Category Archives: Other
Restaurant Carved in Rock: Cova d’en Xoroi, Spain
This is Cova d’en Xoroi, known to locals simply as the “Caves“: an impressive restaurant, romantically placed inside the beautiful cliffs of Cala n’Porter, on the southern coast of Menorca, a spectacular Spanish Island. Touched by history and always washed by the sea, this is a cave dug in mythology, full of corners waiting to be discovered. In the building developed as a bar-restaurant, visitors can have an aperitif at any time of day and night, in an unparalleled natural setting, enriched by quality services. Cova d’en Xoroi is an observation spot of astounding views, where one can contemplate the sunrise, sunset, moon and stars. With a selection of the best cocktails, impeccable service and ambient music providing an optimal atmosphere, the restaurant ensures a great visitor’s experience. Every Friday and Saturday at 23:00, the building becomes a dance club. More information and traveler reviews here.
Alcatraz Hotel or How to Pay 150 Euros to Experience Comfortable Jail Life
The idea of a prison-themed hotel is not new, but the Alcatraz Hotel has a name that stands out. Located in the heart of Kaiserslautern, Germany, this 56 room hotel features 100 year old sandstone walls and an overall interesting architecture. And to intuitively answer your question, yes, this place used to be a real prison. According to the official site, all the comfort rooms and suites have fully equipped bathrooms. The cell rooms all have a toilet and a sink just like a jail, and for these rooms there are separated men and women community showers located at the end of each floor. The prices for this type of uncommon accommodation unit range from 49 Euros per night for a cell room to 159 Euros for a double room. We find this concept interesting and we are certain the theme is a successful ones. Ex-villains or cons will probably NOT be amongst the constant visitors, though 
Ultimate Relaxation: Hanging Pools in Bali
Ubud Hanging Garden Hotel & Resort is located in the heart of Bali, amongst the “smoky volcanoes and emerald rice terraces”. Built in an alluring traditional style, the resort offers 38 luxury private villas available for rent. Each villa is opened towards generous infinity pools, where one is literally surrounded by nature and can enjoy unobstructed views of the jungle-covered mountains. You can visit the official site for more information and photos, as well as for an estimate cost of a potential Bali escape. (via DesignRulz)
Lose Yourself in Rolling Motion: Zorbing
Photo by Maison Bisson
Zorbing is a relatively new recreation sport that consists in rolling downhill in a zorb made of transparent flexible plastic. With about 3 meters in diameter, the zorb is double-sectioned (with one ball inside the other and an air layer between them) and lightweight to act like a shock absorber for the rider. In order to offer extra safety, most of the zorbs have straps to hold the rider, while others present a more extreme ride, letting the rider freely enjoy the rolling motion.
The term “zorb” cames from Dwane van der Sluis and Andrew Akers, two guys who in 1994 came up with the idea to create a special type of sphere. A little bit later, the first zorbing site was established in Rotorua, New Zealand, by David Akers and Andrew Akers. In time, many alternatives were found to developing zorbing products and operators from all over the world constructed inflatable, metal or wooden ramps, some offering rides of half a mile.
More information about zorbing here.
Photo by Darren Breen
Photo by Maison Bisson
Inntel Hotel or How To Make a Stack of Traditional Homes Look Inviting
We are huge fans of traditional architecture, so the fact that studio WAM Architecten decided to design a hotel that looks like a stack of beautiful traditional homes won us over. Inntel hotell is located in Zaandam, the Netherlands and consists of overlapping green wooden facades that are well integrated in the structure’s environment. It is wonderful to see a project that respects its surrounding architecture and the 11-storey does just that. Inntel hotel is 40 meters tall and has no less than 160 rooms available for guests worldwide.
Here is a short description from the architects: “Visually speaking the structure is built up from a varied stacking of almost seventy individual little houses, executed in four shades of the traditional green of the Zaan region. The hotel is unique, familiar yet original and idiosyncratic. It is a design that could be realised only in Zaandam but at the same time transcends and reinvigorates local tradition. It was, moreover, specifically tailored to this site. ‘The Blue House’, inspired by the work Claude Monet painted at Zaandam in 1871, is the ultimate attention-grabber. The overall result is striking, the building exemplary for the Fusion Architecture that Wilfried van Winden champions. Fusion represents an inventive way of linking present and past, tradition and innovation, high culture and low”. [Photographs by Roel Backaert, via Dezeen]
May 17th, 2010
Delft studio WAM Architecten have completed a hotel that looks like a pile of houses in Zaandam, the Netherlands.
Called Inntel hotel
Sleeping Under the African Night Sky: Kiboko Starbeds, Kenya
Loisaba Wilderness is a spectacular accommodation option located in Nanyuki, Kenya. Said to be a great place for those who want a small, exclusive safari experience, the lodge only has 7 rooms – all overlooking the plains of Laikipia. A night at the Star Beds situated about 20 minutes away from the lodge is synonymous with sleeping under the stars.
All the information about Kiboko Starbeds, Loisaba Wilderness and the African adventure that comes with this place here.
Hungry for Adrenaline? Dinner in The Sky, a Worldwide Thrilling Dining Concept
Dinner in the sky is an intriguing dining concept operating in various cities around the world. The idea of a “suspended” restaurant came from David Ghysels, Belgium, who created a unique dining “custom” which uses a crane to hold its dinners, as well as the table and waiters 50 meters into the air. Dinner in the sky is available for a session of 8 hours and can be divided or personalized in relation to customer needs. It is especially developed for those who want to transform an ordinary meal or meeting into a unique experience, with a wonderful panorama of the sights above the table.
Here is more information about the costs from ehotelier.com:
Guests are strapped into leather seats at the table 40 meters, or 130 feet, in the air while waiters and waitresses stand in an aisle at the center of the table. The company arranges for access to on-ground facilities and handles any necessary permits.Cost depends on the location, the menu, and a list of variables that stretch from putting an opera singer in the center of the table to suspending a platform from a second crane allowing a band to circle diners as they eat. A Dinner in the Sky in Belgium costs around €15,000; in Las Vegas, it can run $35,000.
More on dinnerinthesky.com.
Here is the idea put to practice in several countries across the globe:
Ephemeral ICEHOTEL in Sweden, a Handcrafted Winter Marvel
The ICEHOTEL, located in the village of Jukkasjärvi, about 17 km from Kiruna, Sweden, rebirths each year from December to April and is the world’s first ice hotel. It all started in 1990, when a French artist Jannot Derid held an exhibition in an igloo within the area. One night, when there were no rooms available in the town, some of the visitors asked for permission to spend the night in the exhibition hall, so they became the first guests of the “hotel”.
Photo by Cretense
“The entire hotel is made out of snow and ice blocks taken from the Torne River. Each spring, around March, Icehotel harvests tons of ice from the frozen Torne River and stores it in a nearby production hall with room for over 10,000 tons of ice and 30,000 tons of snow. The ice is used for creating Icebar designs and ice glasses, for ice sculpting classes, events and product launches all over the world while the snow is used for building a strong structure for the building. About 1,000 tons of what is left is used in the construction of the next Icehotel.” Wikipedia
Photo by Laplandish
Photos by Graham Watson
Photo by Marten Ryner
ICEHOTEL has over 80 rooms, every each of them having its own unique design, built every year from snow and crystal clear ice. When the construction is finished, the hotel reveals itself as a huge art exhibition, with stunning sculptures designed and handcrafted by artists arrived there to help create an ephemeral dream, an ice hotel. You are asking yourselves about the cold weather near the North Pole, where the temperatures outside can drop to around -37°C. Well, you shouldn’t get worried because the ICEHOTEL has an average temperature between -5°C to -8°C and feels quite pleasant.
You will find more useful information about this unusual type of accommodation here.
Photo by Laplandish
Photo by Kwan Hui
Photo by Laplandish
Pictures via 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ,7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ,14 , 15
Night in an Igloo
Traveling into an extreme environment requires surviving skills and useful information about how you can make your accommodation more safe and interesting. Whether it’s about climbing an icy mountain or visiting the arctic areas, a shelter is always welcomed. Sure, there are those lucky people who stay at night, beneath the shiny sky and admire colorful polar auroras. But until you will be able to do that too, we recommend you to build an igloo!
Building an igloo is easy and it might turn out to be a great place to spend the night on a small ‘expedition’. It is much warmer than a tent, and can be built just about anywhere. Building an igloo will take somewhere between 3 and 6 hours, depending on your previous experience and level of ambition.
How to build an igloo
Equipment – A special snow saw is recommended, but a carpenter’s saw will do. A machete or small axe is handy for moulding the snow blocks, but not necessary (use your ski instead – less to carry).
Step 1: Find a suitable spot, a hard field of snow is required to build an igloo – hard enough to make solid snow blocks.
Step 2: The snow blocks are prepared with the saw. They should be solid enough to be carried horizontal without breaking by their own weight. Large blocks are used at the base of the dome, smaller ones at the top. A thickness of 15-30cm is good.
Step 3: The edges of each snow block should be smoothed and angeled correctly to make a strong bond to the adjacent blocks. A ski with its tip placed in the centre of the igloo is a perfect tool for this.
Step 4: The igloo is closed! Now it is time to fill all those cracks with snow. (The really big cracks are filled with small blocks of snow.)
Extra information:
- a small ventilation hole in the roof is recommend
- always keep the entrance open
- the floor should be covered with some kind of camping mattresses
- candles can be used as light source
Restaurant in a Wooden Shell: The Dining Pod, Thailand
Here is an interesting restaurant idea meant to ensure quite a few delightful moments for its costumers. The Dining Pod at Soneva Kiri is located in a picture-perfect landscape on Koh Kood, Thailand’s fourth largest island.
Suspended16 feet (about 5 meters) over the shoreline, the Dining Tree Pod has some incredible views to offer for the couple seated at the table inside. The unusual restaurant table can accommodate up to four people which are said to be served by a waiter on a zip-line. -via Inhabitat
