Most hotels are designed around convenient roads, stable ground, and easy access to basic supplies. The properties on this list took a different approach, appearing inside quarries, beneath the ocean, above jungle canopies, and along mountain ridges where construction alone became part of the story. Some required unusual engineering, while others turned local materials or abandoned structures into surprisingly comfortable places to sleep. In several cases, simply reaching the room is more complicated than checking in.
1. Skylodge Adventure Suites, Peru
Transparent capsules cling to a rock wall high above Peru’s Sacred Valley, looking more like observation pods than hotel rooms. Guests staying at Skylodge must reach the suites by climbing roughly 400 meters along a protected via ferrata route or following a combination of hiking and zip lines. The capsules were built from aluminum and weather-resistant polycarbonate, then secured directly to the mountainside. Inside, they contain beds, dining areas, and private bathrooms, all with nearly uninterrupted views of the valley below. Room service is clearly not the most complicated part of running this hotel.
2. InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland, China
Instead of building upward, the InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland descends along the wall of an abandoned quarry outside Shanghai. The structure reaches about 88 meters below ground level, with only a small portion of the hotel visible above the rim. Guest rooms face the quarry’s rock walls and artificial lake, while the lowest levels include underwater-themed spaces. Construction required engineers to solve problems involving drainage, rock stability, fire safety, and access within a deep excavation. The result feels like a skyscraper turned upside down and lowered into the earth.
3. The Muraka, Maldives
The main bedroom at The Muraka rests more than 16 feet beneath the Indian Ocean. It forms the lower level of a private residence at Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, reached by a spiral staircase or elevator from the rooms above the water. A curved acrylic ceiling surrounds the bed, giving guests a wide view of reef fish and other marine life moving through the lagoon. Building a luxury bedroom underwater required the submerged structure to be manufactured, transported, lowered into position, and secured to the seabed. From inside, all of that engineering disappears behind the view.
4. Hotel Everest View, Nepal
Hidden on a ridge inside Sagarmatha National Park, Hotel Everest View sits at an altitude of roughly 3,880 meters. There are no ordinary city streets leading to the entrance, and many visitors reach the area after flying to Lukla and continuing on foot through the Khumbu region. The thin air and remote setting made transporting construction materials and operating a hotel unusually difficult. Every room faces the Himalayan landscape, with Mount Everest visible when the weather cooperates. Even breakfast takes place at an elevation higher than many mountain summits.
5. The Manta Resort Underwater Room, Tanzania
A short boat ride from Pemba Island leads to what appears to be a small wooden platform floating by itself in the Indian Ocean. Beneath it is a submerged bedroom surrounded by windows, allowing guests to watch reef life from below the surface. The structure has three levels, including a rooftop deck, a living area near the waterline, and the underwater sleeping space. At night, exterior lights attract fish around the windows. It is less like staying beside the ocean and more like temporarily moving into it.
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6. ICEHOTEL, Sweden
Every winter, a hotel is built from snow and ice in Jukkasjärvi, a village in Swedish Lapland. Artists and construction crews create rooms, corridors, sculptures, and furniture inside a frozen structure kept at around minus 5 degrees Celsius. Guests sleep in thermal sleeping bags on beds made partly from ice, protected by insulating layers and reindeer hides. When warmer weather arrives, much of the seasonal hotel melts and returns to the Torne River. The next winter, an entirely new version is built again.
7. Alila Jabal Akhdar, Oman
Alila Jabal Akhdar sits near the edge of a deep ravine in Oman’s Al Hajar Mountains, around 2,000 meters above sea level. The resort was designed with stone walls and muted colors that make it blend into the surrounding cliffs from a distance. Reaching the property involves a steep drive into one of the more remote sections of the mountain range, where the landscape shifts quickly from dry valleys to high plateaus. Balconies and terraces face a drop that seems to continue for miles. It is the sort of site where most builders would have stopped after admiring the view.
8. Jules’ Undersea Lodge, United States
Checking into Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo requires scuba equipment. The habitat sits about 21 feet below the surface of a protected lagoon, and guests enter through an opening underneath the structure. It began as a marine research facility before being converted into an overnight accommodation in the 1980s. Compressed air keeps water from entering the living area, where round windows look out onto the lagoon. Pizza has even been delivered to guests by divers, which may be one of the stranger forms of hotel room service.
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9. Palacio de Sal, Bolivia
Near the edge of Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, Palacio de Sal was constructed using one material that happened to be available in enormous quantities: salt. Blocks cut from the surrounding landscape were used for walls, ceilings, furniture, and decorative features throughout the hotel. The location presents its own challenges, including intense sunlight, cold nights, seasonal flooding, and the corrosive effects of salt. Regular maintenance is essential because moisture can slowly wear away parts of the building. Guests are also asked not to lick the walls, a rule most hotels never need to mention.
10. Fogo Island Inn, Canada
Fogo Island Inn stands on a rocky stretch of Newfoundland coastline exposed to strong Atlantic winds and rough weather. Part of the building is supported by tall stilts, creating the impression that the white structure is balancing above the shore. Its unusual shape was inspired by the fishing stages and traditional wooden houses found across the island. Construction materials, workers, and equipment all had to reach a small community far from Canada’s major urban centers. The hotel’s 29 rooms face the ocean, where icebergs and storms sometimes become part of the scenery.
11. Mashpi Lodge, Ecuador
Mashpi Lodge was built deep inside a cloud forest northwest of Quito, surrounded by steep slopes, heavy rainfall, and dense vegetation. Large glass walls make the building feel exposed to the forest, even though guests remain inside a modern hotel. Creating the lodge required careful planning to reduce damage to the surrounding ecosystem and preserve the habitat around the site. The property also developed its own systems for operating in an isolated environment, including a small hydroelectric installation. Getting there still involves hours of driving along winding roads into the reserve.
12. Hotel Costa Verde’s 727 Fuselage Suite, Costa Rica
A retired Boeing 727 appears to have made an emergency landing in the jungle above Manuel Antonio, but its position was carefully planned. Hotel Costa Verde transported the aircraft fuselage from San José in sections using five large trucks, then placed it on supports above the forest canopy. The interior was converted into a two-bedroom suite with wooden paneling, bathrooms, a kitchen, and terraces extending near the wings. From the windows, guests look out over trees rather than an airport runway. The aircraft will never fly again, although its elevated position does a convincing imitation.
13. Hotel Marqués de Riscal, Spain
The medieval village of Elciego was not an obvious place for a building made from enormous twisting sheets of metal. Architect Frank Gehry designed Hotel Marqués de Riscal with titanium ribbons that appear to float above the vineyards of Spain’s Rioja wine region. The irregular roof required complex structural work to support forms that seem to fold, curl, and overlap without following the lines of a conventional building. Its pink, gold, and silver surfaces reflect the surrounding landscape in changing light. From a distance, it looks as though a piece of futuristic sculpture landed among the vines.
14. Treehotel, Sweden
In the forest near Harads, several hotel rooms hang among the trees rather than resting on ordinary foundations. The best-known is the Mirrorcube, a reflective structure wrapped around a living pine trunk and reached by a suspended bridge. Its mirrored exterior reflects the surrounding branches, helping the room nearly disappear when viewed from certain angles. Other Treehotel cabins resemble a bird’s nest, a flying saucer, and an oversized wooden room floating above the ground. Each design had to accommodate tree movement, winter weather, and the weight of guests without losing its unusual appearance.
15. Montaña Mágica Lodge, Chile
DESIGN / VIA REDDIT
Montaña Mágica Lodge rises from the Patagonian forest in the shape of a steep, vegetation-covered mountain. Water pours from near the top and runs down the exterior, turning the building into an artificial waterfall when the system is operating. Small windows project from the sloping walls, while a suspended wooden bridge leads guests toward the entrance. The lodge is located inside the Huilo Huilo Biological Reserve, where dense forest and heavy rainfall make the structure appear even less conventional. From the right angle, it can be difficult to tell where the hotel ends and the surrounding landscape begins.
In the mood for more?
Check out 15 Places Around the World That Look Photoshopped, But Aren’t, or take a look at 16 Abandoned Resorts and Hotels That Still Look Hauntingly Beautiful. If you want to see more extraordinary places, you can check out 15 Travel Destinations That Used to Be Completely Off-Limits to Tourists.
