A rather eccentric and artistic-to-a-70’s-cliché surfers’ village called Free Architecture Surf Terrain (F.A.S.T.) situated at the Scheveningen boulevard located at the edge of The Hague in the Netherlands, is now home to a hotel that has literally reinvented everything a hotel suite is supposed to be. Called a Capsule Hotel, the survival pod-style hotel is not only attracting the attention of people who are looking to break away from the drab and frankly depressing hotel room experience when they travel, but it is also helping visitors appreciate the true elegance of Holland’s famed waterways.
The accommodation had its origins in the guise of an art project in 2004 and its warm reception led its creator Denis Oudendijk to start offering it as a serious service. The clever hotel redefines what terms like “room with a view” and “exclusive suites” means with individual bright orange survival pods that were fashioned out of equipment found at an oil rig platform way back in 1972.
Each 4.25 meters diameter pod is used unaltered with the exception of a rather creepy ‘emergency use only’ toilet on the inside and a lock on the hatch door. Each pod can house up to three inhabitants.
Overnight packages available in the unique hotel include a basic survival package that will get you emergency rations and basic cotton sleeping bags. If you’re willing to spend a few more euros, you can also get a fetishistic James Bond-style luxury suite complete with a celestial light decorations, a miniature vodka bar, a DVD player with all the Bond titles, sparkling wine silk-lined sleeping bags and even a disco mirror ball thrown in to enhance the experience that whatever you’ve carried in your pocket from Amsterdam, would induce!
Although the pods are anchored in a quieter part of the waterway, they do rock substantially when occupied and people are strongly advised to hold onto the rails, bars and other safety equipment when boarding and unboarding from their, er, hotel suites.
With packages priced between € 100- € 250, the floating Capsule Hotel is only situated in The Hague so far. However, the owner of the eccentric accommodation plans to bring it to additional locations in Nantes, France as well as central Amsterdam very, very soon.
Via: Unusual Hotels of the World