Bored of the norm and searching for somewhere a little different to rest the head on your next holiday? Feast your horizon-hungry eyes on these weird and wonderful spots and pick the perfect refuge to renew your wanderlust…
1. 
Elqui Domos, Elqui Valley, Chile
In a remote valley between Santiago and Atacama, a celestial escape where you can touch the stars from your domed or stilted refuge
This is a fun and quirky concept hotel: 7 ‘geodesic’ (spherical) domes with removable roofs plus 4 stilted wooden houses with glass ceilings, all set in the stunning Elqui Valley, famed for clear skies that attract astronomers from all over the world. Conceived in 2003 by local businessman and astronomer Esteban Zarate, who spotted a star-shaped gap in the market, Elqui Domos is a true retreat from the world. Its small size confers a feeling of exclusivity and intimacy, for a very reasonable price tag.
Read our full review here: http://www.i-escape.com/elqui-domos/overview
2. Art Hotel Luise, Berlin, Germany
Well-priced, well-placed and wonderfully weird: a budget hotel whose artist-created rooms are a gallery of quirky design
Berlin has long been at the cutting edge of wacky art, but this place takes the biscuit. You can drink spritzers under a giant horse’s head, or smoke beside a psychedelic rainbow of wall. You can sleep in a pseudo aircraft cabin on a tilting mattress as if you’re coming in to land, or clamber into an oversized bed to make you feel like a kid again. Artists of every ilk have left their mark – provocative female nudes, neon glows, comic graffiti, even an arrangement of dog bowls – on the walls of most rooms, and a portion of the cost goes to their royalties.
Read our full review here: http://www.i-escape.com/art-hotel-luise/overview
3. Milos Windmill, Milos Island, Greece
The island of Milos is famous for a perfectly-chiselled, 6-foot tall goddess. Before you get the wrong idea, we’re talking about a statue, sculpted 2000 years ago and found 20 years ago near Tripiti. Though she may have moved to Paris, there are still plenty of reasons to visit the island where Venus de Milo was found. Gnarled sea-cliffs, turquoise waters, smugglers’ coves, hot springs, picturesque villages and old churches all vie for your attention on an island which is bizarrely indifferent towards foreign tourism.
On the rocky ridge above Venus’ resting place stands a string of windmills, one of which has been converted into a 2-bedroom ‘villa’. It is a narrow, three-storey building with round rooms and a shaded terrace outside, offering views over the sheltered inlet of Adamas. All in all, it’s a very special place, and ideal for families or groups of friends who are keen to explore a little-known but still very beautiful Greek island.
Read our full review here: http://www.i-escape.com/milos-windmill/overview
4. Greystoke Mahale, Mahale National Park, Tanzania
Primate paradise: fascinating chimpanzee tracking at one of the most stunning beach camps in Africa
Picture a beach as white and palm-fringed as a desert island, but set on an inland lake with water as clear as Evian. Above loom misty dark-green hills, the forest home of one of the world’s last populations of wild chimpanzees. These chimps – our closest relatives on earth – have been acclimatised to mankind over 40 years of research by a team of primatologists, and now allow humans to approach within grinning distance. Stay in 6 simply, but thoughtfully, furnished bandas, with dhows for trips on the lake, and some of the most imaginative cuisine in Tanzania
Read our full review here: http://www.i-escape.com/greystoke-mahale/overview
5. Erongo Wilderness Lodge, Erongo Mountains, Namibia
An awe-inspiring wilderness camp set atop gargantuan boulders in the Erongo Mountain Conservancy, in central Namibia
Travel in Namibia is all about communing with vast, pristine and inspirational landscapes. The Erongo Wilderness Lodge offers you just that experience, laid out before you in all of its raw beauty. This masterfully crafted camp of thatched and tented bandas, linked by snaking wooden walkways, sits atop a rocky koppie at the edge of a 200,000 hectare slice of wilderness reserve, which encompasses desert, mountain and bushveld ecosystems.
Read our full review here: http://www.i-escape.com/erongo-wilderness-lodge/overview
6. 4 Rivers Floating Lodge, Tatai River, Cambodia
No roads, no neighbours, just nature at this simple yet stylish 12-tent lodge that floats on the crook of southwest Cambodia’s Tatai River
Cambodia’s southern coast is an area in development, with plenty of wild rainforest, waterfalls and beaches to be discovered by adventurous travellers. Below the Cardomom Mountains, and about 20 minutes by road from border town Koh Kong, ‘glamping’ at this floating lodge is an exercise in total seclusion and peace. The only way in is by boat: 10 minutes of bird spotting until you round a bend and suddenly the white tents of 4 Rivers Floating Lodge come into view, contrasting with the greenery on either side of the glassy-calm water. You alight onto the central terrace, between the 2 flanks of 6 tents and in front of the central restaurant, and probably won’t set foot on solid ground again for the rest of your stay.
Read our full review here: http://www.i-escape.com/4-rivers-floating-lodge/overview
7. Pacuare Lodge, Siquirres, Costa Rica
An idyllic riverside jungle lodge, hidden in the depths of the rainforest and reachable only by raft
As your raft enters the rapids, there’s no time to panic: your guide is commanding you to “Paddle forward!” and suddenly there’s an exhilarating rush as the raft is borne up on an unseen wave and sent spinning down into a whirlpool eddy, sending your heart racing, before you emerge effortlessly onto the smooth river again, floating calmly between tall trees and hanging creepers. Exotic birds dart all around you. Then you arrive: secluded in this paradise setting, Pacuare Lodge sits on a bend in the river amid gorgeous gardens filled with tropical flowers. Each of its beautifully designed cabins has luxurious bathrooms, beds draped with mosquito nets, and is lit only by candles at night.
Read our full review here: http://www.i-escape.com/pacuare-lodge/overview
8. The One Hotel Angkor, Siem Reap, Cambodia
A chic hotel for two – just one groovy room and a roof terrace that overlooks the bustling old town
The One Hotel has 1 room only – everything here is for you. It’s a cool little place in the heart of the old town, with a designer lounge that opens onto a narrow passageway and a shaded roof terrace where you can loll about on a comfy daybed or slip into a hot tub and gaze up at the blue sky. It’s the brainchild of American owner and former luxury hotel manager, Martin Dishman, who lives here and offers excellent guidance to the temples and buzzy ents scene of Siem Reap.
Read our full review here: http://www.i-escape.com/the-one-hotel-angkor/overview
9. Taprobane Island, Weligama, Sri Lanka
Your own private island a short wade from the coast – totally exotic and totally unique
This extraordinary villa occupies a tiny rocky island in Weligama Bay, just 180m off the south west coast of Sri Lanka. Built in the 1920s by the eccentric Count de Mauny-Talvande, it has subsequently played host to royalty, presidents and prime ministers and been home to various luminaries, including the novelist Paul Bowles, who wrote The Spider’s House here.
Read our full review here: http://www.i-escape.com/taprobane-island/overview
10. CPH Living, Copenhagen, Denmark
A small, sleek hotel on a converted barge moored in trendy Christianshavn, with minimalist rooms and wonderful river views
To get an idea of how eager the owners of CPH Living are to please their guests, just look at what they did to build this floating hotel (boat-el). First they hauled an old barge from Germany to Poland, where they extended and refurbished it; then they towed it to Estonia and mounted 12 simple yet stylish bedrooms on its decks; finally, they sailed it to Copenhagen, where it’s now docked on a glittering waterway in a hip residential area, enjoying a new life as one of the city’s quirkiest hotels.
Read our full review here: http://www.i-escape.com/cph-living/overview
