Share your morning coffee with a camel? Wake up in a Wig Wam? Snooze in the treetops with the birds? It’s possible. Just check out these fun hotels and highly unusual places to stay the night around the country.
Photo by Tonya Prater, Ohio TravelingMom
14 Highly Unusual Places to Stay the Night
If you’re tired of sleeping in a boring hotel room with the same old-same old amenities, we’ve got some ideas for a few truly adventurous nights that are bound to make it onto your – insert social media of choice – profile. So which one of these unique hotel options will you choose?
Wake up on a Reservation: When Disney Imagineers were writing the script for Cars, they took a cross-country tour on Route 66 to see the real attractions, and then modified the best ones to include in the movie. The Cozy Cone Motel is actually the Wigwam Motel in San Bernadino, California. Sleep in one of 19 30-foot tall stucco tepees, built in 1949 along America’s Mother Road, Route 66.
For a more authentic Teepee experience, try the Boulder’s Edge Cabin and Tipi Retreat in Ohio. Guests here sleep in an authentic Sioux Native American teepee, complete with wooden deck and wood burning stove. In the morning, enjoy a solar shower… or not.
Take a Nap in Middle Earth: Bilbo and Frodo Baggins would be proud to call the Hobbit Holes at Eureka Springs, Arizona home. Prince and princesses might prefer the Magic Castle treehouse or perhaps a cavern in the Enchanted Forest. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, these unique dwellings are adult only.
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Photo By Sue Rodman, TravelingMom with Teens
Enjoy Coffee with a Camel: At the North Georgia Zoo in Cleveland, Georgia, the sleeping accommodations aren’t that interesting – pop up a tent or bring a camper – but the breakfast companions are a lot of fun. Sip coffee with the camels, eat pop tarts with the parakeets, and if you’re lucky, maybe even pet a wolf or two.
Sleep in a Dog: I’ve heard of sleeping WITH your dog, but never IN a dog, but that’s exactly what you can do at the Dog Park Inn Bed and Breakfast in Cottonwood, Idaho. This full sized Beagle sleeps four with a queen and two twin foldout futon mattresses. And because he knows how important it is to stay connected, this dog has wifi. Breakfast isn’t that crunchy dry dog food either; it’s an expansive continental breakfast that includes the owner’s secret recipe for the prairie’s best fruited granola.
Get Your Zzzz’s in the Trees: In Central Texas, entire families can get their Zzzz in the custom built River Road Treehouses. These treehouses have their own kitchens, wifi and satellite TV. Not quite your childhood hideout.
For a bit more rustic adventure, but still quite cozy, zipline to your cabin, called The Nest, in the trees at Cypress Valley in Spicewood, Texas. The Nest is perfect for families and includes two bedrooms and a kitchen.
Outside of Atlanta, Georgia, you can sleep in the trees at Panola Mountain State Park. Shimmy up, then set up your hammock on a sturdy branch, but make sure you at least try to pee before getting cozy in bed. It’s a long way down for the bathroom.
If you’re really channeling our feathered friends, maybe you’d rather sleep in an authentic human nest. At TreeBones Resort near Big Sur, California, you can sleep in the exclusive Human Nest. Your private campsite includes the use of your very own private wood-woven nest created by Big Sur artists Jayson Fann. Your nest comes with a picnic table, nearby access to water and a full sized futon mattress, although you’ll have to bring your own sleeping bag and pillow, and your own worms, or whatever you enjoy eating.
Photo credit Ga. State Parks
Slumber in a Caboose: They say the clackety-clack of the rails can put anyone to sleep. At the Red Caboose Motel and Restaurant in Pennsylvania’s Amish country, families can stay in one of 38 cabooses, a baggage car or a mail car. There are nine different floor plans to accommodate families of any size. Once you’ve settled in at this highly unusual place to stay, visit the Casey Jones restaurant in an authentic rail dining car, a relic from the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Dream of Castles and Knights: Then wake up in medieval times at Ravenwood Castle in New Plymouth, Ohio. In addition to castle rooms, huntsman hollow cabins, you can also rest your eyes in a cozy reproduction British Romani Gypsy Wagon, complete with double-decker beds, and kitchenette.
Sleep Under the Sea: The Jules Sea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida takes sleeping with the fishes to a new level. Jules is the only underwater hotel. If overnight seems a bit too much, you can always book a three-hour visit to the lodge and have pizza delivered as part of the deal.
Sleep like a Soldier: At Fort King George in Darien, Georgia. You can have a sleepover on the bluff and visit the fort at night, or sleep inside the fort! Have a solider talk about life in the fort, or if you want to make things really interesting, book a cannon firing!
Where is the most unusual place you have ever spent the night? Share with us in the comment section below.
