The World's 7 Most Exotic And Romantic Hotels
Need some inspiration for your next date night? We have 7 hotels that demand your attention.
Song_about_summer / Shutterstock We all love a couples night out, right? Who wouldn't enjoy an escape from the clutter of everyday life for you and your significant other?
Well, we've looked into the most exotic and unusual (okay, and priciest!) hotels around the world — that also happen to be some of the most romantic spots we’ve ever seen.
Let this list inspire you to take an unexpected vacation of your own someday, but don't forget to bring a good book to get you in the mood!
The World's 7 Most Exotic And Romantic Hotels
1. Space Adventures
What's more romantic than reenacting Gravity with your significant other? Okay, that thought might not be at the top of your date night list, but just imagine being one of the first people in space!
Space Adventures is offering a trip to the moon for two for the cheap, cheap price of $100 million per seat in the private spacecraft that will act as your hotel for the week. You also have to train for four months in a Russian cosmonaut training center alongside actual astronauts to prepare for your seven-day space flight.
But the circumlunar excursion will take you around the moon, allowing you to see the farthest side when it's illuminated. You'll come within 100km of the moon's surface and you'll get one of the most spectacular views in the universe: the Earth rising above the surface of its only moon. And it'll be just the two of you up there in space; what date could be more romantic than that?
2. The Emirates Palace
The Emirates Palace is notorious for having offered one of the most expensive vacation packages for two in the world, with the most obvious title: the Million Dollar Travel package. And it costs, you guessed it, one million dollars. The Palace offered up the package once in 2007 and again in 2008 but no one ever took the bait. For the hefty sum, the lucky couple would get a seven-night stay in the Palace Suite, a day trip to Jordan, and a helicopter tour of the desert.
That may not seem like much for a million, but the package also included pretty much whatever the customer wanted that the million dollars would cover. From deep-sea pearl diving in Bahrain to creating your own Persian rug in Iran, all you had to do was ask and the hotel would arrange it! Although this specific package is no longer being promoted, Emirates Palace still remains one of the most opulent couples' retreats in the world.
3. The Mirrorcube
Without a doubt, Treehotel is a one-of-a-kind experience. Instead of housing all their rooms and suites in one building, each Treehotel room is its own treehouse nestled in the Swedish forests. All of the treehouses look like your ultimate childhood hide-a-way but only one is custom-built for couples.
It's called the Mirrorcube, which is exactly what it sounds like. It's a 4x4x4 cube nestled in a tree that gives the illusion of a mirage. It's so reflective; that it has to be tinted with infrared film to keep birds from flying into it.
But inside, it's a quiet oasis of birch and Swedish architecture complete with a double bed, lounge area, bathroom, and a rooftop terrace to enjoy the view for about $700 a night. Civilization is only a hop, skip, and a jump away at a nearby affiliated hotel where you can get breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as TV and Internet. They even have a sauna and relaxation area for when you venture out of your treehouse.
4. Giraffe Manor
Of course, there's going to be a coveted vacation for the animal-loving couple, too. Giraffe Manor is a part of the Giraffe Center in Nairobi, Kenya that operates as a home to the endangered Rothschild giraffes. The house is built to look like a Scottish hunting lodge but the experience is far from dangerous.
In each of the six bedrooms and in the breakfast nook, there are huge windows where guests are able to feed the giraffes from their hands as they wander about the sanctuary. The giraffes are so friendly they even come right up to the front door!
The rooms are furnished with the personal belongings of Karen Blixen, the author of Out of Africa. For a couple that loves adventures, the Kenyan plains are a dream. There's nothing like being woken in the morning by a giraffe sticking his head through your window, right? Even better, all proceeds from the Giraffe Manor go to Animal Friends for Education and Welfare.
5. Icehotel
Nothing encourages cuddling like a bed made of ice! First opened in 1990 in Sweden, Icehotel has been created every year using only ice and snow from the Torne River. The hotel stays up from December to April and artists from all over the world are invited to create their own rooms out of the sculpted ice.
Icehotel in its entirety features rooms and suites for more than 100 guests, as well as a chapel entirely sculpted out of ice and an Absolut Icebar that serves its drinks in — what else? — ice glasses. You don't have to worry about frostbite, either: Guests sleep on their beds of ice wrapped in reindeer fur and polar-tested sleeping bags. The aurora borealis can even be seen through the thick ice walls while you cozy up at night. Then in April, the hotel poetically melts away into the Torne River.
6. Godiva Chocolate Suite
Everyone knows chocolate is an aphrodisiac, so what could be more romantic than staying in an entire room made of chocolate? Pretty much nothing. In 2008 and 2009, Godiva ran a very sweet (pun intended) Valentine's Day giveaway: a night in a special room in the Bryant Park Hotel in New York, exclusively designed by Jonathan Adler and created entirely out of Godiva chocolate. This means the paintings, the ceilings and even the chandeliers are all 100% gourmet Godiva chocolate.
If this doesn't seem like something straight out of Willy Wonka already, wait until you hear how you could win a night’s stay. Customers shopping in Godiva stores were told to look for boxes with a red heart. Inside these boxes would be an envelope containing a game piece that would reveal if you were a winner.
Chocolates have been proven to contain serotonin -- a happiness neurotransmitter -- making them the perfect date night snack. But having your entire hotel suite made out of chocolate is taking things to a whole other level.
7. Airplane Suite
For those who like close quarters, this suite is definitely for you. In 2007, a company fully transformed a 1960 Ilyushin 18 airplane into a private suite for two. Previously used to fly the leaders of the German Republican-Democratic government, the plane is now home to one of the most inclusive, and private, suites in the world.
It's 1,300 feet long and contains everything you'd expect from a date night in a luxury hotel: a jacuzzi, shower, infrared sauna, mini bar, three flat-screen TVs complete with a DVD library, and a pantry for all your coffee and tea-making needs. Major bonus: The cabin of the plane remains completely untouched so guests are free to play around with the old controls!
It doesn't get more private than being sealed away inside your very own jet that's designed to give you a level of closeness you won't find in any run-of-the-mill hotels!
Kelsey Marshall is a freelance writer and contributor to YourTango.