Ten - or Eleven - Seriously Fancy and Odd Hotels

"Ten of the Wildest Hotels from Around the World"
POINTclickHOME (July 8, 2009)

"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"

"Written by Leah Konen

"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...."

"
This is the first one covered in this post: The Barcelo Raval Hotel, Barcelona, Spain. That's a lavish lobby they've got.

Next stop is the Commune by the Great Wall Kempinski, Beijing.

Each featured hotel is allotted a photo, and a pretty good text description. The writing is a trifle breathless, but that's par for the course for this sort of travel review.

You've got (partly) underwater hotels, a hotel made out of ice, oddly-shaped hotels - - - Overall, this is a pretty good look at the flashy end of the luxury hotel spectrum.

The last hotel featured isn't open yet: the Hyatt Capital Gate Tower:


It's supposed to open this fall. This architectural oddity is in - where else? - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.