Austria

The Best View from a Hotel Room in the Austrian Alps

There are few countries with more scenically situated hotels per square mile than Austria. So for this post — part of Spot Cool Stuff’s series reviewing the best hotel room views in various locations — we had to bend our own rules a little:

First, instead of considering hotels across the whole of Austria, we decided to limit our search to countryside. (In the future, we’ll write-up the hotel with the best room views of Vienna — follow us on Facebook, Twitter or email to be updated on that.)

Second, instead of only reviewing one hotel, we’ve chosen two. The Berghotel Schafbergspitze is our choice as the best views from a hotel room, but the quality of rooms (as well as the hotel in general) is otherwise rather bland. Those who want their amazing room view to come along with some amazing luxury should check out the Ferienhotel Fernblick instead.

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Cool Apres Ski Destinations

Imagine a combination of a ski lodge and Animal House.

Golf has it’s 19th hole. Football matches have after parties. And skiing has après ski. That’s when skiers depart the slopes in favor of a bar, tavern, warming hut or igloo (!) for some drinking and dancing and socializing — and then drinking some more.

The après ski concept has taken hold in some places more than others. Here’s Spot Cool Stuff’s rundown of the coolest après ski countries. Read on or click through to your country of choice:


Vienna’s Public Hammock House

Cool hammocks are more associated with Caribbean beaches and backyard swimming pools than they are the stuff of urban northern European. Yet it is in the middle of Vienna, in the Austrian capital’s Museum Quarter, that you’ll find the Flederhaus. The five-story public structure is like a sort of hammock village under one roof.

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Spend the Night in a Pipe

Spending the night in drainage pipe in a public park is a bad thing . . . usually

It’s almost like being homeless

All the charm and safety of a bomb shelter

Our rooms are no longer full of crap

We like to imagine that those were among the tag lines rejected by the Dasparkhotel, the accommodations in a suburb of Linz, Austria where guests spend the night in a recycled drainage pipe.

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7 Downside-Up Houses

Constructing the upside-down house was so disorientating for the builders that they could only work in three hour shifts

˙uʍop ǝpısdn plɹoʍ ǝɥʇ uɹnʇ ʇɐɥʇ—puɐloԀ puɐ ɐıɹʇsn∀ ‘˙∀˙S˙∩ ǝɥʇ ‘ʎuɐɯɹǝפ ‘ɐpɐuɐƆ ‘uıɐdS uı—sǝɹnʇɔnɹʇs uǝʌǝs ǝsǝɥʇ ɟo puoɟ ʎllɐıɔǝdsǝ sı ɟɟnʇS looƆ ʇodS ʎɥʍ sı ɥɔıɥM ˙ʎʇılɐǝɹ uo ǝʌıʇɔǝdsɹǝd ɹnoʎ ǝƃuɐɥɔ uɐɔ ʎǝɥʇ :ǝɹnʇɔǝʇıɥɔɹɐ puɐ lǝʌɐɹʇ ɥʇoq ɟo ʇɔǝdsɐ looɔ ǝuO

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The Big Battle of the World’s Smallest Restaurants

To reserve an entire restaurant for you and your date you have to be exceedingly wealthy. That, or find an exceedingly small restaurant.

Here are three restaurants that consist entirely of one table. Each is in Europe. And each claims to be the world’s smallest restaurant. Which one deserves that dubious title? You be the judge:

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