Hotel Inspiration

Have you ever been inspired by the decor in a hotel? I stayed in a fancy hotel in Dallas a few years ago and fell in design love with the bathroom in my hotel room. It was a very simple vintage style but oh so cool! I was quite smitten. Most of the time though, I must admit, the hotels/motels that I end up staying in won't inspire any major design trends. (Although they may inspire the manufacture of purse sized Lysol cans and bleach bottles...) The following hotels are each unique and may be inspiring to some and slightly strange to others.

The blue hotel room above looks like something out of the land of Dr. Suess. Even though it is done in soothing tones of blue I believe my children would be fully energized in this room. And within minutes of arriving would be rolling the chairs around and attempting to scale the headboard. (Heck, even I want to roll the chairs around and try my hand at tackling that massive headboard!)

The Jules Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida used to be a research lab. Now hotel guests scuba dive 21 feet below the water's surface to get to their room. Total privacy--no one will see you but the fish!

For those guests who have more of an exhibitionist streak to their nature, there is the Cristal Bubble hotel in the South of France.

Can anything compare with sleeping inside a giant beagle? At the Dog Bark Inn in Cottonwood, Idaho the bathrooms are true to the theme. Each guest gets their own fire hydrant.

For those who don't like dogs and are allergic to cats there is The Giraffe Manor in Nairobi. Situated in the middle of a giraffe sanctuary, guests receive personal greetings from the spotted residents through the windows. The giraffe like to be fed and tolerate petting and photo ops but draw the line at giving autographs.

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be in the middle of an ice cube (or in Superman's crystal palace in the first Superman movie), you're in luck! You can book a stay at The Ice Hotel in a small (unpronounceable) town in Sweden. Every year the hotel, which is only open for a few months, is redesigned and rebuilt by artists and sculptors from around the world using large blocks of ice from the Torne River.

Each room has a different design. It's very cold but guests can find warmth within a bed of animal skins.

(It definitely gives new meaning to the term, "being frigid...")

Anyone inspired?

(photo credits: blue room, poppypetunia; Jules, jetstta; cristal bubble, imagi; dog bark, giraffe, ice hotel, luxury insider.)