From treehouses in the treetops to cottages in the shape of man’s best friend, there’s no shortage of strange structures for the adventurous traveler. Have a look below at our list of the quirkiest cabins from around the world. You just might be surprised.
Tree Hotel, Harads, Sweden.
For travellers longing to recapture treehouses and days of youth, there’s ample opportunity at the Tree Hotel cabins in Harads, Sweden. Each cabin is 4-6 meters above the ground and suspended in the treetops of the pine forest. The treehouses have a bathroom, a living room, a roof terrace, and room for two to four guests; the tree sauna, however, has space for up to twelve. Rates at the Tree Hotel vary with the season, but check your bank account before you book: a weekend for two can run over £700. For a cheaper – and equally odd – option, try the orb-shaped tree houses at Free Spirit Spheres in Qualicum Beach, Canada for just $145/night.
Dog Bark Park Inn, Idaho, USA.
Plenty of holiday cabins are pet friendly, but none of them measure up to the Dog Bark Park Inn – literally. Along I-95 just outside of Cottonwood, Idaho stand a 30-foot and a 12-foot tall beagle. The larger of the two canines is the actual cabin, with a deck entrance in the back. The dog’s head has an alcove and a loft with room for up to four gests. Local artists Dennis Sullivan and Frances Conklin created the Dog Bark Park Inn to pay homage to early roadside hotels in America, which were usually shaped like teacups, kettles, and other household objects. If you find yourself in Idaho, you and Fido can crash at the Dog Bark Park Inn for $99 per night.
Igloo City Hotel, George Parks Highway, Alaska.
Igloo city – quirky holidays
Though it’s more of a hotel than a cabin, we couldn’t resist adding this one to our list. Construction of the Igloo City Ice Hotel on a remote Alaskan highway was abandoned in the 1970s due to a lack of funds to finish the project. The four-story empty shell of an igloo has become a tourist attraction in its own right, and rumor has it that the hotel is being restored and will reopen in the next few years. If you’re too impatient to wait for that date, head to Hotel Kakslauttanen in Finland, where €170 will get you a glass-roofed igloo for the night.
Utter Inn, Västerås Bay, Sweden.
utter inn log cabin holidays
For those who have always wondered what it’s like to sleep in an aquarium, you can find out at the Utter Inn for a mere £75 per night. Guests are ferried to a tiny red cabin that rests on a 25-square meter floating bridge in Västerås Bay. When visitors tire of sunning themselves on the deck, they can retreat to their cabins, where the rooms are located about 3 meters (about 9 feet) below the surface of the water. The four “walls” of the bedrooms are actually windows offering guests a 360-degree view of the surrounding aquatic life.
Have you stayed in any of these hotels? Have we left off any important quirky cabins from our list? Leave your comments in the section below!