The Guesthouse

Your first stop upon arriving at the Treehotel grounds is the Guesthouse, where you check in to your room. The nine rooms in here give off a distinct throwback vibe, drawing on inspiration from designs of the 1930s to 1950s. Don’t worry, though — they still have Wi-Fi.

The Blue Cone

Set upon posts, this square red building is raised off the ground and handicap accessible. In stark contrast to its rustic exterior, the Blue Cone’s birch interior emanates a calm, sleek Swedish design. It also provides four beds, a sleeping loft, lounge area, and bathroom.

The Dragonfly

Perfectly suited for use as a meeting room, the Dragonfly boasts a table that seats 12, a lounge area, bathroom, and two smaller group rooms. Even if you’re ditching work for a personal stay, you’ll find that this lodging comfortably sleeps four people. Whatever the reason for your visit may be, the Drangonfly’s large panoramic windows are sure keep you feeling close to nature.

The UFO

The name helps paint an accurate mental picture of this silver orb nestled into the trees. To top it all off, guests gain entry to the UFO via a retractable staircase that stretches down to the ground. Inside, you’ll find a much cozier scene, with a main room that accommodates up to five people.

The Cabin

On first approach, the Cabin appears to float weightless in the trees. Intended for two guests, it’s a long capsule-shaped room with a double bed, bathroom, and terrace.

The Bird’s Nest

Camouflaged in the surrounding trees, one might trek right past this room if they didn’t know what to look for. Completely encased in branches like the massive nest of a bird, the Bird’s Nest is also accessed via a retractable staircase.

The 7th Room

As you’ve probably already guest, this addition came about only after the first six rooms were designed and built. Looking up at it from ground level, you’ll see a reflection of the surrounding forest printed on its underside. But while it blends into its surroundings on the outside, the 7th Room offers a very different atmosphere inside, with contemporary decor and massive northern-facing windows that facilitate views of the northern lights. Guests can even lay in a large cargo net off the deck to take in the sounds of the forest and obstructed views of the sky from a height of about 32 feet off the ground.

The Mirrorcube

Distinct even among unique designs, the Mirrorcube looks exactly like its name suggests. Its aluminum-framed base was contoured around the base of a neighboring tree before the reflective glass walls were added to complete the cubical concept. Like the other rooms, though, its interior brings nothing but warmth, comfort, and sleek amenities for two guests to enjoy.
Nearby buildings offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner options, as well as showers, a sauna, and a bar. When you’re not too busy enjoying the spectacular views from your room, visiting with other patrons in the sauna or Guesthouse, or eating your way through Swedish delicacies at the on-site restaurant, you might find yourself taking in the nearby hiking, rafting, kayaking, wildlife viewing, horseback riding, fishing, or fat bike riding options.

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The Pioneer station will have a capacity of 28 guests, with areas for work and recreation. The Voyager will be much larger, with room for 400 guests, and will open sometime in 2027. Both space resorts will offer some semblance of gravity for patrons, thanks to their spinning circular designs.

“The station rotates, pushing the contents of the station out to the perimeter of the station, much in the way that you can spin a bucket of water — the water pushes out into the bucket and stays in place,” said architect and Orbital Assembly COO Tim Alatorre in an interview with CNN. This engineering will allow for comfortable dining and bar experiences as well as traditional sleeping positions.

However, the fun of weightlessness will still be an option for extraplanetary travelers. The gravitational pull will decrease as one moves along the station’s spokes toward the center. The degree of gravity will also depend on the hotel’s rotation speed.

“The interiors of Pioneer station, in particular, are designed to function in both zero gravity and partial gravity,” Alatorre explains. “They are highly flexible to respond to the needs of a variety of tenants on the station.”

The Voyager plans also call for a zero-gravity basketball court where guests can fly through the air and dunk like their favorite NBA stars.

In terms of the length of stay, the company envisions guests coming for a long weekend among the stars. “We expect the duration to be as little as four days or as long as two weeks,” says Rhonda Stevenson, Orbital Assembly CEO. “It depends on cost and also the ability to acclimate to a space environment.” Both space inns will include office areas for those seeking longer-term accommodations.

While no daily price has been announced, it is likely to be prohibitive in the beginning. The Voyager Station itself will run $200 billion in construction and launching costs. Travel + Leisure reported that a three-and-a-half-day stay might be as much as $5 million. However, that may not be as outrageous as it sounds, as it currently costs $55 million to stay at the International Space Station for any length of time. And Virgin Galactic is planning to charge $450,000 for a trip into the Milky Way that lasts just 90 minutes.

Orbital Assembly maintains that space travel will eventually become accessible to enough people that prices will be comparable to those of cruise tickets. Alatorre assures, “The goal has always been to make it possible for large amounts of people to live, work, and thrive in space.” The Pioneer hotel especially will allow “people [to] start to experience space on a larger scale, faster.”

Interested vacationers can sign up on the company website to reserve a spot on the Pioneer station.

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Dubbed “Moon World Resorts,” the idea is to recreate the Moon on a grand scale right here on our home planet, no rocket trip required. As Moon World Resorts co-founder Michael R. Henderson recently told CNN Travel, the moon is a “recognizable brand…seven and a half billion people know it, everybody loves it.” He hopes his ambitious idea will spur travelers everywhere to flock to the spacey, ultra-luxurious new hotel.

Though the project itself has been in development for nearly 20 years, artist renderings envision a futuristic space where guests can enjoy all the perks of a traditional top-notch resort while pretending they’e floating in a far-off space station. Of course, no trip to the moon would be complete without a space walk. A lunar experience inside the hotel will allow guests to simulate the feeling of actually walking on the moon. As Henderson says, “we will give you the ability in your lifetime to walk on what you believe will be the lunar surface.”

Unfortunately, as with most architecture projects of this scale and scope, Moon World Resorts has also come with its share of “tremendous technical challenges,” according to Henderson. He’s currently working with co-founder Sandra G. Matthews alongside “independent engineers and architects to make the concept a reality,” according to CNN Travel.

If all goes according to plan, the Canada-based entrepreneurs plan on eventually expanding Moon World Resorts to other continents, too. This will depend largely on securing licensees willing to invest in the project — but as we now know all too well, it’s pretty hard for rich people to say “no” to space.

For his part, Henderson remains hopeful that Moon World Resorts will eventually get past the conceptual stage and become a full-on reality. He believes that the first hotel could open as early as 2027 as “a destination in its own right,” drawing visitors from around the globe who want to experience the thrill of the final frontier from the comfort of the planet they know and love.

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Casa TO features nine spacious suites acting as private sanctuaries in contrast to the open public areas. A covered infinity pool and terraced solarium form the heart of the hotel, offering stepped seating areas for guests to lounge in the sun and then wander down into the water to cool off. Enormous round portals in the massive concrete walls create interesting geometries and frame various views of the interiors and exteriors: the pool sparkling in the sunlight, vines crawling up the textural wall, inviting seating areas, and the lush vegetation outside.

“The project was outlined under the imprint of simplicity and conceptual elegance, where tradition and avant garde are amalgamated in an unprecedented structure embraced by the tranquility of nature,” the architects explain. “Its name, Casa TO, arises from the idea of serene contemplation in a defined space, as the reinterpretation of an Oaxacan temple, which generates a radical sensory experience just by entering it. The structure evokes the lattice pattern of two historic waterworks of timeless beauty, the Basilica Cistern — Yerebatan Sarayi — in Istanbul, dating from the 6th century, and the Hornsey Wood Reservoir in London’s Finsbury Park, built in the 19th century.”

The team adds that “Casa TO’s natural environment defined its interior design, which was inspired by the natural hue of a blue Madagascar palm tree — Bismarckia nobilis — located on the original grounds. The color palette is made up of the typical tones of concrete and stainless steel, which are complemented by shades of turquoise, present in the ironworks, the lamps by Natural Urbano Studio, and some decorative details; in addition to yellow, blue, and green accents, which contrast in the glassware and textile elements made by Vivenda, Alfredo Orozco’s Experimental Textile Workshop, and the Taller Ocho rugs.”

The influence of Oaxacan temples is evident in the hotel’s vaulted ceilings and steps, as is that of traditional Mexican courtyard houses, which are evoked in the solarium and the tropical greenery sprinkled throughout the hotel. Furniture built by expert carpenters from Puebla, Guadalajara, and Oaxaca stands alongside bamboo pieces by Tiago Solís Van Beuren. Guest rooms are open to the fresh air, with the beds tucked into little sheltered nooks and small private terraces acting as giant skylights.

Casa TO is perhaps the most dramatic and innovative project yet from Ludwig Godefroy Architecture, an elevation of the firm’s signature aesthetic of clean concrete forms accented by warm natural materials. Check out their previous project, Casa Zicatela, a home that looks like a bunker from outside but hides luxurious private spaces and reflecting pools behind its sturdy walls.

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The Hotel Hubertus is set at the foot of a popular ski and hiking area called Kronplatz in Valdaora’s Puster Valley. “Hub of Huts” gazes out at this serene landscape from a high vantage point, its series of glass-walled structures collectively forming a “zen-like refuge” for the wellness-oriented hotel. It’s located on the southeast side of the complex, at the edge of a glass-bottomed and cantilevered pool noa* added to the hotel six years ago. The beautiful 82-foot-long water feature has since become the hotel’s star attraction, so the architects used it for inspiration when designing the Hub of Huts.

Architect and noa* founder Lukas Rungger explains that the firm thought about all the activities swimmers tend to do in the pool, like standing, sitting, floating horizontally, and diving upside-down. “Each of these positions have a different horizon, and from this interplay of perspectives, the idea of the project came to life.”

Emulating a small village, the huts contain showers, changing rooms, and additional pools on the upper side of the platform. Below, in the volumes that appear inverted, even more pools can be found, along with saunas, showers, and a foyer. The architects also hid a water purification system for the pools and tiered seating for the saunas within the upside-down gables. The warmth of the saunas and protection of the platform overhead make these spaces feel sheltered and almost subterranean despite their elevated position.

The aesthetic of the huts mimics those of the Hubertus Pool and the rest of the Hotel Hubertus, which was extensively renovated by noa* in 2016. In addition to adding 16 new suites, a new kitchen with restaurants, a wine cellar, and fitness and relaxation rooms, the firm created a new facade from native larch tree trunks. This rhythmic, undulating exterior connects the hotel’s old and new volumes and gives them a visual cohesiveness. The same debarked larch trunks are used as pillars for both the cantilevered swimming pool and the Hub of Huts.

The architects add that “the new pool, which imposingly rests in-between the two accommodation wings, seems like a floating rock, come to rest at the site, overlooking the valley. The hidden edges of the pool, kept in anthracite-colored stone, abolish the gap between pool and landscape, creating the impression of the water flowing into nothing, disappearing between pool and landscape. The pool metaphorically reminds [one] of a mountain lake, nestled into the astonishing mountainscape of the UNESCO World Heritage site, the Dolomites…”

Network of Architects is known for its spectacular and imaginative architectural creations, particularly in the areas of hospitality and cultural institutions. Also located in South Tyrol, its AEON hotel uses dramatic color contrasts and ultra-high ceilings to set a contemplative mood. The firm has also recently created a striking “floating” library for Milan based on the Tree of Knowledge, and a modular building system used as the basis for a sustainable community center.

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With the help of their team, Lead Design Partners José Cláudio Silva and Peter Barrett effectively created that image with the curved, double-paned glass superstructure. And thanks to lower semi-circular tiers, the profile of the resort also closely resembles the silhouette of a luxury yacht.

Located in the Bai Trao District on the northwest edge of Hon Thom Island, the resort will be owned and operated by the Sun Group. Its “integrated resort and hospitality” features will spread along 50 acres of the tropical archipelago, picturesquely nestled between coastal beaches and lush mountain jungles.

The resort’s visual beacon, the tower sail will house luxury suites across the curvature of its double-skin glass facade, giving guests premium views of both the watery horizon and the forested hillside slopes. Visitors can also enjoy a ship deck-shaped viewing area and native gardens on lower floors, connecting the fluid sailing vibe of the tower to the resort’s main levels.

Guests will be able to access the resort through multiple travel methods: there are dozens of private and VIP marinas, a public jetty, a helipad, and a cable car route connecting the island to the larger neighboring island of Phu Quoc.

The greater resort will include luxury hotels, townhouses, beachside and clifftop residential villas, as well as beach clubs and water sports, all with stunning panoramas of the Gulf of Thailand. A host of infinity pools, gardens, linear parks, and coastal promenades helps to “blur the boundary between nature and architecture.” Public spaces, pool decks, and retail stores will be covered in rustic shingled roofs, exposed woodwork, and natural stone to further obscure the line between the natural and the manmade. At its northernmost end, a Fisherman’s wharf will support retail shops and walkways, designed into glass volumes attached to stone blocks made to look like they are rising out of the sea.

10 Design is an internationally renowned studio with offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Edinburgh, Dubai, Miami, London, Shenzhen, and Singapore. Since its founding in 2010, the company has completed masterplanning, landscaping, and interior work in over 60 cities across four continents, winning more than 80 awards and major design competitions in the process.

The firm is particularly proud of this latest design as it marks “an important milestone” and the “first major project completed by our 10 Design Singapore studio,” explains Barry Shapiro, the group’s Managing Partner in Asia. “We are excited to complete the masterplan and concept design for Hon Thom Island, which will serve as one of the beachside jewels of the local Phu Quoc region as well as the world-class waterfront hospitality and lifestyle destination.

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The property’s history as a former fish market and proximity to the Peconic Bay inspired the “boatel” concept. Juul-Hansen wanted the hotel to be deeply rooted in its waterfront setting, offering just as many boat slips as guest suites (20 of each). Its exterior is clad in cedar shingles (much like the vernacular architecture of the North Fork area) and is surrounded by decks offering views of the bay and marina. Guests can borrow pale blue beach cruisers for a pleasant ten-minute ride down to Southold, the nearest village, or book trips on The Shoals’ 28-foot vintage Chris Craft charter boat.

Picnic tables dot the grassy front lawn, and lounge chairs line the edge of the property along the water. A fire pit with a ring of deck chairs sparks to life after dark, and the hotel even has its very own food truck offering lobster rolls and soft serve. The outdoor lounge slings cocktails beside a grand piano with incredible water views. Swim in the bay, take a cruise on a boat, or spend the day fishing and then rinse off at the outdoor shower before heading inside, where yet another grand piano and leather sofas invite you to sink down and chat with fellow guests.

Juul-Hansen has distilled the area’s nautical heritage into a distinct flavor that’s all The Shoals’ own, rendered in soft shades of blue and sandy beige. Textural jute, rattan, linen, and wood lathe set off the smoothness of leather and polished stone, which particularly shines in the lobby’s sculptural front desk. Crisp white bedding, wood floors, and expressive framed art make the bedrooms feel serene. Some rooms have balconies or decks facing the water. The suites feature kitchenettes almost as spacious and comfortable as your own at home, with pale backsplash tiles glimmering like the insides of oyster shells.

Speaking of oysters, one of the coolest aspects of The Shoals is its commitment to bringing back the working waterfront that once thrived at this location. The owners have partnered with Little Ram Oyster Company, a local woman-owned business, to turn its former Scallop Shack into a fully operational oyster business. They plan to host private shucking workshops, host off-site oyster farm tours, and sell kits of unshucked oysters along with supplies to open them. On Wednesdays, their food truck will turn into the Shuck Shack, offering an oyster happy hour.

“The owners of Little Ram Oyster Company, Elizabeth Peeples and Stefanie Bassett, are stewards in the oyster development and advancement in Southold, and we thought they’d be great partners,” co-owner Jonathan Tibet told Travel + Leisure. “They are excited to serve the most craveable oyster experience on the North Fork while also sharing their knowledge with our guests through on-site educational opportunities.”

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The “Anti-Idyllic Suite,” the latest installment of their Null Stern hotel chain, is located just off the freeway in the Saillon region of French-speaking Switzerland. Situated in the corner of a gas station parking lot, the “room” consists of a high-end queen-size bed atop a raised platform, flanked by mounted nightstands. Besides a half-wall behind the bed’s headboard, there are no true walls and no ceiling. Guests can watch customers fill their tanks, listen to the rush of freeway traffic, and be lulled to sleep with the smell of gasoline wafting through the air, all for 325 Swiss francs (roughly $340) a night.

Why would anyone want to rent this hotel room? The whole point is that they wouldn’t. “Rather than a place of rest, this new version aims to keep you awake and offers a place of reflection on current affairs such as the climate, the economy, security, or equality,” the Riklin brothers explain on their website. “In view of the current world situation, there is no time to sleep,” they add.

The duo, who partnered with hotelier Daniel Charbonnier to produce the Anti-Idyllic Suite, encourage individuals, companies, schools, and associations to use the space “to exchange, brainstorm, or create ideas.” Former iterations of the Null Stern Zero Real Estate suites feature the same wall-less rooms but actually are located in picturesque locations.

The Vineyard Suite sits on a small road in a valley of grapevines, with a magical view of a nearby medieval village and the tower of Saillon. The 13,000-foot-tall Bietschorn mountain forms the backdrop for this room.

The Farinet Room is placed on a mystical hill in the same region called Colline Ardente, which also shares a home with the smallest registered vineyard in the world, with just three vines. While it was originally owned by a French actor, it changed hands to Abbé-Pierre, a World War II French resistance fighter and Catholic priest. He in turn gifted it to the Dalaï Lama, who still owns the deed today. This Null Star spot has become something of a pilgrimage spot for global travelers.

The Bayart Suite is named after the 13th-century tower located on the same hill. With the Ardévaz mountain in the background and vistas of the Rhône Valley all around, it’s secluded while still providing amenities within walking distance.

While they’re not four-star hotels (the company website boasts that “the only star is you”), each Zero Real Estate booking comes with “a welcome drink with local organic finger food, breakfast pastry from a local bakery with fresh fruit juice from the region, as well as the service of a Modern Butler.” More importantly, each includes a reservation at the nearby Hôtel des Bains de Saillon in case of bad weather.

The suites, including the Anti-Idyllic Suite, are only open from July to September for that reason. Reservations can be made on their website, although rumor has it that there’s currently a 6,000-person waitlist.

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“From the very first moment we entered it, it was like an enchanted place that was left behind for decades, overgrown with vegetation,” says Almut Grüntuch-Ernst, one-half of the architect duo. “You enter and are struck by this forgotten feeling. You’re inside this romantic, castle-like structure erected at a time when there were no other buildings around it, and all you hear is birdsong.”

Converting the former Charlottenburg Women’s Prison to a hotel that’s more than just a gimmick was no small undertaking. The walls, as you might guess, are incredibly thick, and the architects had to cut through them to enlarge windows and create new doors. The guest rooms couldn’t be limited to the unworkably tiny prison cell size, either, so cells were merged to accommodate comfortable spaces with ensuite bathrooms. “It’s about inverting the building’s configuration and spatial concepts, from an antisocial place to a very social place,” Almut told Design Hotels.

Avoiding any sense of exploitation in the theme was a high priority. The architects carefully considered how to complete the adaptation in a sensitive way, determining which elements from the past should and shouldn’t be left visible. This prison’s history is particularly complex, as German resistance and anti-Nazi activists were held there during World War II. After the war, it was an administrative office for a while, then a juvenile detention center, which closed in 1985. Afterwards, the building was used as a storage facility and a set for several movie productions (including Academy Award-winning The Reader starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes) before finally being transformed into the Wilmina.

The architects used the facade-facing courthouse building for the hotel lobby and built a new extension for Wilmina’s restaurant, which connects the former courthouse to the prison’s U-shaped cell block. The restaurant consists of bricks reclaimed from the construction process. 44 guest rooms are spread across the five levels of the block, arranged on narrow galleries around an atrium. Each one still features bars on the windows and the original cell door, but is clad in minimalist, mostly-white furnishings for an airy feel that’s anything but claustrophobic.

The top level features a penthouse suite, and on the roof is a terrace, library, bar, spa, and gym. Today, with warm amber lights glowing within large glazed openings and lush courtyard gardens, the former prison is surprisingly welcoming, beckoning guests to come inside with open minds.

“Wilmina is a place of discoveries, of surprising visual links, ambiguous layers of space, and traces of the past,” say the architects. “Wilmina is also a place of natural tranquillity, relaxation, and comfort — an oasis in the middle of the city.”

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The latest project from Mexico City architects PALMA is a shining example of how designers are re-envisioning mixed-use spaces. No stranger to innovation, the firm designed “Chiripa” to “see how different users would interact with one another in a hybrid building that’s part house, part hotel.” The result is a spacious yet unassuming space that stuns visually without overpowering the landscape’s natural beauty. Unobstructed views of Mexico’s Bay of Sayulita complement the complex’s white stucco and exposed concrete slabs, while the clean lines and curvy staircases and bridges add a touch of understated luxury to the scene.

The building’s distinct but connected volumes were placed at opposing orientations to allow for an airiness and openness that lets natural light into every nook and cranny while simultaneously creating a separation that allows for privacy within. Two of the four levels are cleverly built into the site and concealed from street-level views, further highlighting the space’s perfect integration into the surrounding landscape.

Comprised of six total units, Chiripa is accessed through a central walkway/entrance hall at the top. A half-circle staircase allows residents to traverse both blocks, while a series of open-air connecting bridges builds on the complex’s airy vibes. Here, the natural surroundings aren’t just a backdrop: they’re part of the space itself, blending seamlessly with the central garden and views of nearby bay.

While the site’s multi-use configuration does overlap in common areas like kitchen and dining spaces, the privacy of the additional rooms cannot be overstated. All in all, it’s an ideal space for both short and long-term residents. Each level also features its own covered terrace that extends from both the common areas and bedrooms. Both structures boast their own rooftop pool and shared terraces that offer panoramic views of the surrounding area.

Hybridity isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a way to create spaces that are multi-use and convey a sense of fluidity in both commercial and residential spheres. With their new complex overlooking Mexico’s Bay of Sayulita, PALMA does exactly that, showing that functionality and style need not be mutually exclusive.

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“I was very impressed by the village. It was quite beautiful,” explains founder and architect Sou Fujimoto. “The weather was mostly cloudy when I visited there, with a bit of misty and foggy air surrounding the entire village.”

The resulting ringed structure “was inspired by the site itself, especially the fog and clouds that diffused over the village,” adds Fujimoto. “They were like buildings floating in the air, or rather, like roofs connecting nature, buildings, and various sceneries around. The continuing terraced fields created an architectural image and made the whole area very dynamic and vivid. Therefore, we proposed a floating canopy just like a cloud, hugging the landscape and being part of it.”

The plan for the officially titled “Fangyukong Cultural & Creative Resort Complex” began with the main building, an open space to be used for exhibitions, conferences, and art galleries. Enclosed with floor-to-ceiling window walls, this structure allows for maximum connection with the surrounding nature but still provides protection from snow and wind. The ceiling is lined with dry, woven grasses, continuing the feeling of symbiosis with the outdoor world.

From the main building, a steel-framed canopy covered in more natural fibers weaves its way in a circle down the multi-terraced complex, with its lowest point shading a glass-enclosed swimming pool and nearly connecting to the adjacent river, adding to the flow of the landscape instead of interrupting it.

“While distinguishing buildings and natural fields, the canopy creates a view just like a huge courtyard facing the sky,” the firm explains. “…We named the project ‘Flowing Cloud’ from the impression of the environment when we first visited the site, but also for the soft shape of the entire canopy.”

In the middle of the pavilion’s loop is an outdoor amphitheater of flower-filled steppes, accessible by stone staircases on either side.

The firm adds: “We look forward to having people come to visit, lingering around the poetic village, walking under the floating canopy, and enjoying the picturesque views of the beautiful nature.”

Hokkaido-native Sou Fujimoto grew up exploring the many mountains and forest of his island, spawning his life-long love of the natural world. He is particularly inspired by cave dwellings, which he says represent “a raw space where function was determined based on human behavior.” A few years after graduating in Architecture from the University of Tokyo, he founded his eponymous architecture firm in 2000, becoming known for his houses with light structures and permeable enclosures that allowed residents to stay in touch with their surroundings.

The firm’s work became well known around Japan, landing them major contracts in Europe including the design of London’s temporary Serpentine Gallery and the redesign of a plot in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. In 2021, Fujimoto earned his master’s degree from l’École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris. In addition to his design work, he lectures regularly at the Universities of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Minato.

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The south Tyrol AEON Hotel was designed by noa* (network of architecture), a firm based in Bolzano, Italy who used this project to highlight the boundaries and connection between old and new worlds.

“The creation of an ambivalent tension between the centuries-old tradition of the rural complex and an exclusively modern statement was the basic principle underlying the design process,” explains designer Christian Rottensteiner on the noa* website.

Instead of one large structure, the architects decided to begin the theme of duality with two separate barn-shaped buildings. The exterior forms pay homage to the 550-year-old farm on which the B&B resides. Gabled roofs and wood siding harvested from the property’s own forest, as well as the family’s old coat of arms from 1464 posted on the entry, highlight the past of the hotel that was formerly the historic Lobishof Inn. Pentagonal floor-to-ceiling windows on every floor provide stunning views of the Merano Alps, Dolomites, and Rittner Horn.

Moving inside, the first building houses the common areas, including a reception desk, bistro, bar, and wellness area. The color contrast is immediately apparent and striking. A deep blue covers the ceiling and top one-third of the walls, while whites and creams comprise the bottom two-thirds and the floor. The hues were chosen specifically to convey a sense of the past and future: “A soft beige – communicates feelings of being grounded, familiar, delicateness – meets a mystical blue that embodies the future, the mysterious, the uncertain,’ the noa* website says.

These tint divisions don’t merely run through the walls, but also cut across furniture and fixtures at the exact same horizontal planes. Only in the wellness area is the color play inverted, with navy on the bottom and white on top, representing the feeling of wading or floating in water.

To enter the second building, a collection of 15 guest suites, there’s no need to enter the outside world again. Instead, the designers created a tunnel between the two structures, ingeniously buried under a manmade hill. Moving through this tunnel is a similarly transportive experience, as the walls are intersected by harsh angles of contrasting blue and white. “Guests are invited to move through and sense this cosmos between polarizing environments,” explains noa* interior designer Patrick Gürtler.

The tone of the B&B shifts in the guest suite barn, where all color divisions become vertical. Rugs, bed, tables, and even lamp shades cannot escape being split by these lines. The Gallery Suite is perhaps the most arresting example of the separated verticality, as it features a two-story-high ceiling and a “living platform” on the roof for cozily gazing into the heavens.

In the end, the architects hope their design will help guests sense the unseen bonds around them. “Boundaries – between past and future, between dream and reality, between inside and outside: noa* makes the invisible lines visible, which become part of the full picture and, above all, instead of a separation, a connection between two worlds.”

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The lifelong dream of Australian developer Doug Tarca and his son Peter, the hotel blew past its budget during construction by a Singapore-based company, ultimately costing in excess of $40 million. Tough environmental regulations required expensive upgrades like non-toxic paint on the hull, on-site sewage and liquid waste treatment, and solid waste incineration. Once the hotel was finally complete, it was towed from Singapore to a prime location off the coast of Townsville, with views of the John Brewer Reef. Before it even had a chance to open, it was struck by a cyclone, which damaged the swimming pool and delayed opening for two months. That meant missing Australia’s prime tourist season, which should have brought a lot of revenue.

In March 1988, the hotel welcomed its first guests ferried 43 miles from shore in water taxies, but boat after boat of them arrived seasick due to rough waters. Unpredictable weather meant guests might be unable to access the hotel at all, or stranded aboard until conditions calmed. A fire aboard one of the water taxies added to growing marketing headaches. It wasn’t long before the hotel was financially underwater, albeit still physically afloat.

In 1989, the hotel was sold to new owners and relocated 3,100 miles to the Saigon River in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, operating as the Saigon Floating Hotel until 1997. Locals, who flocked to its two nightclubs, called it “The Floater.” Tucked up against the dock beside the famous Tran Hung Dao Statue, it wasn’t exactly living out Tarca’s dream on the open seas, but it did well enough for a while. Eventually, however, it ran into more financial problems. The hotel was sold to yet another buyer, who transferred it to the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region of North Korea, right on the border with South Korea.

Opening in 1998, during a time when hopes were high for reconciliation between the two nations, the floating hotel became known as the Sea Kumgang Hotel, or Hotel Haegumgang. It enjoyed another decade of relative success until July 2008, when a North Korean soldier accidentally shot and killed a South Korean woman after she wandered into the restricted zone between the two Koreas. Tours to the tourist region were suspended, and the hotel languished. It has remained in place ever since. Current photos of the ship’s condition are rare, but it can be glimpsed from above on Google Maps.

A recent visit from King Jong-Un decided the hotel’s fate. The North Korean leader was said to be disgusted by its “backward” and “shabby” facilities, and ordered it to be demolished, along with many other structures in the area. It’s unclear exactly when that will happen, but one thing’s for sure: it’ll be a sad ending for such a unique attraction.

The post Australia’s Five-Star Floating Hotel Faces Demolition in North Korea first appeared on Dornob.

“Every year, huge amounts of isothermal refrigerated semi-trailers withdrawn from the market are imported to our country,” says architecture firm Znamy Sie. “Poland is thus becoming a cemetery for these disused trucks. Our project, prepared in cooperation with Good Spot, involves upcycling, i.e. increasing the value of the material and changing the purpose of cold storage to hotel rooms. By renovating the trailer, we give it a second life!”

The founders of Good Spot hired Znamy Sie to realize their vision. “The idea was born during a kitesurfing trip to Hel, where the key is to follow a good wind,” they explain. “What if the hotel room could move around? What if it could stay in places offering the best conditions and closeness to nature?” Thus, the first mobile hotel chain in Poland was born.

Each portable camper unit began as an abandoned, rusted-out trailer in need of some love. And while shipping containers have thin steel walls, requiring a lot of modification to be comfortable in hot and cold weather, these trailers already had well insulated shells. The architects were able to preserve a surprising amount of finished interior space (about 100 square feet) after cladding the interior walls and adding custom-built wood furniture, including storage, benches, kitchen counters, and a bed platform.

Spacious windows in the living and sleeping areas let in lots of natural light, which bounces off the bright white walls and makes the interiors feel larger than they are. The units offer not just one, but two sleeping areas, one at either end of the trailer. At the center of each one is a bathroom painted bright blue offering a toilet and a large rain shower. A metal gangway leads up to the entrance and doubles as a terrace outside. And of course, the exterior is wrapped in stainless steel sheeting to give it the feel of a more angular classic Airstream trailer.

Currently, only one unit is fully complete, but you can reserve it now on the Good Spot website. Three additional units are currently under construction and expected to be made available soon. Each unit will have a slightly different design and can be moved around Poland to tourist areas that don’t typically have comfortable accommodations. The design aims to “blend with nature without disturbing the landscape – it does not overwhelm with its form and does not compete with the surroundings.”

Good Spot founders Przemysław Kwiatkowski, Paweł Kołtunowicz, and Roman Sokołowski, who run the Hotel Service 24 company, came up with the idea before the coronavirus pandemic, but now say mobile lodging is the way to go in any circumstances. Ideal for vacations, the Good Spot trailers could also be rented by people who work remotely so they can enjoy quiet surroundings in nature and even host small meetings.

The team explains that they “change the former cold stores into three-star hotel rooms. We renovate the entire trailer with a running gear. We renew its technical elements, strengthen the entire structure, and arm its chassis. Thanks to this, each room is reborn and can travel thousands of kilometers on the road. By combining the comfort of hotels with mobility, we shorten the distance to nature as much as possible.”

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“The design concept starts with the radical difference between the rural and urban interpersonal networks,” explains the Macau-based Studio A()VOID team, adding that it “reinterprets the native cave dwellings of the site as vertical ‘grottos’.” The 23-foot-tall huts are laid out irregularly on a 13-by-19-foot grid, each calculated on the length-to-width ratio of the original cave structures.

Composed of double-layered gray brick, the buildings curve organically into gentle rectangles. Individual bricks protrude asymmetrically along the outsides, too, marking the levels where scaffolding was used in the construction process.

Each pod is topped by a giant skylight, and together with the uber-tall ceilings, they encourage visitors to appreciate the verticality of the space. The access to natural light all day long also recalls the agricultural roots of Xiyaotou village. The studio says it “contextualizes residents to rurality’s rhythm of ‘working from dawn to dusk” and “exposes their sensitivity to the sun’s trajectory.”

In the winter, the double-thick walls use those sunrays to help warm the grottos from the average outside temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit. When it gets hotter in the summer, heat can escape through the pods’ strategically-placed windows, and through the chimney effect of each unit’s elongated geometry. The windows and doors of each cave structure are composed of pre-weathered steel that pushes out from the brick facade. Individual units are connected on the second story by a raised wooden walkway.

“By flowing the bridge of connectivity in between the private grottos, the design attempts to realize a community in which public and private coexist,” the studio explains, adding that “it serves as the keynote for the layout of the corridor structure and supports the new building complex in a spiritual sense.”

The bridge is held up by pine columns and snakes in between each dwelling to provide a link to all the units. The elevated sidewalk also gives walkers a birds’ eye view of the surrounding landscape, including a dense grove of trees, a nearby shoreline, and the “aboriginal architecture of Yu County.” The empty spaces below the boardwalk are designed to provide room for hosting workshops, exhibitions, and even markets.

The grotto sanctuary, completed this year under the direction of lead architect Yun Hon, was created as part of a larger Chinese initiative to rejuvenate rural “hollow” villages across the country like Xiyaotou, most of which have seen conditions deteriorate as residents have migrated to newer areas. The idea is to transform abandoned communities into destination places for tourists, with unique accommodations, local cuisines, and fun activities. Grotto Retreat Xiyaotou’s compilation of clustered units was designed to be flexible to these types of future needs and more.

Studio A( )VOID characterizes itself as a design group that “celebrates the emptiness and possibilities of a void.” They “design to allow capacities for randomness and surprises in different aspects of a project, so involved parties are encouraged to participate in this controlled mayhem.”

The post Chinese Retreat Designed to Mimic Ancient Cave Dwellings first appeared on Dornob.

Since then, the city has flourished, and today, it draws nearly half a million travelers every year. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Sassi have become comfortable residences, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, and spas. One of the newest businesses beckoning tourists inside is the Aquatio Cave Luxury Hotel & Spa by architecture firm Simone Micheli, which occupies 5,000 square feet within an area called Sasso Caveoso.

As the Smithsonian notes, the locals here still “cheerfully refer to themselves” as troglodytes, a word that literally means “cave dwellers.” But the caves don’t exactly look prehistoric anymore. Once lacking even the most basic hygienic standards, they’re now beautifully lit, packed with contemporary artwork, designer furniture, flat-screen televisions, and all the other modern amenities you’d expect from high-end hotels anywhere in the world. That’s certainly true at the Aquatio, where smooth new limestone bricks merge seamlessly into the raw cave walls, now cleaned of lichen and brightened up to their original pale color.

The architects took inspiration from the powerful force that shaped the caves in the first place: a single drop of water. Honored near the main entrance with a drop-shaped bronze sculpture by Kengiro Azuma, the water drop “summarizes in its simplicity the meaning of life through the metaphor of the water cycle,” says Micheli.

The lower entrance leads into a reception area, restaurant, breakfast room, meeting room, and wellness center in two large open spaces that were once part of a neighborhood. The arches, tunnels, ceilings, and walls are illuminated from below to create a soft glow that Micheli calls “scenographic effects.” Even the old wells and cisterns around which the ancient occupants gathered have been restored so the guests of the hotel and spa can enjoy them.

“’Creating emotions is the concept that animated the entire design process,” says Micheli. “The wellness center is the space where this motto is best expressed, in fact it is a suggestive place and occupies the deepest heart of the structure, recovering hypogeal rooms dating back to the ninth century. The restaurant room is a flexible, intercommunicating space with the breakfast room and the meeting area. Its capacity varies according to the occasions, making itself available to contingent events and needs.”

“The rooms mainly present in the upper part of the structure…enjoy breathtaking views of the Caveoso cliff and the ancient city, [while others are] hidden inside the womb of the earth, with only a door to indicate their presence as the ancient shelters of the men of the Neolithic settlements on the Murgia.”

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