unusual hotels

Stay Somewhere Less Ordinary: Hix Island House, Vieques

There are basic ingredients in a standard hotel room recipe, among these, I would rank "four walls" at or near the top of the list. But upon entering your room -- or, rather your "loft apartment" -- at Hix Island House in Vieques, Puerto Rico, you immediately notice that there's a wall that's simply not there.

This is the work of architect John Hix, who designed this very unique accommodation to blend in with the environment, taking its aesthetic cues from the many gray boulders scattered throughout the island -- and also to be easy on it. There's solar power, solar heat for the showers, and obviously no climate control, save for a fan. (The rooms are positioned to take advantage of the steady trade winds blowing over Vieques, so it's quite comfortable.)

The four buildings contain 13 lofts, and they look like they are made of gray cement -- actually, block and reinforced concrete, surfaced with plaster. The open wall is also a deck area, although in an emergency, like, say a hurricane, you could roll down a metal door to create four walls.

Gallery: Hix Island House, Vieques Puerto Rico

Deck Area, Where a Wall Would Typically Be

Lack of Four Walls Does Not Mean Lack of Privacy

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Crane Hotel Offers One Room and One Amazing View

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

If you want a night in a lifeboat, a lighthouse or in a crane, you might want to head to the picturesque port of Harlingen in the Netherlands. Dutch businessman Gosse Beerda offers all three hotel options for a trio of some of the world's most unusual hotels.

Bloomberg reports that the Crane Hotel was a functioning harbor crane used to unload timber until 12 years ago when a bigger industrial harbor was built nearby. The machine room of the crane is now a cozy room for two 55 feet high. Guests in the room can also head up to the control room and swing the cabin around. A Dutch breakfast is delivered in a lift and there is a small patio.

The lighthouse is also a one-room hotel and an old English lifeboat can be rented. Because each venue only has one room there is a long waiting list, up to a year in the case of the lighthouse and eight months for the crane. A night in either the crane or the lighthouse costs 319 euros.

Gallery: One Room Hotel