Unconventional hotels 'attracting visitors'

Hotels are becoming more unusual to attract travellers looking for something different, according to reports.

There is a growing market for hotels with an unconventional edge to attract the interest of young travellers, according to Forbes.

A list compiled by the magazine includes a number of strange and unusual hospitality establishments around the world, including a hotel made entirely of snow and ice.

Quebec's Ice Hotel is made every winter out of around 6,800kg of snow and 226kg of ice and visitors are provided with a mattress to separate them from the cold surfaces as well as a special sleeping bag designed to withstand freezing temperatures.

Bill Crow, a hotel industry analyst with financial services company Raymond James & Co, told Forbes that younger travellers often look for an "experience" rather than a straightforward holiday.

As a result, "everybody's looking for an edge", Mr Crow said.

Another unusual establishment in the list is the Winvian Hotel in Morris, Connecticut, which houses 18 individually designed cottages and offers guests access to Vespa scooters.

At the Propeller Island City Lodge in Berlin, there are 31 different rooms each celebrating a different theme, including the symbol room, which is decorated entirely with wooden blocks bearing different characters, including Greek letters and dollar signs.

Set to open in 2009 is the HydroPalace, a 200-room underwater hotel in Quingdao, China.

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