Category Archives: Hotel

Hotel

Top 10 Unique Hotels

Select from the best luxury hotels on an island to cheap hotel prison deals.

When it comes to vacationing, the hotel itself can be as much a part of the vacation as the destination. Before you make hotel reservations at some luxury hotel, think of all the options out there. From a tree house to an ice house, here are some of the most unique hotels from all over the world.

Kamalame Cay: Your own private island

The Bahamas: Do you have Robinson Crusoe dreams of living on your own private island? Well, Kamalame Cay offers a private island getaway with Robinson Crusoe adventures and all the luxuries of a four star hotel. This 96-acre soft sandy island is located right off of Andros Bay in the Bahamas and can only be reached by the resort’s private ferry or seaplane. Dotted with private villas, guests can enjoy Caribbean cuisine, some of the best snorkeling and fishing along the island’s pristizne beaches and can go for a dip in the freshwater pool located on the island. Kamalame Cay feeds the need for adventure while offering romance, luxury hotel accommodations and natural beauty.

Utter Inn: Sleep with the fishes
Vasteras, Sweden
The Utter Inn, or the Otter Inn in English, is a small, floating Swedish red house with an underwater bedroom fitted with panoramic windows, so you can literally sleep with the fishes. The inn is an art project by Mikael Genberg who has done several other artistic hotels like the Hotell Hackspett or Woodpecker Hotel, which is a tree house, located over 40 feet above a Swedish park. Just hope you don’t get claustrophobic, because you get dropped off by boat and don’t get picked up again until morning.

The Jail Backpackers: A taste of the Big House at a small price
Mount Gambier, South Australia, Australia
Built in 1864, this renovated jail now serves as a hostel for backpackers and travelers alike. Located in Mount Gambier, South Australia, the Jail Backpackers gives tourists a chance to spend the night or the weekend in the slammer for budget prices, $45 for a double room, $20 for a dorm room. Don’t worry though; you’re not locked down at night. This cheap hotel option offers a kitchen, TV lounge, pool tables, quiet lounge with a fireplace, walled garden spaces and a restaurant. The Mount Gambier area offers many outdoor activities, most well-known is Blue lake, which is a lake located in a volcano. There are plenty of hiking trails, cave tours and sand boarding opportunities.

The Queen Mary: Don’t jump ship on this haunted boat
Long Beach hotels
Queen Mary Hotel Reviews
If staying the night in a prison isn’t creepy enough, try spending the night in a haunted hotel/boat, the Queen Mary. This ocean liner and World War II troopship has a haunted history. One of the most haunted areas on the boat is the no longer used First-Class Swimming Pool. Women in vintage swimsuits have been seen wandering around and wet footprints have been found mysteriously leading from the deck to the changing rooms. The boat/luxury hotel offers more than hauntings, but historic tours, multiple world-class dining options, cabaret shows, a comedy club, spas and suites as well. For $459 you can spend the night in one of the haunted staterooms, but are you brave enough?

Parrot Nest Lodge: In a tree under the stars
Cayo, Belize
Staying the night here won’t be as creepy as the Queen Mary, unless you are afraid of heights and birds. The Parrot Nest Lodge consists of two thatched tree houses, four cabins and two bathhouses and is surrounded on three sides by the Mopan River, which offers a refreshing swim. As its name implies there are large numbers of parrots, as well as hundreds of other birds, making this a prime bird-watching destination. Giant iguanas are also another friendly garden visitor. Breakfast and dinner are also included with your tree house room for only $40-50 a night room rental, making this a cheap hotel with resort qualities. Hope you’re not afraid of the wild.

Heceta Head Lighthouse: On the cliffs
Yachats hotels
If staying the night in a tree-house was too high, try spending the evening in a lighthouse perched on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The Heceta Head Lighthouse is over a hundred years old and considered by many to be one of the most beautiful lighthouses in the world. Heceta is also the brightest lighthouse in Seattle, casting light 21 miles out to sea. The Queen Ann style keeper’s house has been renovated into a bed and breakfast where guests get to view the lighthouse at night, a rare opportunity. Also, a seven course breakfast is served in the morning, which is included with your room. Magical is the one word many guests use to describe the Heceta Head Lighthouse and bed and breakfast.

Beckham Creek Cave Haven: Eco-tourist Haven
Parthenon, Arkansas hotels
Taking over four years to create, the Beckham Creek Cave Haven was created with the philosophy that the on-going preservation of our environment is paramount. Set on a 530-acre estate in Buffalo National River country, this cave hotel offers solitude and plenty of outdoor entertainment among the Ozarks for eco-tourists. On the estate alone there is a mountain and plenty of hiking, biking and fishing places.

Ice Hotel: Freeze your ice off
Sweden A cave of sorts, the Ice hotel is a cavern of ice carved from 10,000 tons of crystal clear ice cut from the Torne River. Every year the hotel must be built from scratch, with new designs and new concepts; it is continually being re-birthed. This luxury hotel includes an ice chapel, an ice art exhibition hall, a cinema and the world famous Absolut Ice Bar. If you can brave the freezing temperatures, the Ice Hotel is well-worth the trip.

The Gladstone Hotel: 37 artist designed rooms
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Each room is not designed out of ice, but designed by a different artist. Located in Toronto, the Gladstone Hotel is a unique, urban hotel with artist designed hotel rooms, as well as short-term art studios and exhibition spaces. The hotel offers a unique insight to the diverse artistic environment of Toronto. Make hotel reservations for the Teen Queen room and relive your Jr. High years or spend the night in the serene Skygazer Room decorated with an amazing wall treatment of plastic relics in cloudlike forms.

The Burj-al-arab: Sail away with luxury
Dubai: Located in one of the fastest growing cities, this Dubai hotel is more than just a hotel; it is an experience. That is if you can afford to make the hotel reservations. Resembling a billowing sail, the Burj-al-arab dominates the Dubai skyline at 321 meters. Acknowledged by some to be the best hotel in the world, this all-suite luxury hotel caters to the affluent and offers around-the-clock attention from highly trained butlers, private reception desks on each floor and a spa and health club. At night, the hotel is surrounded by choreographed color sculptures of water and fire. The Burj-al-arab is luxury at its finest and most extravagant.

Hotel

Top 4 Hotel Secrets for Travelers

An average cost to flip a hotel room costs $30-40 per day. This includes the cleaning supplies, electricity, mini-bar attendants, hourly wages of maids, the cost of washing of the sheets and all other costs associated with the hotel employees and their services. By comparing the hotel room’s operational cost to the average hotel room rent rates, travelers can see why the hotel business is so profitable.

Below are top 4 secrets that travelers should be privy to if they want to book a hotel room.

1) The Possibility of Getting Walked: An average hotel will book its rooms 10% over capacity. That is because the average no-show rate of customers is 10 percent. Sometimes all the guests show up and that someone has to get walked by the hotel. This means that the hotel will now pay their entire night’s room including tax plus add in one telephone call for the inconvenience and get them a room at a comparable or slightly lower grade hotel. This usually happens to guests who are not regulars at a particular hotel, or have only booked the hotel room for one night. One of the biggest reasons for guests to get walked is when they act like jerks to the hotel staff.

2) Complain Smartly: Complains are directly referred to the front desks, however most issues are not caused by the front desk at all. You can be a smart complainer by going to the front desk, telling them about your issue and asking questions on whom you should speak about the complaint to. Also be polite about it. Many problems can be solved by the front desk attendant but you have to make sure that he does it. Make sure that the front desk listens to your complain and then go do something about it. Ask his name so that he knows that you now have leverage over him and can complain to the management if he doesn’t resolve your issue.

3) Get an Upgrade: Travelers hear a lot of front desk agents say that all rooms are the same. However there are always a few rooms in the hotel which have a bigger bed, bigger flat screen, better bathroom or just a better view. By providing the front desk agent with a good tip, you can ensure that the upgraded room is yours for the night. Even if the hotel does not have a better room, you can get many value-adding amenities like late check outs, free movie, free mini-bar or other discounted hotel deals that are not advertised about. This is not a bribe; hotel desk agents are authorized to provide upgrades for special occasions so don’t hesitate to ask for one when you get to a hotel.

4) Let the Bellboy Carry Your Suitcase: The wheeled suitcase came out in 1970 and ever since have been the bane of bellboys’ existence. Because of the wheeled suitcases, guests no longer have need of bellboys to carry their hefty luggage; they can wheel it in themselves. Because of this, bellboys get fewer tips which leave their household bills unpaid. So next time to book a room at a hotel, give some consideration to the bellboy too.