BudgetTravel's "World's Weirdest Hotels"
BudgetTravel has a slide show of what they've deemed the "World's Weirdest Hotels." No Madonna Inn, but more interesting to me than theme rooms anyway are places where the entire hotel structure is an oddity. Top, the Hotel Costa Verde near Quepos, Costa Rica. Left, at the Capsule Hotel in Den Haag, Netherlands, you can sleep in an escape pod from a 1970s oil rig."World's Weirdest Hotels, Part Deux"
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For the record, compared to some of these places, the Madonna Inn barely qualifies as 'weird'.
Kitchy, yes. Tasteless in a pretty fabulous way, absolutely. And yes, you can take a shower in a waterfall, and, if you're male, pee into one.
(I suppose you could pee into one if you're female as well, but they aren't specifically set up for it.)
But compared to escape pods? Not even close.
On the other hand, around Christmas, the Madonna Inn manages to accomplish the seemingly impossible, and make itself even MORE ostentatiously tacky. And the steakhouse there is pretty good.
Although it might be a bit mundane compared to some of the examples presented, the Treetops hotel in Kenya is built as a treehouse, and holds the distinction of being the place where Elizabeth II ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom.
Jim Corbett (a resident of the hotel) had this to say:
For the first time in the history of the world, a young girl climbed into a tree one day a Princess and after having what she described as her most thrilling experience she climbed down from the tree next day a Queen — God bless her.
At 24 Oranges we've written about weird Dutch hotels before, including some of the newer ones that Budget Travels hasn't got yet: http://www.24oranges.nl/tag/hotels/
Assuming my previous comment will pass the spam test, here are two hotels we haven't written about (yet):
There's a hotel in Harlingen, The Netherlands, where you get to spend the night in a harbour crane: http://www.vuurtoren-harlingen.nl/
Also, Xaviera Hollander (the Happy Hooker, a former New York madam) runs her own house in the posh neighbourhood of Amsterdam as a bed and breakfast, with free wifi and optional workshops on "how to become a better lover": http://www.xavierahollander.com/sleeper
Sleep in a pod from an oil rig, eh?
That's almost as interesting as my hotel, which I will give Boingboing readers a special rate for.
My Hotel is called "Bench", and you and a guest will be able to experience the unique luxury of sleeping on a park bench in Regent's Park, London. I will personally serve you a bowl of cereal in the morning before you explore fabulous London starting from a vantage point few are priveleged to experience.
yes, but they don't tell you is that, while you soundly sleep, the escape pods are quietly towed to the North Atlantic and set adrift.
how about a night on one of these?
http://www.pinktentacle.com/2009/08/solar-ufo-water-cleaners-afloat-in-osaka-canals/
This isn't on a world-class level of weirdness, but it's a nice example of re-purposing old transportation infrastructure, and being in the south-central US, it's accessible to many US-based readers. The Chattanooga Choo Choo:
http://www.choochoo.com/traincars.php?dest=21
So that first photo what you get when you select the "Flight+Hotel" option from Priceline.com?
Those are only mildly odd...
For real weirdness, try out the "Hello Kitty S&M Room" at the Hotel Adonis in Osaka, Japan...
(http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/5/16/104138/231/hotels/Hello_Kitty_S&M_Room_At_Hotel_Adonis_Osaka)
The owner of the Propeller Island Art Hotel in Berlin, Lars Stroschen, is also a composer. His Hermeneutic Music album especially is one of the best I've ever heard in the emusic genre.
Having stayed in the caveman room at the Madonna Inn, I will say don't underestimate the awesomeness of the waterfall shower. It's GREAT. I want one.
It's true though, the corner "urinal" (basically a grate in the floor with a motion activated sensor that sends a cascade of water to clean up) doesn't quite work for ladies. ;)