A room with a view just isn’t enough sometimes. The world’s most unique places to stay are destinations in their own right.
They’re built entirely from ice that melts every spring, or hung off cliff faces reachable only by climbing rope. They’re carved into tree canopies to resemble the châteaux standing just beyond them or accessible only by private invitation. These six properties trade the standard hotel room for something guests will actually remember, and, in a few cases, need to work for, too.
Our Picks for the Most Unique Places to Stay
The Treehouses at Lanrick, Scotland
Five wooden treehouses sit on the banks of the River Teith, bordering Scotland’s Trossachs National Park, with no Wi-Fi and just enough phone signal to check in with home. Each cabin features a freestanding copper bath, perfect for stargazing, a king-size bed, and a log burner.
The property’s communal sauna uses a clever rope-pulley booking system. Pull the rope across the entrance, and the sauna is reserved exclusively for your treehouse. Two of the five treehouses, Flycatcher and Willow Warbler, connect via a rope bridge for groups who want to book both. Read our full review of a three-day digital detox at The Treehouses.
Need to know: Book at lanricktreehouses.co.uk for a two-night minimum.
Wild Wakati Camp, Serengeti National Park
Far from the nearest road and looking out over vast open wilderness, Wild Wakati Camp sits in the northern Serengeti within one of the Great Migration’s key wildlife corridors. Enduata Camps built the 10-tent property specifically for multi-generational travel, with two family tents offering adjoining bedroom suites and private bathrooms.
Kids join the Enduata Explorers programme for map reading, animal tracking, Maasai bow and arrow, and fire making, while the whole family can join guided walks and stargazing sessions after dark. The camp opened in January 2026 and runs year-round, though July through September generally offer the best chance of seeing river crossings in the northern Serengeti.
Need to know: Book full board and game packages at enduatacamps.com.
Octola III, Finnish Lapland
Six guests, three bedrooms, a former Cold War radar station 1,600 feet up in the fells of Finnish Lapland: this is Octola III, and it’s accessible only by private waiting list. The retreat sits inside a protected Sámi wilderness area with over three miles of private roads, a 20-minute transfer from Enontekiö Arctic Airport, and views across the borders of Finland, Norway, and Sweden.
A private chef and host run the property alongside a wood-burning sauna and custom ice-swimming pond, and guests can visit Kautokeino, 45 minutes away, to learn silversmithing or join local reindeer herders on the tundra. Architect Hannu Voutilainen, who has designed every property in the Octola portfolio, led the build.
Need to know: Opens December 1, 2026. Join the waitlist.
Châteaux dans les Arbres, France
Six structures, each inspired by a nearby château in the Dordogne, sit across 27 acres of woodland and parkland at the Domaine de Puybeton near Bergerac. Owner Rémi Bècherel spent eight years building treehouses across France before turning that experience on the region’s own architecture.
Monbazillac’s turrets echo the real 16th-century castle nearby, Hautefort mirrors its namesake’s front and rear towers, and two more cabins float on the estate’s lake rather than sitting in the canopy at all. Every unit comes with its own outdoor hot tub or Nordic bath, some with a private sauna. Together, the six can sleep up to 18, which makes this the rare treehouse stay built as much for a group booking as a couple’s escape.
Need to know: Book at Châteaux dans les Arbres.
ICEHOTEL, Sweden
Every winter, ICEHOTEL is rebuilt from scratch using ice harvested from the nearby Torne River north of the Arctic Circle. Since opening in 1989, the hotel has become one of Sweden’s most iconic stays, with a seasonal collection of individually carved Art Suites and ice rooms created by artists from around the world.
Each room is kept at a constant -5°C, while the permanent ICEHOTEL 365 remains open year-round, cooled entirely by solar-powered refrigeration during the summer. Guests sleep on ice beds topped with reindeer hides inside expedition-grade thermal sleeping bags before warming up with a morning sauna. A visit isn’t complete without a stop at the ICEBAR, where cocktails are served in glasses carved from the same Torne River ice.
Need to know: The seasonal winter hotel typically opens in December and remains open until April. ICEHOTEL 365 welcomes guests throughout the year. Book at icehotel.com.
Skylodge Adventure Suites, Peru
Three transparent capsules hang off a cliff face in Peru’s Sacred Valley, and there is no elevator, staircase, or road to any of them. Guests reach their capsule on a via ferrata climb or a series of ziplines, then sleep roughly 1,200 feet above the valley floor inside a pod built from aerospace aluminum and weather-resistant polycarbonate.
Dinner is cooked to order and served in a separate dining capsule as night falls over the Andes. The property runs two tiers: the original three Skylodge capsules, higher up the mountain, more rustic, with shared bathroom facilities, and six more accessible Starlodge capsules, lower down, with private bathrooms and hot tubs. For a luxury book, Starlodge is the one to lead with.
Need to know: Overnight packages include via ferrata or zipline ascent, dinner, breakfast, and descent by zipline. Book at Natura Vive.
