21 feet below to the surface to reach the air locked entrance of this former research lab, turned luxury SCUBA hotel. Set amongst a tropical mangrove ripe with colorful marine life, you’ll enjoy spectacular underwater views from generous 42″ windows.
This may be the only place in the world, where you can “sleep with the fishes” and still live to tell about.
2. Library Hotel: New York, New York
Shhhhhh! Recently named Trip Advisor’s Top Luxury accommodation, New York’s Library hotel has certainly been making a lot of noise.
Come renew your appreciation for the library and explore the hotel’s 10 luxurious floors, each dedicated to the major categories of the Dewey Decimal System, including Social Science, History, Math & Science, among many others. Each of the Library’s sixty rooms comes stocked with a collection of books on a particular topic, but much to our dismay, none came with a personal librarian.
3. Winvian: Litchfield, Connecticut
Across 113 sprawling acres, sits this impressive collection of uniquely themed luxury cottages, ranging from log cabins, to stables, to rooms carved out of the cabin of a U.S Coast Guard helicopter. In all, 15 architects from around the world collaborated to create these modern masterpieces fusing modern luxury with the whimsical.
We only wish that the hotel’s helicopter themed room could actually take flight.
4. Kokopelli Cave Bed and Breakfast: Farmington, New Mexico
Dig into New Mexico’s finest subterranean accommodation sitting a full 70 feet below the earth’s surface. At a spacious 1650 square feet and complete with luxury carpeting, private Jacuzzi and a waterfall shower; about the only thing you won’t find in this cave is Osama Bin Ladin himself.
5. Aurora Ice Museum: Chena Hot Springs, Alaska
Break the ice on your Alaskan holiday, with a stay in one of the four rooms at the chilled out Aurora ice museum. Encounter grand works of expertly caved ice sculptures at every nook, including jousting warriors, the cola pandas, and even a giant sized chess set.
Once you’ve check mated your companion, take a seat at the ice bar and grab a cool martini in a frozen glass. In fact, grab a couple. You’re going to need a little something to keep you warm as you spend the night atop your deluxe solid ice bed. Brrrrr!
-Sam
