So you’re looking for a vacation idea that’s really over the top, but you also like to kick back and relax on your few precious days off.
Maybe Europe or an island getaway isn’t your thing, but you still want to experience something out of the ordinary.
Well, read on, because these incredible accommodations will fulfill your sense of adventure and allow you to stay in and take it easy.
99 bottles of beer on the wall…
The DogHouse Hotel – Columbus, Ohio
Yeah, nobody really wants to hear all 99 verses of that song, but you’ll definitely be singing for joy when you walk through the door of this beer lover’s hotel.
And this is one time you’ll enjoy being in the doghouse (I’m talkin’ to you, husbands) because the DogHouse Hotel is your Heaven on Earth.
The DogHouse in Columbus, Ohio has 32 beer-themed guest rooms inside BrewDog USA’s brewery.
You’ll be able to see, hear, and smell beer being made during your stay while you eat beer-battered and infused foods in the hotel’s restaurant, paired with one of their craft brews – even at breakfast!
I know, right?!
And that’s not the best part.
Every room has its own tap so you can kick back with a bottomless draft – and you get to choose your favorite from their craft beer selection!
There’s also plenty of variety to choose from in the room’s mini-bar, plus a library of books on the history of craft beer making, and a marketplace where you carry out food if you want to go on a picnic.
Go out? Yeah, right. Who would ever leave this place?
Of course, there are the usual suspects – a gym (to work off that beer belly), comfy furnishings, and big-screen TVs.
They’ve thought of everything here – even the soap is made locally with craft beer.
Which leads me to the next amazing amenity in DogHouse’s guest rooms. While you’re scrubbing up with your craft beer soap, you can grab a cold one right from the shower.
Seriously. There’s a fridge stocked with beer in the shower!
If this place isn’t the way to a man’s heart, I don’t know what is.
I can just imagine a bunch of guys sitting around one day in the Man Cave thinking this place up. “Dude, you know what would be awesome? A beer hotel!”
If relaxing in your room in a private beer-infused wonderland isn’t enough, you can also get out and tour the brewery or visit the “interactive” craft beer museum.
You guessed it – interactive means you’re taking in all that history with brewski in hand.
This place is the perfect combination of getting away, yet staying in to drink beer and watch the game.
There’s a reason their website says this is the “Hoppiest Place on Earth.”
In the clinker…
The Liberty Hotel – Boston, Massachusetts
So, you probably hope you never go to jail. (Or that you never go back – you know who you are.)
But this Boston, Massachusetts hotel will make you want to spend the night behind bars.
The Liberty Hotel was once the historic Charles Street Jail. It’s now a luxury destination for travelers after undergoing a multi-million-dollar renovation.
Originally built between 1848 and 1851, the huge, granite jail was constructed as part of a federal prison reform going on at the time. Prisoners would be segregated by sex and level of offense – a new concept – in four separate wings.
John White Webster, a Harvard professor, did his time and met the gallows here after he murdered a local doctor in 1849 in one of the first cases to use forensic evidence to identify a body. He was wealthy and well-connected and the case was the talk of the town.
Mob men and suffragettes were housed here in the early part of the twentieth century, as well as civil rights activist Malcolm X.
The building’s history and architecture alone was enough to preserve it, and then Marriot had an idea for the property.
A luxury hotel with some unique traits.
Each guest room is decorated with a nod to the jail’s past – jail keys and old photos – and the catwalks are still in place to lead you from your room to the lobby and restaurant.
There, you’ll find many of the original cell doors leading to different common areas, the bar, and high-end restaurant – named The Clink, of course.
You can even get married in Liberty’s Grand Ballroom. I’ll leave the jokes to you on that one.
A theme within a theme…
Winvian Farms –Litchfield Hills, Connecticut
If you’re looking for a unique hotel but want some privacy, Winvian Farms in Litchfield Hills, Connecticut is the perfect spot.
Sure, you can rent a cottage or cabin anywhere. But that’s so…boring.
At Winvian, there are multiple themed cottages, one for every type of personality.
For starters, you can stay in a restored 1968 Coast Guard helicopter, complete with the rotor blades in the ceiling.
The original seats and gauges are here too, along with mid-century modern-style furniture and a big-screen TV. There’s even a woodstove and king-size bed in an attached area so you can stretch out and dream of the skies.
If you love the outdoors, there are several options:
A treehouse 35 feet in the air – but no kid stuff here. It’s got a lounge, full bar, spa shower and jacuzzi, along with a fireplace and luxurious furniture. Definitely a good way to escape reality – and the kids – in a wooded hideaway.
There’s an “indoor campground” complete with outdoor-themed murals so you can pretend to rough it, a log cabin that looks like something that stepped out of the pages of a book, and even – wait for it – a Beaver Lodge.
The two-story cabin is located next to Beaver Pond in the woods, built around a tree trunk enclosed by a spiral staircase.
That leads to the loft with forest views, a double-sided fireplace, a luxurious bathroom with heated floors made of river rock, and a jacuzzi.
And if you’re so relaxed you can’t keep your eyes open, fall asleep under a canopy of “interlocking sticks” meant to resemble a beaver dam.
I think we’ve just entered Narnia, and it sounds amazing.
But wait, there’s more – there are themed cottages designed and decorated like a barn and silo, an industrial mill, a fully-stocked antique library, a lighthouse and more.
And even the outside views are themed to match the style of the cottage – overlooking the water, the forest canopy, or a wildflower garden.
You could stay a couple of nights in each cottage and feel like you’ve traveled the globe – or through time.
But be prepared for a hefty price tag in order to make all your dreams a reality.
Some cottages are nearly $1,000 a night; others, well more than that – and, of course, there’s a two-night minimum.
Oh, but wouldn’t it be worth it?
Not for the claustrophobic…
Jules’ Undersea Lodge – Key Largo, Florida
I’ll take a pass on this next one, no matter how cool it sounds. I can’t even sit on the inside of a restaurant booth and I always take the stairs.
But if you don’t mind small spaces and you are certified in scuba diving, this hotel – located in Key Largo Undersea Park’s lagoon – is the adventure of a lifetime.
Yep, it’s Jules’ Undersea Lodge, and even though it’s a lot less than 20,000 leagues below the surface, you’ll still be sleeping underwater.
And back to the scuba diving thing – you have to dive down to your room. But never fear – if you’re not certified yet, you can take a crash course here and they’ll even provide the dive gear.
Once you swim down to your room, you’re met with a cozy underwater cottage of sorts where you can watch the fish swim through your own large porthole.
But you’re not stuck just watching the wildlife.
This cozy sea home has hot water, a fridge stocked with sodas and snacks, a microwave, books, and even movies and music available to stream.
And as part of your adventure package, you’ll also receive Jules’ “world famous pizza delivery dinner.” Apparently, a diver brings your pizza down in a waterproof case.
I’m not sure how this works without flooding the room or what pizza has to do with staying in the middle of a lagoon, but it’s their thing and they’re sticking to it.
Then there’s the continental breakfast. Interesting.
There is an option for a three-hour stay for around $150 bucks, but if you stay the night and you want pizza, it runs $500 per person or $800 for the “Jul for Two” package.
This adds a whole new meaning to living in a fishbowl, and seems a little pricey for small quarters, possibly soggy pizza, claustrophobia, and the threat of drowning.
But it’s definitely a uniquely themed way to spend an evening!
Personally, I think I’ll stay in a lighthouse-shaped cottage in Connecticut and see the water from afar.
For more on fun hotels like the 60s-themed TWA Hotel at JFK Airport, visit Proud American Traveler.
