Bed in a Tree and Other Amazing Hotels from Around the World - Bettina Kowalewski

Bed in a Tree by Bettina Kowalewski
ISBN 978-1-4053-3497-6

I bought this unusual book through a charity auction on another website. I have had a couple of other books along these lines and enjoyed planning a stay somewhere different and so I thought this would be a good one to add to our collection. Despite this being the third such book I have yet to actually manage to stay in any of the featured hotels but I am hoping that one day I might.

This being a nonfiction sort of travel book there is no story so to speak. The book is a very square book with a very welcoming front cover which features four of the hotels written about within the book. It is published by my favourite guide book company Eyewitness Travel and so I knew there would be lovely pictures to tempt me.
The hotels in the book are from countries all over the world but out of the twenty seven featured hotels fifteen or sixteen are in Europe ( depends on whether you count Turkey as in Europe or not) , four in the USA or Canada, two in South Africa, two in New Zealand and then one in each of Australia, and Mexico. So it is a limited selection of weird and wonderful places not a huge hotel gazetteer.

So which of these rather quirky hotels caught my eye? Well so many really appeal but realistically I was very tempted by the Dog House which is in Idaho and got very excited as we went to Idaho on our recent trip. The hotel or B&B is in Cottonwood Idaho and is in the shape of a massive dog and puppy and you actually stay inside this huge creature. It stands at a height of 33feet and is 17 feet wide and is affectionately known as sweet Willy! Apparently he is the largest beagle in the world but then I wouldn’t think there would be that many mad people building huge wooden dogs that would be competing with this one.

For those of you who are a bit sceptical and think I might be making this up then take a look for yourselves http://www.dogbarkparkinn.com/aboutdogpa​rk.htm. Unfortunately on our trip we went nowhere near this wonderful Dog Bark Park Inn so sadly I didn’t get to see this. What does it cost to stay in the dog’s stomach? Well a bargain at around £60 for two people for a night and this includes a homemade breakfast too. I really wish we could have managed to get there!!

A second one that I have been so close to yet missed is the Troll Hotel or Mira Mira in Victoria Australia. Had I known about this before our trip to Australia I would have made the effort to try and at least see this place but I shall have to just enjoy looking at the wonderful photos and reading the descriptions of the ‘Bondage room’ which is the second bedroom and I’ll leave that to your imagination. This place gets its name Mira Mira from the Aboriginal spelling of Mirror, mirror and to complete the sentence …” Mira Mira on the wall, what's the weirdest accommodation of them all?

This very different retreat was built rather sadly,when the owner learned that he had terminal cancer and rather than being the end he said it gave him the motivation to do the things that he had always wanted to do and this rather wonderful place to stay was built. For those who want to see pictures this is the link http://www.visitvictoria.com/Regions/Gip​psland/Accommodation/Cottages/Mira-Mira-​Accommodation.aspx Prices for this for a week end stay for a couple for two nights minimum are a fairly reasonable £200ish. The accommodation has two bedrooms and this price is for one room including breakfasts on both mornings.

There is an ice hotel which always sounds so wonderful until you realize that you will be very cold indeed. I think I’d like to visit but maybe stay in a warmer place nearby! I am not a cold weather person you might have gathered.

Another one that appeals not a bit is the 2Under the Stars” in Westphalia, Germany. Basically they put a double bed in their large garden or field and if it rains you have to bring all the bedding in again. No thanks, this one didn’t tempt me in the least even at the very decent price of £30 including breakfast. No this is not a joke; please take a look for yourself http://www.pension-kamerichs.de/pk.php?m​cont=up .

There is however one in Berlin which is a possibility for me to manage to stay and as the price is pretty reasonable I will try and persuade my husband when we visit Berlin. This place is a very modern and is like staying in a piece of artwork. It is called ‘The Habitual Work of Art, Propeller Island City Lodge’ and it is found on a side street off Kurfurstendamm . Within this hotel you will find 27 double rooms and 2 apartments some have a TV and an ensuite bathroom and that would be a must for my husband I feel – the bathroom not the TV. The price ranges from between £60 to £170 per room for one person and additional people are £13 each.

I would have to choose my room carefully as some of them are so weird that sleep might be difficult. Can you imagine sleeping in a room that is bright orange or red throughout including the bedding, I’m not sure that I would find that conducive to sleep. Neither does it appeal to me to sleep in a coffin with a closed lid ( Gruft -No 31 if you want to take a look).I really liked the look of ‘Electric wallpapers’ No 44 and then saw that this is the most ‘normal of their rooms – I must just be a boring person wanting normal. Oh well, hear was I thinking I was quite adventurous and I select this one.

If you go to the link then add in the comment s box which room you fancy. http://www.pension-kamerichs.de/pk.php?m​cont=up I think places like this are just so great and would really like to stay in at least one of those in the book and some are quite reasonably priced which is something I liked about this book compared to others we have which offer great places but at really quite inflated prices. Most of these are within normal people’s price range apart from the one in the Seychelles but that is just way out of the league when it comes to prices.

At the end of each chapter or weirdly wonderful hotel there is information about how to get there and what you might do when you are staying in the area. It is written in a very informal style and it is the sort of book that you can dip in and read a couple of sections then put to one side again. I always look through all our interesting hotel books before we go somewhere new just in case we might be able to visit one.
I won’t tell you any more as it will spoil the book and it is well worth buying as it is entertaining and also makes a great conversation piece for those who enjoy travelling or just armchair travelling as the photos are really lovely.

Thanks for reading. This review may be posted on other sites under my same user name.
©Catsholiday