Often it's hard to get excited about a new destination when you open the door of your hotel room and all you see is a bar fridge and floral bedspread. For the occasions when a standard room just won't do, here are 11 of the world's wackiest and wonderful hotel rooms.
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Paradise Stream Resort – Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania
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Let's start this list off with a bang. The Champagne Tower Suite at Paradise Stream Resort is the stuff of romantic nightmares dreams.
The room doesn't just offer a round bed beneath a mirrored ceiling and a heart-shaped private pool, you'll also be spoiled with a huge champagne glass hot tub. Bom chicka wah wah.
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Madonna Inn – San Luis Obispo, California
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Channel your inner Fred and Wilma Flinstone at San Luis Obispo's Madonna Inn. The Caveman is just one of the 110 themed rooms at the tacky and outlandish, yet totally fabulous Madonna Inn.
Mind the uneven floor; Caveman is a rocky cavern with animal print bedspread, lampshades and um... everything, a waterfall rock shower, rock basin and your very own switch-operated rocky waterfall. (There's even a rock urinal in the restaurant.) Rock on.
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The Hamster Villa – Nantes, France
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Clover Clothes Free Spa and Hotel - Birmingham, UK
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Packing is overrated. There's nothing like that last minute rush the night before your trip where you throw in some clothes and hope for the best. But at the Clover Clothes Free Spa and Hotel, all you'll really need is a tooth brush. Rooms are comfortable and there's a day spa and bar, but who really cares when you can let it all hang out anywhere you like?
Be liberated! Be free! Be naked!
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Atlantis The Palm – Dubai, UAE
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For that price, you wouldn't expect cramped submarine-like quarters but you may not anticipate lavish living over three opulent floors with room for up to five guests either.
Each room has floor to ceiling views into Ambassador Lagoon, and if that's not enough, a butler is on call 24-hours a day. Plus they'll even throw in loads of complimentary extras including private cabana use and Dolphin Encounters.
"That's why it's hotter under the water."
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The Beer Moth Truck Hotel – Aviemore, Scotland
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There's enough room for a kitchen, fireplace and Victorian double bed.
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Kakslauttanen – Lapland, Finland
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Kakslauttanen isn't just an ice hotel. There's a full range of incredible overnight options, from glass igloos to the gold digger's cabin, but nothing beats the real deal: a snow igloo. Light sleepers won't hear a peep from the outside world; you'll stay snug in a down sleeping bag and if the mercury drops below -40 degrees Celsius outside, your igloo stays a balmy -3 to -6 degrees.
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Karosta Cietums - Liepāja, Latvia
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Book in for the full experience if you're up for 24-hours of non-stop, old-school Latvian prison life, including an unnerving interrogation by the Officer of the Guard. Oh, and the prison is said to be one of the most haunted places on earth. Sweet dreams.
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Desert Cave Hotel – Coober Pedy, Australia
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Right here in our backyard we can experience the finest in dug-out style living. In an underground room at the Desert Cave Hotel, you won't have a view (or any windows) but you'll still enjoy 4-star comfort.
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Propeller Island Lodge - Berlin, Germany
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It's tough to pick one room from Propeller Island Lodge's 30, as they are all absolutely bonkers. Each room was painstakingly designed by Lars Stroschen, but the award for most bizarre goes to 'Gruft', the coffin room.
So, lid open or closed?
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Lion Sands Game Reserve – Kruger National Park, South Africa
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If you're up for total seclusion and a night under the African sky, look no further than Chalkley's Treehouse in the Lion Sands Game Reserve. All the 5-star comforts are at hand on your luxury perch, plus you get to fall asleep to a symphony of animals in the distance (or below) in an ultra-plush bed under the stars.