Some billboards advertise hotels. In Berlin, there is a billboard that IS a hotel.

Continue →

Where else would the first permanent ice lounge in the United States be located but in the middle of a hot desert?

The new Minus 5 Ice Lounge, adjacent to the Mandalay Bay Resort on the Las Vegas Strip, is 2,000 square feet of frigid wonderland complete with an ice bar, ice sofas, an ice chandelier and an ice Elvis sculpture. Guests needn’t bring their own winter wear for the occasion—each is provided with parkas and boots to keep warm while they chill with their friends.

Admission is $30 though that includes a complimentary vodka cocktail. (No reason to order that drink on the rocks because, like nearly everything else at the Minus 5 Lounge, the glasses are made of ice). Accompanied minors are allowed inside too. Just make sure they don’t stick their tongues, well, anything.

Related Post: Ice Bars In Warm Places

BOOK A ROOM AT MANDALAY BAY | READ | FLY THERE

Continue →

Wow. This two-chamber hotel 30 feet (10 meters) underwater off the coast of Key Largo, Florida truly feels like you are spending the night in a different world. Guests are surrounded by views of tropical fish and lagoon water. But the vibe of this place is what makes it truly memorable — the lighting and sounds here are different than they are living on land. And since no hotel staff stays overnights below you’ll be free to explore around this underwater space station in privacy. To make the dive down to the lodge guests are required to take a three hour course if they are not already scuba certified. “Mer-chefs” are available to cook dinner. One guess what sort of food is on the menu.

LEARN MORE & BOOK | READ

Continue →

London’s Amora is like no museum you toured in grade school. This self-described “Academy of Sex & Relationships” is like an erotic theme park (without the rides).

Continue →

New to Moscow’s Krasnaya Presnya park: the world’s first ice sculpture gallery. This might also be the world’s coldest museum—the frozen exhibits here are kept at -10C (14F).

Visitors to the gallery are given special coat to wear that looks like a cross between an Eskimo’s parka and an alien costume from a low budget horror movie (see photos after the jump). The coats are partially to keep you warm (and looking ridiculous) but also to keep your body temperature from melting the displays. Even with the coats, to keep the temperature constant only ten visitors are allowed in the gallery at a time. The ice displays are open year round, making the ice sculptures in Krasnaya Presnya park a good place to cool off in the summer . . . or warm up in the Moscow winter. Entrance is 350 rubles (about $14, €9).

READ | FOLLOW US ON TWITTER |

Continue →

Some lighthouse hotels are a little gritty. (Or, at least cramped). The Phare de Kerbel, on France’s Brittany coast, is spacious and modern. There’s a full kitchen, gorgeously appointed bedrooms and a swimming pool. Better still, there’s the view of the Atlantic from a perch 25 meters (82 feet) above Port Louis.

BOOK | LEARN MORE ON BRITTANY | READ |

Continue →

Once an illegal massage parlor, hence the name, Happy Endings is now a friendly lounge with a hip singles scene that doesn’t guarantee this spot’s former promises of gratification. Getting in is as easy as showing-up and the downstairs lounge still offers private tiled rooms, which are now filled with banquettes and tables. The crowd is informal and hip and they both dance and mingle to DJs that bring the 70s funk on weekends, but aren’t afraid to mix it with a little 80s pop and modern rock. Take a cab here -– the lounge is hard to find and the neighborhood can be sketchy.

LEARN MORE |  READ |  

Seriously, this place specializes in milk and cookies. It’s no $100 per entrée hot spot playing “the irony angle,” it’s a café that has found a niche in a city where it seemed that all of the niches had been taken ten times over. Of course, no one pulls off this kind of coupe with store-bought Oreos. This place makes their own type of Oreo with chewy Valrhona chocolate and a homemade cream filling. Coolest of all, this bakery also lets customers create their own cookies — you select from their myriad of ingredient possibilities and they’ll bake up your creation in 20 minutes ($19/dozen). No wonder this place is a favorite for the West Village’s young at heart . . . and their inner-children.

LEARN MORE |