Posted by Jill Bowen on Tue 15th January 2008 at 09:16 AM, Filed in Unusual Hotels
Try to imagine walking along four miles of catwalks 70 feet up among the Amazon treetops, watching monkeys, macaws, parrots and sloth’s in the nearby trees.
You get all of this – and more if you stay at the amazing Ariau Towers Hotel. Just getting there is an adventure as it’s only accessible by speedboat or helicopter, or traditional riverboat. As you walk slowly on the catwalks, pause and look down at the waters of the Rio Negro River below, take in the ambiance, peace and quiet that a stay at this unique hotel offers. The catwalks lead up from a huge circular dining room, giving wonderful views of the rainforest as you meander along them. The whole construction is built on strong stilts at the canopy level of the Amazon jungle, and is located at he foot of the Anavilhanas Archipelago that is formed by 380 islands.
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If you’ve visited Japan or are Japanese the ‘Yotel’ capsule style hotels may not seem that unusual, but they are a new concept for the UK (already open at Gatwick and Heathrow terminal 4), Netherlands (soon opening in Amsterdam) and potentially New York. They could prove an excellent solution if you have a very early morning flight and live some distance from these airports. The rooms can also be rented for a minimum of four hours and thereafter by the hour which could also provide a haven if you have a number of hours to kill at the airport.
Yotel is the brainchild of Simon Woodroffe (of YO Sushi fame) with rooms not quite as small as their Japanese ‘cousins’. There are two differently sized rooms, both with breathable mattresses, en-suites, flat screen tv’s with 60 tv channels, 80 radio channels and 24 hour room service (ordered via the tv). The standard rooms (or cabins in Yo-speak) have a ‘large single’ bed that it said to accommodate 2 people – possibly adequately if you are both unhealthy size zero. The premium cabins have a couch that converts to a double bed at the touch of a button with under-bed storage for suitcases and about 2ft space around the bed when it is extended.
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Ever since I heard about Giraffe Manor (8 miles from Nairobi) I have wanted to visit. I am just waiting for my youngest child to be old enough to take malaria tablets!
I have been on safari before and it was then that giraffes became my favourite animal. I find them so photogenic and unlike any other animal on earth. I love the way they run with their necks stretching out, how they have to splay their legs to drink and even the way they fight (taking turns to ‘whack’ each other’s necks like an animal version of conkers!). On most African safaris any giraffe lover will be easily pleased. They are not one of the ‘big 5’ that people like to check off their must-see list but they are pretty common. I saw many giraffes but only glimpsed on cheetah and wasn’t lucky enough to see a single leopard.
On my safari I did manage to get a couple of beautiful photographs of giraffes but nothing that compares to the up close experience you can get at Giraffe Manor. It is a very small exclusive hotel set in 140 acres of forest. The building itself was commissioned by a British Lord in the 1930’s and modelled on a Scottish hunting lodge within sight of Mt Kilimanjaro. In 1974 Jock Leslie Melville and his American wife Betty bought the manor as their home when the Rothschild giraffe was facing extinction with much of its habitat disappearing. Two of the Rothschild giraffes were moved to the estate and Jock and Betty funded the African fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW). The giraffe’s at the manor have since bred and thrived
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Are your children (or even you) a Star Wars enthusiast?
If so a visit to the small village of Matamata in Tunisia just might be the holiday for you! The hotel ‘Sidi Driss’ has been nicknamed the Star Wars hotel because George Lucas used it as a set for Lars homestead on the dessert planet of ‘Tatooine’ (in the original Star Wars movie when Luke Skywalker gazed at the two suns, and used again for the more recent ‘Attack of the Clones’). In fact Tataouine does exist – it’s a town a few miles south of the filming location.
The Sidi Driss hotel is a traditional Berber house, built centuries ago with interior underground courtyards, or pits. The hotel has 5 pits and the one used in the film now houses a small bar and rooms used for serving breakfast. The guest rooms are situated in caves off other pits. Being in caves means that the rooms have no windows, but the temperature stays comfortable night and day. The interiors are basic (matching the price), painted white and have electricity and toilets and showers are shared. If you prefer a little more luxury you could stay nearby and make a day-trip to the hotel (coaches do turn up regularly) but you won’t experience the same solitude and photo opportunities without other people in the middle of them!.
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