We've gathered together six of the world's most unusual hotels in this handpicked selection of weird, wonderful and unforgettable places to spend a night. From a shell house in Mexico to suspended globes in Canada and jail cells in Switzerland, we've featured something for all tastes and all budgets - whether you're looking for inexpensive, mid-priced or to blow the budget.
Jailhouse Lowengraben
Guests from around the globe visit Lucerne in Switzerland for a highly unusual experience, a voluntary stay in the prison. Until 1998 this impenetrable grey building housed up to 55 prisoners, but now the cells have been refurbished to create a hotel. The previous incarnation of Lowengraben is still clear; from the receptionist dressed in a striped convict's uniform, to the display cases filled with prison paraphernalia and stories of former occupants inscribed on each cell's wall. But new comforts have also been installed - parquet floors, en suite bathrooms and a bar - to make this a distinctly different prison stay.
Les Roulottes
Nestled deep in the Beaujolais you'll find a most unusual type of accommodation. One of three retired gypsy wagons - standing in a luscious meadow, surrounded by brimming apple trees - serves as your hotel room. These wagons have been restored with great attention to detail; from the renovated wood-burning stove and velvet furnishings to the yellowing photos of the original inhabitants on the walls. If your childhood dream was to run away and join the circus then, for a few days, you can live out that fantasy in the unusual surroundings of Les Roulottes.
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Dog Park Bark Inn
In Cottonwood, a small town in Idaho, a giant dog stands at a crossroads. Standing at 10m high, "Sweet Willie" is the largest beagle in the world and the exterior of the Dog Bark Park Inn. Willie is unlike anything you'll have ever seen before: inside his belly there is a double bed, small kitchenette and dining area with a view out of his eyes, whilst the bathroom is housed in his rear. The unusual furnishings - such as bedside mutt mat, carved doggie bed head and "Dog-opoly" - mean that those without a sense of fun may want to skip this hotel.
The Capsule Hotel
At around 13ft in diameter, the two reclaimed orange pods that comprise The Capsule Hotel couldn't exactly be called spacious, but that's not the point of this unconventional accommodation. It's all about "refunctioning" - converting something thought of as rubbish into something useful. In line with this, the interior has barely been changed; you'll find original instructions on the walls and a fisherman's net passing itself off as a hammock bed. If you're after comfort, this isn't the hotel for you, but bobbing up and down on The Hague, these former oil rig escape capsules offer a unusual getaway from the commotion of city life.
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The Pineapple
Close to the Scottish village of Airth, stands a fantastic architectural prank. Between two wings of a spectacular summerhouse, an enormous 50ft pineapple rises from the ground. Built in the 18th-century, when pineapples were a rare delicacy, the house served as something of a mock status symbol. Nowadays, the Pineapple is eccentric and playful and flaunts a certain pompous elegance; it is a masterpiece of design and a thoroughly unusual hotel.
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Propeller Island City Lodge
On an inconspicuous side street in Berlin is the city's most eccentric hotel. A "habitable work of art", Propeller Island City Lodge is 27 of the most unusual rooms ever to have been slept in. Each space is unique; from the Symbol room, to the Crypt, to the Castle room. Springy floors, furniture suspended from ceilings, a flying bed - you can be sure that your neighbour's room will be so different to yours that you'll have an excuse to come back to Propeller again and again to test every single one.
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Free Spirit Spheres
Suspended in mid-air between the trees in rugged Vancouver Island, Canada, you'll find two huge globes; also known as the Free Spirit Spheres hotel. It's hard to imagine that lurking inside each is a cosy living area, like an enclosed nest or cocoon. It's wonderfully relaxing to lie in bed and watch the dark night sky through the window in the ceiling, as the globe sways slightly with the wind. Life in the treetops is an unusual release from the hustle and bustle of life on the ground below.
Chalkey Treehouse
High up in the branches of an old Leadwood tree perches your bed for the night; an open, roofless treehouse. Dominated by an enormous four-poster bed, the view from this elevation of the surrounding bush and all its creatures is priceless. Left alone in the wilderness, you'll have the unusual opportunity to spy on the animals from above, before turning in for a night's sleep beneath the stars. A stay in this secure bush bedroom is a memory that will last forever.
Casa Caracol
On the small Caribbean Island of Isla Mujeres, a most unusual tourist attraction springs from the ground - two giant seashell houses. Shining so white they nearly hurt your eyes; the giant shells - one tall and upright, one short and squat - were inspired by Mother Nature's original designs. And inside, from the real seashell "taps" to the giant clam shell washbasins and shell mirrors, this homage to nature provides a luxurious, unusual hotel.
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Icehotel
Just north of the Arctic Circle, on the banks of the River Torne, stands a hotel made entirely of ice - the walls, the floors, the light fittings, the furniture, even the beds! Built with ice from the river, from a new group of artist's designs every year since 1990, each incarnation of the hotel is unusual and different. But the Icehotel is transient, only lasting until the spring when it begins to melt, returning what was borrowed back to the Torne.
For more on these and other unusual hotels, plus ideas for interesting and unusual activities to do nearby, check out Bed in a Tree.
