Sleep on a bed made of hay at a German heuhotel

by Katie Hammel on

It seems hay is not just for horses – it’s also for sleeping on at hotels in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Heuhotels (heu means hay in German) are hotels housed in converted barns where guests bed down in sleeping bags in dorm rooms with layers of hay covering the floor.

The heuhotel Zum Alten Marstall, located near the Neckar Valley in Germany, sits at the foot of an 11th century castle and takes the medieval theme and runs with it. The hay beds are referred to as “knight’s lairs” and staff dress in medieval clothes. Hay beds start at €19,50, while private rooms are €31 per person.

While other hay hotels around the area may not have a theme, they do offer extras like privacy curtains or “rooms” in converted stalls, and most seem to offer a communal breakfast and outdoor activities. It seems like the hotels would appeal most to budget travelers, families with young kids, or eco-conscious travelers, but one heuhotel owner claims the hay beds are also popular with couples, saying “there’s nothing more exciting than a night on the hay”….except perhaps a roll in the hay?

Check out a list of heuhotels all around Germany here. Or click here to see some unusual hotels in the United States.

[via CNN]

The world’s oddest airport names

by Katie Hammel on

I once took a flight from Batman Airport, had a layover at Useless Loop and then landed at Monkey Mia. Okay, I didn’t. But I could have flown in or out of those and several other airports with equally odd names. Batman is located in Turkey, and Useless Loop and Monkey Mia serve Western Australia.

Skyscanner has put together a list of some of the strangest airport names in the world, including these. On the titillating side, there’s Brest Airport in France and Ogle Airport in Guyana, while Asbestos Hill Airport in Canada and Mafia Airport in Tanzania are on the “airports you might not want to fly into” list. But at least neither of those sound as scary as Danger Bay Airport.

There are airports named for animals: Canada is home to Squirrel Cove, Muskrat Dam and Goose Bay Airports while the US has Chicken, Fox and Duck Airports. Then there are the ones that just sound silly: Wee Waa, Wagga Wagga, and Woodie Woodie Airports are all in Australia and Flin Flon and Kar Kar serve Papau New Guinea.

The site also lists some funny airport codes like BUM (Butler Airport), PEE (Perm Airport), and SEX (Sembach Airport).

Check out the full list of strange and silly airport names here.

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$19 hotel room, bed not included

by Katie Hammel on

For $19, I wouldn’t expect much out of my hotel room. But a bed, lights and toilet paper are among the things I would consider to be basic necessities at any price. That’s not the case at the Rancho Bernardo Inn, where guests can elect to have different features of their hotel room removed in order to decrease the price.

The “Survivor Package” starts at $219 for deluxe accommodations and breakfast for two. Take out the breakfast and the price goes down to $199. Take out the AC or heat and you’re looking at $159. The removal of pillows, sheets, lights, linens, and toiletries decreases the price incrementally to just $39. Then things really get interesting. For $19, the resort will remove the bed and replace it with a tent. Basically, you’re paying for an indoor campsite.

The hotel’s manager says he wanted to do “something different” for a promotion. This gives guests on a budget a cheap, and memorable, way to enjoy the resort, which is set on 20,000 acres in San Diego. There’s a a golf course, three pools, three restaurants, and a spa that was named as the best by Conde Nast in 2008.

The deal has already been quite popular, with over 50 people making reservations for the $19 rooms. The promotion will run from August 16 to 31.

[via CNN]

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Visit 14 unusual animals around the world

by Katie Hammel on

Because howler monkeys and koala bears are just so passe, Budget Travel has come up with a list of 14 crazy-looking and odd animals that you can visit in their natural habitats.

There’s the hooked-nose proboscis monkey of Borneo, the google-eyed tarsier from the Philippines, and the Tasmanian echidna, which has a pouch like a marsupial, quills like a porcupine and the long sticky tongue of an anteater.

Some definitely got the cheated in the beauty department, like the female gelada baboon (found in Ethiopia), whose chest turns bright red as her hormone levels rise, and the Victoria crowned pigeon (from New Guinea) that looks like it’s having a permanent bad hair day.

But some of them are so odd they’re actually cute. The hairless naked mole rat (found in East Africa) is almost completely blind and, with its chubby body and big buck teeth, totally adorable. The aye-aye, a caffeinated-looking lemur with independently rotating ears, is found in Madagascar – and is it just me, or does it kind of look like Dobby from Harry Potter?

If you can’t make it to see the animals in their homelands, you can still view many of them at zoos around the world. See the whole list of unusual animals here.

Photo of the Day (8-5-09)

by Jamie Rhein on

Wow! That was my first impression when coming across jonrawinson’s shot of Venice Italy’s sky. His photo is a terrific reminder that when taking travel photos, that the place one is visiting can be a backdrop for creating a visual message. The way I know this is Venice is because he says that it is. The buildings, however, do give a hint of location and provide allure. The sky, though, is the star. The static quality of the buildings make the sky a dizzying display of movement. Seriously, superb. Plus, when I head to Venice tomorrow, this photo is a reminder to look up.

If you have a shot to consider for a Photo of the Day, please send it our way at Gadling’s Flicker photo pool. We’re delighted when you do.