12 Of The World’s Most Shockingly Strange Hotels!

Traveling can be a tricky thing when you're looking for the perfect place to stay. If you're a little sick of the tried and true Double Trees and Marriotts, try these oddities on for size. There are capsule rooms (teeny-tiny sleeping cubes that only provide the bare essentials), a reflective treehouse that looks like a spaceship, and even a hotel room made entirely out of sand!

I've always loved staying in cool and quirky hotels. There's something exciting about getting to experience waking up in a tree. Forget the big tourist traps. One of my favorite places to stay was the cozy and historic Hotel Krone, located inside the ancient city walls of Solothurn, Switzerland. Every day I stayed there felt like traveling back in time…if back in time they had Starbucks and H&Ms next to the medieval fountains and churches, but I digress. Would YOU stay at any of these strange hotels, like the La Hamster Villa in France, or the Sand Hotel in England?

For about $148 a night in Nantes, France, you can live like a hamster, with a running wheel, grains, water bottle, litter, and all. At this kooky hotel, you do get access to some "creature" comforts, so to speak, like a flat-screen television, Wi-Fi, and coffee service, but this experience promises you the rare chance to "live inside a hamster's skin." Cool or completely creepy?

If you're a huge dog lover, then this is the place for you. This beagle-themed bed & breakfast provides a loft bedroom inside the 30-foot tall beagle's muzzle. Guests enter the big dog, whom the locals affectionately refer to as Sweet Willy, via a balcony. What's inside? A dog-themed bedroom and a toilet disguised as a fire hydrant, of course!

How would you like to spend a night inside a former Slovenian prison? Sounds like fun for the whole family, right? The prison, which is now Hostel Celica, has a bit of an identity crisis. The outside is painted in bright colors, but inside, it's just about as drab as things can get. However, it does feature a large bar and cafe to go along with its spooky cells. Some are painted a variety of candy colors, while others are left bare and minimal. Hey, at least your stay is free of guards or someone trying to swipe your belongings…

If you've ever wanted to sleep inside of a classic car at a motor-themed hotel, pop over to Stuttgart, Germany and check out the V8 Hotel. Their bedrooms feature vintage cars and enough classic automotive paraphernalia to excite any automobile fanatic!

Just outside of Paris at the Château de Malmaison, you can rent an outdoor bubble for the night. The unusual rooms, designed by Pierre-Stephane Dumas, are filled with air to keep them erect. Pierre-Stephane wanted guests to view the stars and the sunset from their beds, and you really can't get a better "indoor" view than this.

These peculiar, pint-sized hotel rooms are rather popular in Japan, a country in which space is often quite limited, especially in big cities like Osaka. Guests each get their own small, box-like capsule to sleep in, and the basic accommodation (roughly 6'7" x 3'3" x 4'1") is far cheaper than a typical hotel room.

There's no roof at Dorset's peculiar Sand Hotel, but hey, you're staying in a giant sandbox, and it's only $21 a night. Created by British sculptor Mark Anderson, this oddity was made of a whopping 1,000 tons of sand. I hope you like the feeling of sand between your toes…and all over, since that's what your bed is made of.

This quirky hotel features several tree-top rooms, much like the treehouses of childhood. They feature incredible contemporary designs and are smack dab in the middle of nature. The mirrored sides of the hotels reflect trees from all sides, and the best part? You really are secluded in the woods, as the surrounding village is home to just 600 people.

Ever wanted to sleep in a palace made of ice? I mean, I thought my apartment got cold! Each winter, blocks of ice are taken from the Torne River in Sweden and used to create a uniquely magnificent frozen palace. Hot showers are located outside of the facility so that visitors can try and keep warm. The hotel completely melts in the spring and must be remade all over again.

Yes, this hotel is fully underwater! It used to be a research laboratory and sits at the bottom of the Emerald Lagoon in Florida's Key Largo. You have to scuba dive about 19–20 feet to get down there, but once you do, you're treated to a luxurious room with spectacular views of tropical fish swimming overhead.

Perched atop a small mound of grass, the Balancing Barn measures 98 feet across, with half of it essentially floating in free space. Inside it appears pretty normal — a kitchen, a large dining room, and four double bedrooms — but from outdoors, the playful design is certainly a sight to behold.

If you've always dreamed of shacking up inside of a giant industrial crane (which is what this hotel essentially is), head over to Amsterdam for a high-flying treat. Each hotel suite is a whopping 164 feet up in the air and is only accessible by elevator. Adrenaline junkies can feel free to try bungee-jumping from the very top!

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