Costa Rican Boeing 747 Hotel Looks a Little "Lost"

The hotel and travel industry are always coming up with really creative ways to attract consumers to new locations. Sometimes these involve bizarre hotels made of ice or giant wine casks. Or sometimes, as pictured above, they involve a Boeing 747 in Costa Rica. Which is the Costa Verde Resort, via Inhabitat.

The two-bedroom, two-bathroom suite also includes a kitchenette, flat-screen tvs, a dining room, and a terrace with an ocean view. We can’t really agree with their choice of furnishings, which are made from teak and shipped across the Pacific from Indonesia, but at least they were hand carved. The tip-to-tail paneling on the inside is also teak, but it was harvested locally in Costa Rica.

Now, I'm not one for "quirky travel" in the sense of staying somewhere just to say that I stayed there. And I actually don't like heights -- but this is just an appealing hotel, folks. It's fashionable, trendy, of the highest quality and it's a plane that sits in a giant tree. Really, all it's missing is snakes. And Samuel L. Jackson.

World’s First Zero-Star Hotel Opens Outside Zurich

Ramsey Qubein is Travelin' Light's on-the-road correspondent.

What exactly is a zero-star hotel like? Well, the Null Stern Hotel (literally: no stars) is housed underground in a nuclear bunker near Sevelen, Switzerland (an hour from Zurich). Two brothers and fellow artists Frank and Patrik Rikin are responsible for this $10 per night lodging, which they claim is a great option during tough economic times. Open for nearly three months now, guests experience little more than a clean, army-style bed and communal shower. Private rooms go for $30, which appeals to couples or those seeking a space of their own.

Heating is not the strength of this noisy bunker, and guests receive a hot water bottle when they arrive. Amenities are few and far between, but pairs of slippers and earplugs are part of the deal.

Switzerland has a nuclear bunker in most towns designed as a precaution during the Cold War. One caveat though: the government is allowing the brothers to use the bunker as long as they wish, but if it is needed for the city’s security purposes, local residents get to use it free of charge.

Attitude Hotels Offers Up-scale Options for Gay Travelers

Pedro Castro, a gay Portugese travel marketing professional, is trying to expand up-scale options for gay travelers. After many negative experiences at gay hotels, Castro decided to create a brand for high-end, design-conscious, gay and lesbian hotels around the world. Attitude Hotels is the result. Think Leading Hotels of World with a gay-lesbian focus.

"Gay hotels used to be part of the ghetto from the '70s and '80s," Castro said. "Many of them are run down, and once you get there, you're highly disappointed."

Comprising primarily small to midsize properties arranged in three categories -- value, comfort and premium -- according to price and amenities, Attitude Hotels sets out to guarantee gay and lesbian travelers an experience that is both gay and upscale.

Although some hotels and larger hotel chains already market themselves to the gay community, Castro made it clear that, generally speaking, these kinds of properties failed to understand or meet the needs of the gay traveler. Attitude Hotels are primarily are gay-owned or operated and so provide a more tailored experience for travelers.

"Most of the places are gay-owned or gay-managed," Castro said, noting that Attitude sidesteps conventional hotel chains that advertise themselves as gay-friendly.

"Saying something is gay-friendly is a straight perspective," he said. "It says, 'We accept gay people.'

"I wanted to do [a high-end brand] from the other end, to claim the gay perspective," he said.

A similar consortia, World's Foremost, already exists but primarily focuses on bed and breakfasts in the U.S. Attitude Hotels will be the first brand to represent gay boutique hotels on the international stage.