ten of the wildest hotels from around the world

From an under­wa­ter retreat to a lean­ing tower that sur­passes Pisa, take a look at some of the wildest and most design-driven hotels across the globe

High thread count sheets are nice, but for a lux­ury hotel to really impress us we want out­ra­geous archi­tec­ture, deca­dent decor, and edge-of-the–earth loca­tions. It’s a tall order, but with a search across the globe we’ve found the top hotels that shat­ter all expec­ta­tion. So whether you’re plan­ning an escape for a few days or just want to take a vir­tual trip around the world, check out 11 hotels that bring the best in art, design, and adven­ture under one roof.

Barcelo Raval Hotel, Barcelona, Spain (above)

The sheer chance to chill in this lobby would be a vaca­tion in and of itself. The flashy new Barcelo Raval in Barcelona is girly and entic­ing. In the lobby, the hot magenta seat­ing dom­i­nates against the daz­zling sparkles of the inte­rior col­umn and stark black and white. Rooms start at $139. BarceloRaval.com

Com­mune by the Great Wall Kempin­ski, Beijing

Nes­tled in the Shuiguan Moun­tains and spread over eight square kilo­me­ters along the Great Wall of China, this col­lec­tion of prop­er­ties boasts some of the most cre­ative and mod­ern archi­tec­ture in the area. Each of the 236 rooms and suites scat­tered across the com­mune offer views of the Great Wall. This one, the “See and Seen House” by archi­tect Cui Kai, is a bona fide glass mas­ter­piece. Rooms start at $366. CommunebytheGreatWall.com

Ice Hotel, Jukkas­jarvi, Sweden

What first opened in 1990 as an exhibit by a French ice artist has since become a mag­i­cal and rather chilly chance for guests from around the world to expe­ri­ence the feel­ing of sleep­ing in an igloo. Crafted from ice and snow, each year Ice Hotel is rebuilt by vis­it­ing artists and cre­ators. Though the tem­per­a­ture never drops below 23 degrees Fahren­heit, guests don ther­mal under­wear and hats and slip into a sleep­ing bag atop blocks of ice, a thick mat­tress, and rein­deer skins. Here, a mag­i­cal chan­de­lier hangs in one of last year’s halls. Open Decem­ber 10 to mid-April yearly. Rooms start at $303 per night. IceHotel.com

Bos­colo Hotel Exe­dra, Nice, France

Though the recently opened hotel in France has been built in the Belle Epoque style, the hotel’s inte­ri­ors are hardly anti­quated. The bar, designed by Mas­simo Iosa Ghini, uses tree­like sculp­tures and scat­tered lights across the walls and ceil­ings to cre­ate an organic yet futur­is­tic feel­ing. Rooms start at $325. BoscoloHotels.com

Burj Al Arab, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Sit­ting on a man-made island located just off the shore, this mod­ern and fan­ci­ful hotel has the effect of a sail­boat drift­ing off to sea. At 321 meters high, this Tom Wright design stands as one of the world’s tallest hotel build­ings and has become an icon of the Dubai sky­line. Rooms start at $1000. Jumeirah.com

Hotel Fox, Copen­hagen, Denmark

Com­posed of 61 rooms designed and dec­o­rated by 21 artists and groups, Hotel Fox takes art, urban liv­ing, and per­sonal expres­sion to a whole new level. Some of our favorites are the blue–and-yellow-checked mas­ter­piece by Miami design­ers Friendswith­you; the play­ful expanse of aqua walls crafted by France’s Antoine et Manuel; the stark black-and-white words and sta­tis­tics from E-Types of Den­mark; and France’s Genevieve Gauckler’s graphic space that lit­er­ally com­mands guests to “SLEEP!” Rooms start at $165. HotelFox.com

Posei­don Under­sea Resort, Fiji

Nes­tled in the cerulean waters of a Fiji lagoon and acces­si­ble only by ele­va­tor are suites sub­merged a full 40 feet under­wa­ter. No oxy­gen required, it has all the lux­u­ries of an above­ground get­away but with an unpar­al­leled view. A week­long stay (at the price of $15,000 per head) is split between the under­wa­ter suite and beach cabana accom­mo­da­tions so vis­i­tors can still fall asleep to the waves and the hotel can han­dle the high-demand for ocean immer­sion. Opens in early 2010. Reser­va­tions can be made begin­ning Sep­tem­ber 15. PoseidonResorts.com

La Purifi­cadora, Puebla, Mexico

Mex­i­can hote­lier Car­los Cou­turier turned a for­mer 19th-century water–puri­fy­ing cen­ter in a colo­nial city into this min­i­mal­ist and mod­ern traveler’s space. Here, the jux­ta­po­si­tion of pur­ple mod­u­lar fur­ni­ture and an aquarium-esque pool against the tra­di­tional Igle­sia de San Fran­cisco is just one of the aspects that gives La Purifi­cadora its old-meets-new charm. Rooms start at $155. LaPurificadora.com

Les Cols Pavel­lones, Olot, Spain

With doors, walls, ceil­ings, and even floors made com­pletely of green glass and black steel, this sur­real space is futur­is­tic, eerie, and intrigu­ing all at once. But though it may seem stark, the glass con­struc­tion wel­comes the influ­ence of nature and adds organic style. Here, a glass floor allows a vis­i­tor to view the raw earth beneath. Rooms start at $355. LesCols.com

Hyatt Cap­i­tal Gate Tower, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Slated to open in the fall, this lean­ing hotel will have the great­est angle in the world. We are eagerly await­ing this cur­va­ceous tower, which has passed its halfway mark and is designed not to be the largest or tallest build­ing in the world, but one with the most breath­tak­ing aes­thetic. Hyatt.com

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