Travel for the Over 30s

Some more great information from Simon at OverlandWannabe 

There is something special about the youth hostels in Germany.  Perhaps it has a lot to do with the fact that both countries have a lot of castles, built by Barons or towns to protect lands and collect taxes, which have no real purpose in the modern world.

Rather than let them fall to ruins or try to run them solely as museums,  the Germans have turned many of them into Hostels.  Castles are almost perfect for this as they all had barracks for stationing troops, which make excellent hostels!
Most famous (infamous) of these is actually Colditz Castle , in which of course a plane was built in the attic and planned to be flown out, allowing British POW’s to escape.  A night’s stay in Colditz is only 17euro, the question is - can you escape the next morning?!!

Other Castle Hostels in Germany

Bacharach Hostel - on the Rhine, 12th century - hard to miss but a steep walk!

Burg Altena - the original castle hostel.

Heppenheim  - fantastic views - steep climb

Leibertingen-Wildenstein

Stimpfach-Rechenberg

Kronach part of a city wall so not actually a steep climb!

Passau - stunning view over the ancient town - which means - you guessed it a steep climb!

Advantages of Staying in Germany’s Castles Hostels

•  there is no age restriction Bavaria has finally dropped their under 25 rule
• the price - very reasonable even for a private room
• the view - castles tend to be on tops of hills
• security- its a castle right!

Disadvantages of Staying in Germany’s Castle Hostels

• the hill- the castle will be on top of one normally!
• no lifts - retro-fitting lifts doesn’t happen in a castle - these are not disability-friendly hostels
• the cold - central heating isn’t common
• you have to join the German youth hostel association, or be a member of your home youth hostel asociation, or pay an extra fee a night to buy a visitors guest membership
• school groups use hostels extensively in Germany - you may run into a party - or find the hostel booked out with them

Well the Swedes do it again. We reviewed the hostel on the boat in central Stockholm, now there is a new budget option to stay in a plane at Arlanda - Stockholm’s major airport!

The Jumbo Hostel combines several inprobable concepts: a cheap airport hotel, a cheap comfortable bed in a plane and a cheap hotel in Sweden!  Yes this really is a decommissioned 747 - which once flew for Pan-Am but ended up a wreck whichhas been refurbished into a hostel near the entrance to Stockholme’s Arlanda airport.

There are 25 rooms in total most of which are 3-bed dorms with a facilites down the corridor. The exception is the deluxe flight-deck suite which includes an en-suite. All rooms have a flat-screen TV which includes information for arrival and departure. There is wifi throughout the Jumbo hotel and also an onsite cafe open to the public.

Rates start at around US$43 (350SEK) for a dorm bed to US$411 (3,100 SEK) for the cockpit room. Not exactly cheap for a hostel - but not bad for a unique experience at an airport hotel!

Uniquely there is an observation deck on the left wing for those 0f you who always wanted to climb out on the wing of 747-200 but never quiet dared to!  Not sure what it is with Europe and re-purposing structures into hostels - but I think I like the idea of this one better than that off a nuclear bunker

Sweden is not a cheap destination - even by European standards – a beer at a pub could easily set you back US$12. But the best bargain in town  is also a unique experience and unbelievably central: the official Youth Hostel the fine ship af Chapman  a fully rigged sailing ship moored in the centre of town off the island of Skeppsholmen with views of the Royal Palace and Stockholm’s old town Gamla Stan. The ship is a tourist attraction in its own right -  as the world’s third oldest remaining iron-ore ships  though its been a hostel since 1949. Recently refurbished the af Chapman has not just backpacker dorms but also the luxurious captain’s cabin  complete with claw-foot bath. Access to the ship is restricted to guests so you can ejoy the view from the top-deck  pretending to be important by waving to the tourists!

The af Chapman is also surely one of the quietest hostels central city hostels:  small dorms by necessity and  great view from your porthole without getting out of your bunk. The gently slapping of the waves are a great way to get to sleep and there is no traffic noise often associated with central city hostels.  For booking checkout hihostels.com the secret is well out though, so you may have to book months early particularly in the summer months.

I can’t work out whether this goes under the “stramge hotel ” category or the “seriously wacky travel idea” category - but its weird. Versace is building a new luxury hotel at Dubai - OK so far, but the problem is how to be different. We have the 77-star hotel and the latest underwater hotel in Dubai so how to be have a “unique selling point” with another luxury hotel in Dubai?

The answer is obviously - add air-con , to the beach Yes I am not kidding ! The new Palazzo Versace Dubai will have a refridgerated beach! I mean why not - after all it gets hot in Dubai - up to 50C in the summer. And sand, in those temperatures, can really burn. So they are adding cooling circuits to cool the beach down, According to the Times Online

“The beach will have a network of pipes beneath the sand containing a coolant that will absorb heat from the surface.

The swimming pool will be refrigerated and there are also proposals to install giant blowers to waft a gentle breeze over the beach.”

As a way of getting a buzz going for your new hotel this is a seriously good marketing idea! Lets face it anything that annoys the tree-hugging conservationists who are concerned about global warming has to be good doesn’t it?

I don’t think Versace is taking the concept of the cool beach far enough though. How about the water - you have nice cool sand, nice cool air and then whammo the Arabian Gulf is a bit warm for your taste! From the looks of the concept drawings the Palazzio Versace will be on its own island, de rigeur these day for crazy hotels in Dubai, so what about offering a range of water temperatures as well? In fact the contrast is always nice: so why not do a bit of ice making to create floating icebergs in the pool would be a pleasent contrast to the warm sea - and will be a huge hit with all the Finns and Russians who enjoy rolling in the snow after the sauna!

What do you think about refridgerating the beach? Lets face it if you want a cool beach you cold just vacation in England or New Zealand? Or go swimming in the early morning or at night as most Australians are used to doing in the hotter climates?

Coober Pedy is an opal mining town in northern South Australia. The name is a corruption of the local Aborigine name meaning ‘white man’s whole in the ground”. Coober Pedy is so desolate that even the aborigines didn’t live there. Coober Pedy is on the only sealed road north from Adelaide to Darwin - but its a very long way to either.

Coober Pedy regularly see’s temperatures over 50C in the summer, and can hit freezing in the winter. There is no wood and little vegetation - so the logical thing to do, for miners anyway was to live underground. In fact underground is a constant, comfortable 20C.

Australians love to renovate - but usually renovations are expensive: one dug out, as underground homes are called, made over $200,000 extending the house to 7 bedrooms. It was a renovation though because mining in the town is now illegal - because of the risk of subsidence.

A visitor to town should definitely consider checking in underground. The most expensive hotel in town is actually above ground but there is both a youth hostel and a camp ground (tent not required). We stayed at the aptly named Underground Motel for around $120/night. The rooms actually all have windows at the front but it was slightly strange sleeping underground - because it was so quiet and still! Rooms come with fans and night lights but don’t require air conditioning.

Let’s face it cheap, affordable hotel and Switzerland don’t normally go together in the same sentence - but here is an exception: the Null Stern Hotel in the small Swiss town of Sevelen is just the spot to be if the badies get the bomb: the so-call Zero star hotel is in a retro-fitted bomb shelter! According to the authorities:

“Using the weapon of art, we have created a low-budget hotel, which has charm, takes into account guests’ individual wishes and thus becomes quite something,” said twin brothers Frank and Patrik Riklin, artists commissioned by local authorities to convert an ancient neighboring factory into a culture center and integrate the bunker.”

Lets face it its a bit different from a seven-star resort in Dubai - but at the price I wouldn’t be complaining

Apparently nuclear bunkers are expensive to retro-fit central heating into, so guests are issued a hot water bottle and slippers for the concrete floors. The bathrooms are definitely not ensuite but does include a live-cam which stream images from the outside world, in case the guests feel a bit claustrophobic without a view, windows are not included in a nuclear bunker design!

Now the only catch is that the Null Stern Hotel is not yet officially open - but they are hoping to in 2009 so check out the official Null Stern Hotel - Zero Stars Hotel website to register your interest. If this one takes off they may even become a chain - after all Switzerland has a LOT of nuclear bunkers!

To be perfectly honest the size of those dorms and the amount of floor space looks practically palatial compared to some zero star hotels I’ve stayed at around the world!

Well I mentioned the other day that the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai had some great opening specials for a 7-star hotel! The Atlantis is the signature hotel on artificial island called the Palms. Quite a lot of the impressive building is underwater: meaning that you can truely dine and live under the sea!

Dubai really has a fascination with water theme parks and the Atlantis has one built right into the centre of the hotel. The Zigguaret tower features a 27m high verticle drop which takes you via the lazy river through the shark attack lagoon. What you won’t see in the photos are the black burqua clad girls having a great time on the water rides: a truely Middle Eastern site! Check out these cool photos of the Atlantis Hotel.

Point Montara LightHouse is an unusual light house hostel just south of San Francisco. The lighthouse offers absolutely spectacular views, of course, at around $20 night. Interiors include the original wooden stairs and the whole structure is preserved because its actually owned by California State Parks and run by the American Youth Hostel association.

The light house was originally on the other side of the country at Cape Code, a link which was only recently rediscovered, the Cape Coders thought their lighthouse was removed destroyed back in the 1920’s but recently an enthusiast found that in fact it was sold to Point Montara! The Port Montara light house dates back to the 1880’s.

Just 25 miles south of San Francisco a night at Port Montara could turn to more as there are plenty of hiking, biking and surfing options in the area, with whales sightings in season to. Accommodation is in both dorms and private rooms. All facilities are shared and include a full kitchen: a private room will cost less than $70, a dorm bed $22 -that’s not a bad price for California - and especially as the view is free!

Photo Credit and more photos here

I have stayed in some weird hotels but this is one of the strangest I’ve heard of! If you are ever stuck for accommodation in Linz, Austria: check out Das Park Hotel . Every year from May to October a number of concrete drainpipes are set up in a public park. Yes that’s right; drainpipes! They are nicely equipped drainpipes: they have skylight and a comfortable double bed, and even a 220v socket to charge up those travel essentials, like the cell phone. Also I suspect that they are very waterproof and have no problem with vermin!

Now this not 5-star luxury accommodation either. There is no ensuite or room service but here’s the twist, as the website puts it:

“Because we obtain sanitation, breakfast and other hotel facilities from existing public infrastructure, it is possible for us to work with the very simple, user-friendly “pay as you wish” system. A night in dasparkhotel costs just as much as you can afford or want to pay.”

Believe me beds don’t get cheaper than that in Europe! You do need to make a reservation the day before, via the website: you are then given an electronic access code which gives you access to your pipe from 3pm to 11:59am the following day - none of that uncivilsed early check out of 10am!

I like the idea: its secure and central - it would be ideal if you were waiting for a late train - you could chill out without wandering the streets or staking out the waiting room at the train station. The only downside is, that from the photos, there only seems only be 3 or 4 pipes: I hope the expand the system and maybe extend it other Austrian towns: I mean I’d like to be able to call up on my cellphone - and say - hey mum, I calling from this real sewer of a hotel…..