World's weirdest hotel rooms

Sure, everyone loves the opulent luxury of a stay at The Four Seasons. Or, the opposite, equally soothing effect of sleeping in tent under the stars. But when you want to get a little weird, there are hotel rooms around the world geared towards the strange and downright bizarre. Some cater to a curiosity for the occult, while others top out the trappings. Whether you want to sleep suspended from a tree or drink Merlot five floors below the ground, these hotels have a special room just for you.

1. The Mine Suite at the Sala Silvermine Vdstmanland County, Sweden

For that inner spelunker in all of us, the kind folks at the Sala Silvermine created a romantic getaway 500 feet beneath the Earth’s surface. The deluxe underground cavern is appointed with opulent familiars, including a king-sized bed, plush duvets, the soothing glow of candles and complimentary platter of wine and cheese. The worldly comforts stop there, however. The rest of the décor inside walls, ceiling and floor, consists of the cavern’s solid, stark, black rock. Temperatures hover at a consistent 38 degrees this far below the ground a perfect way to ensure that complimentary wine and cheese remains cool. An intercom radio allows for communication, should you need to request fresh linens, more champagne, or immediate evacuation upon realizing you suddenly suffer from claustrophobia.
Bonus: It’s handicapped accessible.
Approximate Cost: $560 per night

2. The Panic Room at Au Vieux Panier Marseille, France

Want to sleep in the Panic Room? Book now. It’s only here for the remainder of 2012. At this boutique hotel, each room is awarded to a new artist to decorate annually. The Panic Room is the creation of legendary French graffiti artist Tilt. One half of the room is covered in every neon paint color imaginable, resulting in a unified-yet-chaotic canvas of Tilt’s urban art. The other half remains stark white, with the separating line cleaving the most of the furnishings in half. Tilt’s internationally acclaimed style began in 1988 as a youth tagging subway cars and skateboard ramps and grew into a respected art form that’s now recognized worldwide.
Bonus: Each room may be designed by a modern artist, but they all exist within the walls of a 17th century townhome.
Approximate Cost: $170/night

3. The Melody Sphere at Free Spirit Spheres Vancouver Island, Canada

Builder and creator Tom Chudleigh used the properties of sailboat construction as a design model for his orb-shaped hotel rooms that hang suspended from wires in the trees of Vancouver’s rainforest. The Melody Sphere, which is separated and solo in a grove of cedar and spruce trees, is made from an exterior of yellow fiberglass. One must traverse a short suspension bridge and then wind up stairs curving around the trunk of a tree to access it. The outside is decorated with painted birds and musical chords, and the interior is made from black walnut with a fold-down Murphy bed, a small sink, speakers for playing music, five windows and a sky light.
Bonus: When the wind blows, you are gently rocked to sleep.
Approximate Cost: $225/night

4. The Hardwood Suite, at The Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada

It’s two floors. It’s 10,000 square feet. Best of all, should you organize a midnight pick-up game, you can play it only steps away from your bed on the suite’s indoor basketball court. This Palms “baller” suite comes complete with scoreboard and fully outfitted locker room. Other luxuries include a six-seat wet bar, a lounge with a dance floor, a pool table, 24-hour butler service and multiple LCD plasma TVs.
Bonus: It might sleep six, but the suite’s capacity is large enough to accommodate a party for you and 349 of your closest friends.
Approximate Cost: $25,000/night

5. The Dog Bark Inn, Cottonwood, Idaho

Artists Dennis Sullivan and Frances Conklin have a soft spot for canines and carving. Combined, those passions were the impetus for this artistic couple to construct a giant wooden beagle just outside the town of Cottonwood, Idaho. Population: 944. The hollow beagle-shaped hotel room stands 30 feet tall, 12 feet wide and 36 feet long, and can sleep four adults in Americana-styled comfort. Additionally, small children can easily sleep in the reading nook, located in the hound’s nose. There’s homemade granola for breakfast, but no kitchen. We suppose in giant wooden dog hotel, fire poses a bit of a risk.
Bonus: There is a full bathroom inside, however. Located just beneath the tail.
Approximate Cost: $92/night

6. The Mirror Cube at the Treehotel, Harads, Sweden

Want to literally disappear for a while? Spend a night in this completely mirrored cube, balanced in the trees of northern Sweden. The reflective surfaces of the cube show only limbs and leaves and sky, making it nearly invisible to the human eye. Infrared film panels allow birds to see and navigate around the cube, however. Swedish design aesthetic applies inside the 12x12x12 foot cube, where, once you climb a flight of suspension stairs, you alight to bleached, calming birch wood surfaces that extend from the floor to the bed frame to the walls. A bathroom, small sitting lounge and a rooftop terrace round out the amenities.
Bonus: There are five unique tree structures to choose from, including a giant bird’s nest and a UFO structure. Brand new options are scheduled to unveil in 2012.
Approximate Cost: $550/night

7. The Passion Room at Fallen Angel, Cusco, Peru

Inside Fallen Angel, the motto is: “To teach people to enjoy the banal pleasures of life.” Guests at this restaurant/hotel experience a complete emersion in art from floor-to-ceiling, with garish hues, lazily rotating disco balls, and stunning sculpture. There’s whimsy in touches like the dining tables – giant bathtubs filled with live goldfish and topped with glass – and splashes of the slightly erotic in the animal-print duvets on the brass beds that serve as seating. Ascend a short flight of stairs and sleep in the Passion Room, an ostentatiously appointed suite washed in a red light, with a menagerie of eclectic art. The back wall is inspired by Inka architecture, your clothes hide in a Chinese armoire inlaid with semi-precious stones and everything you do in the bathroom is clearly visible through a giant panel of glass.
Bonus: If you stay a few days, you’re likely to witness or participate in one of Fallen Angel’s wild theme parties.
Approximate Cost: $300/night

8. The Tush-Hog House at Tallahatchie Flats, Greenwood, Mississippi

What looks to be a leftover set design from Oh Brother Where Art Thou is actually Tallahatchie Flats – a collection of single-family, rural 1920’s shacks. Grammy-award-winning record producer and co-owner Steve LaVere purchased the decaying buildings from families around the county and relocated all seven to an empty plot of land in the river delta. The “Tush-Hog House” was acquired from a farm west of Tallahatchie Flats, in the town where Blues legend Robert Johnson met his painful demise after being poisoned with strychnine in a bar. The singer died in the home of his friend, Tush Hog. Hog’s original home is long gone, but this tarpaper shack bearing his name offers a glimpse into Depression Era rural living quarters. The three-room house is outfitted with battered antiques from the ‘30s and ‘40s, a small kitchen with appliances and sleeps five.
Bonus: After sunset, the only sounds you’ll hear are crickets and the soft thump of moths against the bare bulb hanging on the peeling front porch.
Approximate Cost: $80/night

9. The John Morse Room at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast/Museum, Fall River, Massachusetts

“I’m convinced this place is haunted after working here for eight years,” says General Manager Lee-Ann Wilber. “Things happen in the John Morse room in particular, and we’ve definitely had guests leave in the middle of the night.” Inside of the room where many believe that Lizzie Borden murdered her mother with an axe, you can lounge on the antique bed or peruse the black-and-white crime scene photos that decorate the walls. The room is named for Lizzie Borden’s uncle, who stayed in there the night before the murders, and the entire house has been refurbished in period furniture from the late 1800s.
Bonus: The nightly rate of their most popular room comes with a free, guided tour of the home and a complimentary breakfast of the same meal Lizzie was served on the morning of the murders.
Approximate Cost: $250/night

10. The Champagne Tower by Cleopatra at Cove Haven Resort, Lakeville, Pennsylvania

Nothing says “get weird” quite like taking a bubble bath in an elevated bathtub shaped like a Champagne glass. After lounging in the 7-foot-tall cocktail glass, guests can sprawl on an oversized, circular bed beside an indoor working fireplace or swim in the, private heart-shaped pool. Romance and kitsch continues throughout the suite’s four levels, extending from the mirrors on the bedroom ceiling to the Egyptian-themed murals on the walls.
Bonus: There’s a dry sauna. But we aren’t really sure why.
Approximate Cost: $450/night