Unusual accommodation ideas
21.07.2023 - 08:26
/ roughguides.com
/ Jules Verne
If you're the kind of traveller that seeks out new and unusual accommodation, allow us to present some really far out suggestions. From ice hotels to underwater boltholes, here's some of our favourite wacky hotels around the world, taken from Make The Most Of Your Time On Earth .
When Tunisia gained its independence in 1956, its then president, Habib Bourguiba, proclaimed a new nation in which “people will no longer live in caves, like animals”. Visit the troglodyte villages today, however, and you’ll see they’re enjoying a new lease of life – some even offer tourist accommodation. Many are stunningly sited. At Chenini, Douiret and Guermessa, set in a jagged prehistoric landscape, you’re confronted by mountainsides riddled with cave dwellings and guarded by rugged stone forts. At nearby Ghoumrassen, three folds of a rocky spur are studded with caves, under the gaze of a whitewashed mosque.
But the big centre for troglodyte homes is Matmata, whose people live, to this day, in pit dwellings. Signs outside some invite you to visit, and for a few dinars you can descend into a central courtyard dug deep into soft sandstone. Better still, Matmata has three hotels in converted pit dwellings, including the Sidi Driss, which was used as one of the locations in Star Wars – here you can dine where Luke Skywalker once did.
Troglodyte accommodation ranges from Matmata’s de luxe Hôtel Diar el Barbar (00 216 75 240 074) to simple guesthouses in Douiret and Toujane.
© Slimstyl/Shutterstock
Jules’ Undersea Lodge – named after intrepid aqua-explorer Jules Verne – began life as a research lab off the coast of Puerto Rico in the 1970s; it was moved to the Florida Keys and converted to its current use in 1986 by a pair of diving buffs and budding hoteliers. A pod that sits a few feet above the lagoon floor, the lodge has just two smallish guest bedrooms, fitted out with TVs, VCRs, phones and hot showers, plus a fully equipped kitchen and common room. All very ordinary – except, of course, that you are 21 feet below the sea.
Guests – or “aquanauts” as the lodge-owners call them – must swim down to reach the lodge, which, shaped like a figure of eight, has a small opening on the base in the centre. Your first point of arrival is into a wet room; the disconcerting sensation is much like surfacing from a swimming pool, except, of course, that you’re still under water. The lodge is anchored in the heart of a mangrove habitat, the ideal nursery for scores of marine animals, including angelfish, parrotfish and snapper; meanwhile, anemones and sponges stud the sea floor. There’s also a chef on hand who can scuba down to prepare meals; or, for late night munchies, a local takeaway joint offers a unique delivery service – perfectly