The resort itself feels a little like the casbah in Star Wars (except without the space aliens and bar fights)
We are prepared to stand by this bold statement: The Adrere Amellal is the single coolest eco-resort on the planet!
The Adrere Amellal is stunningly set at a scenic oasis, at the foot of a dramatic rock-mountain. The local Berbers here still live much like they’ve done for centuries, wearing their traditional clothing, speaking their native Siwi (not Arabic) and harvesting the bountiful dates and olive by hand.
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The food at the Ithaa Undersea Restaurant is quite tasty — we suggest the pan fried Maldivian white fish with fennel sauce and curry leaves. But dinners here don’t pay much attention to what’s on their plate. They are too captivated by the 270 degree view of crystal blue water and vibrant marine life. As you eat your white fish it is very possible that there will be white fish swimming by you, along with sharks, sting rays, cichlids and other tropical fish. After some time here it was hard for us not to feel like a marine creature ourselves, connected to that rich undersea world hidden from land dwellers. The experience will be especially profound for people who have never scuba dived, though even for longtime divers there’s something romantic about eating here.
The Ithaa Undersea Restaurant is part of the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, a gorgeous luxury resort spread out over two islands in the Maldives. We suggest having lunch at the restaurant (it is closed for breakfast) because the watery view is at its best when the sun is shining.
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Somehow we didn’t get to The World Erotic Art Museum when we took that junior high school field trip to Miami. Don’t you make the same mistake the next time you are in the south Florida.
The World Erotic Art Museum is the fascinating creation of erotic art enthusiast Naomi Wilzig who stocked 12,000 square feet in the middle of South Beach with $100 million worth of art from her personal collection. For your perusal are paintings, sculptures and artifacts, both modern and historic. (If you saw A Clockwork Orange and remember the art statues sprinkled through Stanley Kubrick’s film you are already familiar with a few of the works on display here).
What is so interesting about visiting WEAM is that the art itself is erotic, a testament to human lust and sexuality. But the environment the art is displayed in is that of a regular straitlaced museum, like those we did visit on our junior high school field trips. After an hour here the juxtaposition of it was a little unnerving.
Open seven days a week, 11am to midnight. $15 entrance fee.
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Fred Flintstone never had it this good. While his cave dwelling was small and cramped (and put occupants in danger of being run over by an overly enthusiastic Dino) you can stay in the spacious (and dog-free) Kokopelli’s Cave Bed & Breakfast. This massive 1,700 square foot suite is built deep within a cave in the New Mexico desert. The space includes a Jacuzzi, functional kitchen and relaxing living room. To help stave off claustrophobia there are also two balconies with massive desert vistas stretching across five states. Unlike many unusual bed and breakfasts that rely solely upon their uniqueness to attract business, the personalized service at Kokopelli’s is outstanding. All you need is a little agility to make the climb to your room, a lot of ChapStick for the dry desert air, and a stay at Kokopelli’s will not disappoint.
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Your average high design hotel starts out as sterile property before having an artistic aspect added to it. Berlin’s Arte Luise Kunsthotel began as an artistic compound before having a hotel added it. The funky, individually designed rooms here formed organically during the building’s time as a Bohemian artists commune. Today the Arte Luise Kunsthotel still has a communal feel — there’s a public kitchen downstairs and several rooms have shared showers. There’s free wifi, too. Every room is cool though some of the edgier options are better for looking at than staying in. Do you really want to sleep in a room that makes you feel like you are in a cartoon (room #306) or that has brightly colored socks coming out of the walls (room #411)? For the best mix of design and comfort we are partial to the double Loop room (#205), the pseudo-futuristic Future Comfort room (#431) and the sophisticated Baustelle Deutschland suite (#105). Rooms start at an extremely reasonable €49/€79 for a single/double with shared shower.
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How to describe the bubble-shaped accommodations at the Museumotel? The complex’s nine units on an island in the northwest of France are part Smurf village, part spaceship pod and part hobbit house. The Museumotel was originally constructed in the late-1960’s as an attempt to create practical, cheap housing. Today, the furnishings in several of the pods look like they haven’t been updated since the late-1960’s. And another part of the original intent survives as well — the Museumotel is cheap (by France standards). A self-standing bubble with en suite bathroom and internet access can be yours for a little as 55 euros a night. We suggest “The Orange Bubble,” which is a little larger than the others and has two large windows looking out over the river.
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It is amazing what a little personal attention can do. The folks at the Fox Hotel took an ordinary property, albeit an ordinary property well located in central Copenhagen, and set about making each of their 61 rooms artistic and individual. The result is a hotel with a collection of rooms that look like they could form an exhibit at the MoMA. We are fans of the Fox Hotel though wouldn’t necessarily choose to stay here for more than a night or two — the decor often tends to favor looking cool over being functional and many of the rooms are cramped. The hotel itself rates room from “extra large” to “small” but in making your selection you’d be wise to think of them as “medium” to “really tiny.” Our favorite rooms are #306, large, almost all-white and like sleeping in a cloud, and room #121, which is rather small but has a woodsy theme and a tent over the bed.
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LA’s first power plant is one of its latest hot spots. When The Edison Bar moved into a 1910 building near Harlem Place Alley in downtown L.A. it left much of the infrastructure there intact, including the original boiler, power turbines and much of the piping. Around that industrial facade went mood lighting, low-slung bar, atmospheric dance floor and lots of plush nook for eating, socializing and romancing. The result is beyond cool. Come prepared to stand in line and dress to impress — bouncers won’t let you in wearing hats, sneakers or athletic wear.
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Not content to play host to merely one of the world’s unusual hotels Woodlyn Park, on New Zealand’s North Island, has three!
The coolest might be The Plane Motel — two rooms inside an actual 1950’s Bristol Freighter. The room in the plane’s rear has an outdoor deck under the right wing but the front room includes the cockpit that’s been left surprisingly intact and is more plane-like inside. (Plane-like being a quality I’m sure you always look for in your hotel rooms).
The Hobbit Motel looks like Bilbo’s house did in The Lord Of The Rings from the outside, built into a hill and with round windows. Inside, though, there are no low ceilings or wood floors or fireplaces or magic rings that need throwing the fires of Mordor, leaving us a little disappointed.
The Train Motel is a single suite in a 1950’s rail car. It has a mini-kitchen and sleeps six between the double bed, two single beds and a pullout couch. For better and for worse the room includes little locomotive decor, though the arched ceiling is a constant reminder to guests that they are indeed in a rail car.
Whichever Woodlyn Park motel you select you’ll be staying in a gorgeous, green, sheep-filled setting close to the Waitomo caves. The prices are an outstanding value: NZ$130 per couple for the Train Motel, $185 for the Hobbit , $150 for the tail until of the Plane Motel and — our suggested room — $160 for the cockpit.
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You like camping but your partner does not. California’s Treebones Resort offers the perfect romantic getaway for you both. Accommodations at the Treebones are in yurts, large circular tents originally the domain of Central Asian nomads and made of sheepskin. A stay at the Treebones, though, would make even the most properous Central Asian nomad envious. The yurts there include large comfortable beds of the sort you’d expect to find at a three-star hotel, sinks with running water and private porches with stunning views of the Pacific. And these yurts do not smell of sheepskin. They also don’t have en-suite restrooms — you have to go up to the main building when nature calls — adding to the “camping” aspect of your stay. Our only complains are with the included buffet breakfast (mostly of waffles and cheap muffins) and the “Treebones” name (there might be no place more gorgeous with an uglier moniker). Prices vary greatly with the season and day of the week. Book early and ask for the especially scenic and secluded yurt #16.
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