10 unique underground hotels from around the world

by Jessica Festa on

While staying above ground has its perks, it’s always fun to try something a little out of the ordinary. On your next trip, why not try staying in one of these unique hotels located underground? You’ll get privacy, a unique experience, and won’t have to worry about the sun waking you up too early on your vacation.

Sala Silvermine
Sala, Sweden

The Sala Silvermine is an actual mine that allows visitors to stay in a Mine Suite, the “world’s deepest hotel room”. The room is about 508 feet below the Earth’s surface, next to underground galleries and caverns. Guests will receive a guided tour of the mine, which was well-known for its silver, lead, and zinc content, as well as a basket of goodies including cheese, fruits, chocolate, biscuits, and sparkling wine. While beautiful and peaceful, just make sure to dress warm as it is only 35.6 degrees Farenheit in the mine all year round and 64.4 degrees Farenheit in the room itself.Desert Cave Hotel
Coober Pedy, South Australia

Since 1915, people have flocked to Coober Pedy in the Outback in search of the precious opals the town is known for. They have also gone to explore the underground dwellings of the area, as many locals live in “dugouts” to keep cool. The 4-star Desert Cave Hotel officially opened in 1988 as a way to help people experience the underground way of life. While there are 50 rooms available, 19 are underground. All contain modern luxuries like color television, Wi-Fi, and free in-house movies. And those living below the Earth won’t feel too disconnected from the world, as there is also an underground shopping arcade that features an extensive range of opals and opal jewelery.

Kelebek Cave Hotel
Cappadocia, Turkey

Located right in the center of Goreme’s historic village, the Kelebek Cave Hotel allows guests to stay in spacious underground cave dwellings as well as fairy chimneys formed from volcanic activity. The rooms are surprisingly comfortable and cozy, with a fireplace and a traditional Turkish breakfast. If you want a better idea of what the property looks like inside and out, they offer a comprehensive virtual tour on their website.

Woodlyn Park
Waitomo, New Zealand

Lord of the Rings fans will love this hobbit-inspired accommodation. Woodlyn Park includes 4 types of motels, including a plane motel, train motel, boat motel, and the underground hobbit motels that have circular windows poking up out of the ground. The rooms include a kitchen, bathroom, furnishings, and decor. While this is by no means a luxury hotel, it is a fun and unique accommodation option.

La Claustra
Airolo, Switzerland

La Claustra was once a hidden military fort housed inside the St. Gotthard Mountain. In 1999, the Swiss army gave up the space, giving arist Jean Odermatt an idea for a unique modern accommodation that is embedded deep into mountain rock. This 4-star property also offers, innovative and organic cuisine, a steam grotto, and activities and events upon request.

Les Hautes Roches
Rochecorbon, France

Les Hautes Roches is located in the Loire Valley and was formerly the living quarters of the nearby Abbey of Marmoutier monks who sought refuge during the wars of religion. After being abandoned for 15 years, these caves and adjoining 17th century pavilion were renovated by hotel owner Philippe Mollard into a luxury Troglodytic hotel. Guests sleep in rooms sculpted from tufa rock and housed inside the center of cliffs. Fun fact: Tufa rock has a velvet-like appearance and is also known to promote health and well-being.

Beckham Creek Cave Lodge
Parthenon, Arkansas

The Beckham Creek Cave Lodge is a serene and secluded underground property with modern technology and luxurious amenities. Relax in the below-ground jacuzzis, watch movies on a flat sceen television, or just enjoy the elegantly furnished room and high-tech stainless steel kitchen. While you will be sleeping below the Earth, you will be able to immerse yourself in nature above ground with horseback riding and hiking through the Ozark countryside.

Cuevas Pedro Antonio de Alarcón
Guadix, Spain

The Cuevas Pedro Antonio de Alarcón is a pre-historic cave hotel near Granada that has been amended into chalet accommodations. Carved into the clay hillside, the individual chalets feature modern living facilities inside whitewashed caves that give guests the chance to “experience the authentic lifestyle of accitanos”. There are 23 fully-equipped caves to choose from, as well as a pool, restaurant, meeting room, reception, and laundry facility.

Kokopelli’s Cave Bed & Breakfast
Farmington, New Mexico

Kokopelli’s Cave Bed & Breakfast is a cave accommodation that has been blasted out of mountain rock. The property is a 1,650 square foot, one-bedroom cave hotel that sits 280 feet above the La Plata River and is made from sandstone that is 65 million years old. Luxury and comfort is part of a stay in this private and secluded cave, with plush carpeting, a hot tub, hot waterfall shower, kitchen, washer and dryer, and Southwestern-themed decor.

Null Stern Hotel
To be determined

The first Null Stern Hotel opened in Teufen, Switzerland, but closed down on June 4, 2010, exactly one year after opening. The closing came not because of an unsuccessful establishment, but due to an overwhelming amount of positive guest feedback asking for more properties. A former Swiss Nuclear bunker, the aim of the underground property was to give the unused space a second life while providing guests with an affordable accommodation.

For the time being, the founders of the hotel are dedicating their energy on an expansion strategy and opening a Null Stern Hotel property that is even bigger and better than before. However, because negotiations are still in progress, the exact location cannot be disclosed. The original hotel is currently open as a museum, giving visitors guided tours that introduce them to property features like the wheel of fate, the second check in, and the virtual window.

Ten things adventure travel has taught me

by Sean McLachlan on


The adventure travel bug bit me early, back when I was twenty years old. That was, I shudder to say, more than half my life ago. In that time I’ve been to many places generally considered dangerous–Somaliland, Syria, Iran–yet I’ve come through just fine and made lots of great friendships on the road. I’ve learned some things too. Here are ten things you might want to remember when you go on your own adventure trip.

1. Always shake out your boots before putting them on.

2. Never trust a fat man in a thin country.

3. The more obscure the language, the more people will appreciate you trying to learn it.

4. If you’re a First Worlder visiting the Third World, it doesn’t matter what your social status is back home, here you are rich and everyone knows it.

5. You are far more adaptable than you think.

6. Being there doesn’t make you special. How you handle yourself determines that.

7. Treat the old with respect, the young with affection, and everyone as an equal, and any culture worth visiting will welcome you.

8. You are not a member of the tribe and never will be. That’s not an insult, simply a fact.

9. You can’t fix all the world’s problems, but there are many little things you can do to push it in the right direction.

. . .and most important of all. . .

10. No matter what country you’re in, the majority of people are decent. Many folks who have never been anywhere believe this, and that speaks well of them, but the only way to really know it’s true is to go and check.

I have, and it is.

Six new Virginia tourist attractions to visit in 2012

by Libby Zay on
Demonstrations by skilled artisans, Civil War attractions, an amazing new treehouse, and a historic home that will make you feel (or at least sing) “crazy;” visitors to Virginia in 2012 will find several new vacation experiences. Throughout the next year, here are some of the new reasons to travel to the state.

Heartwood
Abingdon, Virginia
Billed as “Southwest Virginia’s Artisan Gateway,” this new facility adjacent to I-81 is home to regional artisans working in music, crafts, food and wine. There are also galleries and interactive exhibits, a shop, restaurant, and coffee/wine bar.
Winchester, Virginia
If Patsy Cline makes you “fall to pieces,” then this new historical site is worth the trip. The modest white house that the music legend lived in from ages 16 to 21 is now open to the public. Furnished with period pieces and some originals, it has been revamped to look almost exactly as it did when Patsy Cline lived there. Guided tours are available for those who want to know all the details on where Patsy Cline lived while beginning her music career.
Hampton, Virginia
After more than 150 years as an army post, the largest stone fort ever built in the United States officially became part of the National Park System on November 1, 2011. Nicknamed “Freedom’s Fortress,” the fort provided a safe haven for hundreds or runaway slaves during the Civil War. In 2012, walking tours of the fort will be available during the summer.

Appomatox, Virginia
The buzz surrounding the 150th anniversary of the Civil War brought new opportunities for the Museum and White House of the Confederacy in Richmond, which will expand its presence with a secon facility in Appomattox set to open in Spring 2012. The $7.5 million museum will focus on the end of the Civil War, the surender at Appomattox, and the reunification of the country.

Williamsburg, Virginia
Known simply as “the Pottery,” Williamsburg Pottery has been a shopping destination since 1938. This April, the site will be reborn with a half-mile of new buildings–including a new cafe, restaurant, and bakery.

Meadows of Dan, Virginia
One of the world’s top treehouse architectural firms has designed a new, unique lodging experience at Primland Resort. Built on the boughs of one of the resort’s oldest and most beautiful red cedar trees (without the intrusion of a single nail), the treehouse overlooks the Dan River Gorge. Inside is a king bed, enormous deck, and other luxurious amentities.
The state will also host several new exhibits, including welcoming the Space Shuttle Discovery at the National Air & Space Museum in Chantilly and hosting a show of Andy Warhol Portraits at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach.

Signs indicating locations of rhinos being removed from Kruger National Park

by Kraig Becker on

In an attempt to thwart the efforts of illegal rhino poachers in South Africa, wildlife officials at Kruger National Park have announced that they will no longer employ the use of signs that indicated where the animals can be found. Previously, safari guides and camp leaders used maps and colored pins to mark the location of recently spotted animals so that tourists could get the opportunity to see the endangered creatures in the wild. Officials now believe that those same signs were being used by poachers to track the animals as well.

As we’ve mentioned before on Gadling, rhinos are becoming increasingly rare throughout Africa, and have been recently declared extinct in some parts of the continent. Poachers seek out the animals to obtain their distinct horns, which are then sold on the black market in Asia, where they are used in traditional medicines. Because of their demand in that part of the world, rhino horns can now be valued at as much as $100,000, which has spurred a string of robberies from museums in Europe recently as well.

South Africa has done its best to crack down on the poachers by imposing stiffer jail sentences and sending more anti-poaching units into the field. Despite those efforts however, the problem continues to get worse. As of last week, 405 rhinos had been killed in the country this year alone, up from 333 last year. Of those, 229 were killed in Kruger, which is amongst the top safari destinations in all of Africa.

Without the signs to guide the way, tourists will just have to keep their eyes peeled in order to spot a rhino, which can be rather elusive in their natural habitat. Still, I don’t think anyone will argue against doing away with the signs if it means we can make the poacher’s job just a little bit more challenging.

[Photo Credit: Ikiwaner via WikiMedia]

Video of the day: Seanna Sharpe performs illegal acrobatics show over Williamsburg Bridge

by Elizabeth Seward on

Aerialist Seanna Sharpe 285 Feet Over The Williamsburg Bridge from Ronen V on Vimeo.

Aerialist Seanna Sharpe took a few chances when she climbed the Williamsburg Bridge in July 2011 to perform an illegal acrobatic show for pedestrians beneath. She risked her life, we’d probably all agree, while flailing from the bridge’s beams 285 feet up connected to a white sheet by only her own acrobatic skills. She also risked getting arrested by NYPD officers and, as it turned out, she did get arrested. But the show she put on was spectacular and reason enough for dozens upon dozens of New Yorkers to halt their moving feet on their trek across the Williamsburg Bridge that day. Seanna Sharpe moved beautifully through the air that day in New York and the above video is a compilation video featuring footage captured by several onlookers. Is this the kind of “street performance” you’d stop to watch? I certainly would.