Whether by totally transforming a city’s skyline, subverting old standards of hotel architecture or creatively reclaiming historic structures, these 12 unusual modern hotel designs have become destinations in and of themselves. These aren’t just cool-looking concepts that may or may not ever become reality – they’ve actually been built and are open for business.

Bella Sky Hotel by 3XN

Two wedge-shaped towers connected by a small skybridge taper down to the ground at 3XN’s Bella Sky Hotel, a new landmark in Copenhagen. Not only does this unusual design transform the city skyline, it also has the benefit of giving all 814 guest rooms view of the surrounding landscape.

Hotel Marques de Riscal, Spain by Frank Gehry

Whether they’re world-class museums or relatively small hotels in the Spanish countryside, architect Frank Gehry’s designs are anything but ordinary. The City of Wine complex for the Marques de Riscal Winery in Elciego, northern Spain features a wavy metallic exterior meant to reflect the colors of the winery’s signature bottles with their silver foil and gold mesh covering. The building houses a five-star, 43-room hotel as well as a restaurant, a spa offering ‘wine therapy,’ a wine shop and a viticulture museum.

ParkRoyal Hotel by WOHA

Terrace after terrace of vivid greenery characterizes WOHA’s Parkroyal Hotel in central Singapore. A series of towers is elevated above a wavy, sculptural ground-level platform characterized by breezy courtyards that blur the boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces.

Fogo Island Inn by Saunders Architecture

A cantilevered dining hall reaches out over the rocky coastline of Fogo Island, Newfoundland in Canada. The Fogo Island Inn, by Saunders Architecture and the Shorefast Foundation, is a contemporary 29-room hotel merging traditional craftsmanship with modern aesthetics for a dramatic look that pays proper tribute to the landscape.

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Destination Design 12 Forward Thinking Modern Hotels

From the pristine northern forests to the bustling streets of Stockholm, Sweden has a lot to offer – and plenty of cool, unusual and visually stunning places to stay while you’re visiting. In fact, if swanky art hotels with live glassblowing and painfully hip bars bursting with local patrons aren’t cool enough for you, you can literally sleep on ice at the world’s largest ice hotel. These 12 hotels range from the simplest hut in the woods to luxurious accommodations in historic buildings.

ICEHOTEL, Jukkasjärvi

(images via: icehotel.com)

Sweden is home to the world’s largest hotel made out of ice and snow. The ICEHOTEL began with a single igloo and now has 80 rooms, all made from over 10,000 tons of ice and 30,000 tons of snow. Available from mid-December to mid-April, the hotel is re-made and re-designed every year, with one-of-a-kind ‘art suites’, the world-famous Absolut Ice Bar, a restaurant and even an ice chapel.

TreeHotel, Harads

(images via: treehotel.se)

Stay in a stunning ‘Mirrorcube’ that reflects the surrounding forest, an oversized bird’s nest, a pod that resembles a UFO or a roomier cabin at the Treehotel, Sweden’s lofty new getaway in the pristine natural region of Harads. Each of the Treehotel’s six guest rooms are perched in the trees for unforgettable views, and they all have private bathrooms with incinerator toilets. (Good to note: the Mirrorcube has been specially treated to prevent bird collisions!)

Nobis Hotel, Stockholm

(images via: nobishotel.se)

Taking visual inspiration from Sweden’s wintry landscape, the crisp and elegant Nobis Hotel is not just a place to sleep – it’s been called ‘Stockholm’s living room’, with locals flocking to the cool contemporary bar and the hotel’s Southern Italian-style bistro. Located in a pair of historic 19th century buildings, the 201-room hotel is within walking distance of Stockholm’s best shopping and sightseeing.

Silvermine Suite, Sala

(images via: sophie andersson at salasilvergruva.se)

At the Sala Silvermine in Sweden, you can navigate dark winding underground passageways down to your own private cave. The Silvermine Suite is 155 meters under the surface of the earth in one of the world’s best-preserved historic mines, which once produced over 3 tons of silver every year. For travelers who aren’t claustrophobic and don’t mind the cold, this could definitely be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Story Hotel, Stockholm

(images via: storyhotels.com)

The bohemian-chic Story Hotel is a favorite of stylish urbanites, combining modern glamor with a welcoming sense of coziness enhanced by plenty of purple velour. Clean, bright new elements are combined with strategically revealed remnants of the building’s former life as private residences including antique wallpaper, disused electric meters and reclaimed doors as headboards. Offering 82 guest rooms at affordable prices, the Story Hotel is ideally located right in the city center.

Kolarbyn Eco-Lodge, Skinnskatteberg

(images via: kolarbyn.se)

Set in a picturesque glade near the lake of Skärsjön, the Kolarbyn Eco-Lodge is Sweden’s most primitive hotel, offering twelve electricity-free ‘nature huts’ that put you as close to the Swedish landscape as you can get without actually camping. You’ll fall asleep on soft sheepskins by the glow of candles and the crackle of a warming fire, and enjoy an open-air breakfast when you awaken in the morning. Part of the proceeds of your stay will go toward protecting area wildlife.

Nordic Light Hotel, Stockholm

(images via: nordiclighthotel.se)

Voted Sweden’s leading boutique hotel two years in a row, the Nordic Light Hotel in Stockholm is burstling with personality yet soothing to the eyes of weary travelers. Carefully chosen accent colors and lighting installations invite relaxation in the guest rooms, inspired by the long dawns and sunsets in the region which give off a glow of rainbow colors. The 175 rooms are divided into three categories – ‘standard’ for those who aren’t keen on dramatic lighting effects, ‘superior’ for a little more character and ‘deluxe’ for a truly unique, almost otherwordly experience.

Utter Inn, Lake Mälaren

(images via: houseandhome.ie)

It looks almost like a joke – could you really stay in a space that small, the size of a garden shed? But the Utter Inn is bigger than it looks – its second story is located underwater. Floating in the middle of Lake Mälaren, Utter  Inn features two twin beds and a table in the bedroom and a small kitchenette in the upper room. Jump right off the hotel deck into the water, or just watch the fish from the windows in the bedroom.

Salt & Sill Floating Hotel, Klädesholmen

(image via: saltosill.se)

Like the lake idea, but want something slightly more conventional? Sweden has another floating hotel, the Salt & Sill, a minimalist 23-room barge that also serves as a top-notch seafood restaurant specializing in herring and fresh local produce. All 23 rooms have their own outdoor seating areas, but the hotel’s sole suite has an extra-enticing benefit: a private roof-top jacuzzi. The hotel’s location on the lake, by the way, is not a gimmick: the adjacent land simply didn’t have any room.

Jumbo Hostel Plane Hotel, Stockholm

(images via: jumbostay.se)

A junked 747-200 has a new life as a unique new hostel in Stockholm. Retrofitted with 25 guest rooms, from quad dormitories with bunk beds to private suites, the Jumbo Hostel retained the original lounge bar and first class seats, and some lucky visitors get to sleep in the cockpit, which has its own private bathroom.

Kosta Boda Art Hotel, Småland

(images via: kosta boda art hotel)

Located in the heart of Småland’s ‘The Kingdom of Crystal’, home to 13 glassworks, the eagerly anticipated Kosta Boda Art Hotel is a glittering showcase of glass art by the famed Kosta Boda. Each of the hotel’s 124 rooms has been individually designed by the glass artists, and their influence is particularly notable in the hotel bar and in the spa, where swimmers can put on goggles to view a glass exhibit at the bottom of the pool. Take a seat in the restaurant and you can even watch Kosta Boda glassblowers blow and sculpt glass on a stage.

Scandic Malmen, Stockholm

(images via: scandichotels.com)

Fun and budget-friendly, the 327-room Scandic Malmen is located within walking distance of some of Stockholm’s best live music venues in the trendy district of SoFo. A massive, blocky, unremarkable exterior gives way to interior design that matches the hipness of the hotel’s location. The hotel restaurant is a popular choice among Stockholm residents for brunch.

France is known for a lot of things – not the least of which are chic fashion, refined culture and some of the world’s best cuisine. But a well-deserved reputation for elegance and luxury tends to overshadow the fun, kooky side of the country. Forget all those fancy five-star old world hotels in Paris and beyond – these 12 stand out by being modern, artsy, quirky or downright bizarre without sacrificing comfort and style.

La Villa Hamster, Nantes

(images via: spot cool stuff)

If you’ve ever looked longingly at a hamster cage and wished you could run on a wheel and drink out of a big bottle of water mounted to the wall, there’s a hotel in France just for you. La Villa Hamster has guest rooms designed to resemble hamster cages, complete with haystack beds and wrought iron wheels – including one in the lobby that actually works. To reach the traditional mattress in each room, you have to climb through a tube, and in the bathroom, you have your choice between a regular toilet or a bed of wood chips.

Kube Hotel, Paris

(images via: kubehotel.com)

The Kube Hotel gets its name from the look of its reception area – a large glass cube that calls to mind ice hotels in the frigid Arctic. And in fact, among the 41 guest rooms is “The Ice Cube Room by Grey Goose”, where you can sleep in -10 degrees on an ice bed covered with animal skins. Relaxing hues of blue and lilac continue into the remaining guest rooms.

Seeko’o Hotel, Bordeaux

(images via: archdaily)

This hotel is impossible to miss. Positioned on the waterfront in Bordeaux on a historic 18th century block, the bright white facade of the Seeko’o is a pop of futurism and serves as a fun, modern home base when touring France’s wine country. 45 rooms outfitted with all manner of high-tech gadgets and gizmos feature large French windows offering a view of the water and black ceilings surrounded with lights, giving the effect of a night sky.

One by the Five, Paris

(images via: onebythefive.com)

Sumptuous, intimate and sexy: these three words sum up the One by the Five Hotel in Paris. Billed as one of the city’s most romantic hotels, the One by the Five is located in the colorful Latin Quarter and is actually just a single five-room suite with no sign, lobby or staff – you check in at The Five hotel across the street. Draped with velvet and decorated with giant art panels depicting close-ups of human body parts, the hotel even has a purple boudoir full of perfume bottles.

Le Bellechasse, Paris

(images via: lebellechasse.com)

Given a chic makeover by fashion designer Christian Lacroix, Paris’ Hotel Bellechasse is a stunning fusion of 19th century visuals and modern comfort and convenience. Hidden away on a narrow side street in the oh-so-Parisian St. Germain neighborhood, this boutique hotel is a feast for the eyes.

Color Design Hotel, Paris

(images via: colordesign-hotel-paris.com)

With brightly-colored design details that pop against a minimalist white backdrop, the Color Design Hotel in Paris definitely lives up to its name. Located in the heart of the city between the Place de la Bastille and the Gare de Lyon Station, the 3-star Color Design Hotel has 46 modern rooms that rent for affordable prices in one of Europe’s priciest cities.

Inflatable CristalBubble Hotel, Mont Blanc

(images via: bubbletree.fr)

Rent an inflatable, transparent ‘bubble tent’ and place it just about anywhere in the South of France, from the hilly countryside of Mont Blanc to the beach or even in a tree. CristalBubble Hotel is 13 feet in diameter with a king-sized bed; certainly the most comfortable way to sleep under the stars with a 360-degree view. Designed for two adults, the bubbles can be expanded to add a smaller children’s room – or servant’s quarters, if that’s how you roll.

Hotel le A, Paris

(images via: paris-hotel-a.com)

Chic and understated, Hotel le A is a collaboration between designer/architect Fréderic Mechiche and artist Fabrice Hybert, whose understated design sensibilities combine to form a minimalist yet visually interesting and inviting place to stay, just around the corner from the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysées. The hotel’s 25 guest rooms, including 9 suites and one apartment, are all monochromatic relaxation.

Hotel des Academies, Paris

(images via: hotel-des-academies.com)

Rated the third best hotel in Europe by TripAdvisor, the Hotel des Academies celebrates the creative arts – fitting for its location in one of the artsiest districts in Paris. Choose from classic or Art Deco-styled rooms designed by artist Jérôme Mesnager and sculptor Sophie de Watrigant – decorated, naturally, with many unique artistic touches. It’s definitely all elegance, and not a budget hotel by any means, but its creative 21st-century interpretation of the modern art culture of the city makes it worth a splurge.

Museumotel, Raon-l’Etape

(images via: spot cool stuff)

This cluster of 9 quirky bungalows on an island in Eastern France is fantastically retrofuturistic, with groovy interiors full of pop art that seem straight out of the 1960’s. Museumotel‘s bubble suites, which have private bathrooms and a view of the sea, are budget-friendly at €55 (roughly $75) per night.

Mama Shelter, Paris

(images via: mamashelter.com)

Located in a former garage outside the touristy area of Paris, Mama Shelter is the very definition of cheap chic – designer looks at an affordable price. French designer Phillipe Starcke gave Mama Shelter a hip, young feel with exposed concrete, graffiti-style decorative accents and wacky touches like the superhero masks hanging by the beds. At night, the hotel’s bar is hopping and the Le Fleche d’Or music venue is just across the street.

Hotel Everland, Paris

(images via: spot cool stuff)

Imagine sleeping in a rooftop pod with a stunning view of the Eiffel Tower. That’s exactly what you got at the ultramodern Hotel Everland, a one-room designer prefab. The traveling exhibit is no longer in Paris, but it was amazing while it lasted, perched above the Palais de Tokyo.

Indulge in your James Bond fantasy and lounge in a 007-worthy suite complete with a revolver-shaped lamp, or step into the mind of famed fashion designer Christian Lacroix. When all of this and more is possible, why not make your hotel stay a cultural experience in itself with a themed, fantasy or art hotel? From a surprisingly successful clash of Italian classicism and ultra-modern furnishings to a girly getaway worthy of a 21st century Marie Antoinette, these 12 hotel rooms from 5 of the world’s most creative hotels are irresistible eye candy.

Hotel Seven, Paris, France

No matter your tastes or even your mood at the moment, Hotel Seven in Paris has a luxury suite that will make you swoon. The 28-room designer hotel features seven incredible themed suites that range from the subtle, tranquil charms of a limited black-and-white palette to a room worthy of – and indeed named after – 007 himself.

Go down the rabbit hole and spend a night or two in the charmingly childlike “Alice” suite, decked out in shades of lush green and vivid pink with a collection of clocks hanging on one wall and a stuffed rabbit mounted on another. This suite’s most amusing touch is the chess set – playable while seated on the porcelain throne.

Those with more aristocratic tastes in the vein of Marie Antoinette – albeit a modernized version of the famous French queen, a la Sofia Coppola – should check out her namesake room. Soft and feminine, the suite has a serene painted sky, many a soft surface upon which to lounge and eat cake, and a bed surrounded by a sheer canopy of cursive-laden curtains.

But of course, when James Bond is in the building, everyone else is eclipsed, and indeed, the James Bond suite is the highlight of Hotel Seven. Masculine with a bit of kitsch, this suite is 1960s Sean Connery Bond all the way, with a midcentury lounge in which to drink martinis – shaken, not stirred, naturally – and an eye-catching revolver-shaped lamp.

Le Bellechasse Hotel, Paris, France

Christian Lacroix has been so busy designing stunning boutique hotels, it’s a wonder that he has had any time for fashion. Just across Paris from his chic and oh-so-French Hotel du Petit Moulin is the dreamy Le Bellechasse with 34 rooms grouped into three categories: Discovery, Original and Privilege. Each category denotes its own particular type of artistic flair, together creating what could be considered equal parts museum-quality exhibits and luxurious digs.

Begin with ‘Discovery’ and take a trip through a theatrical and complex visual narrative, in this case consisting of renaissance-era paintings and old world imagery updated with modern touches that keep the design from being staid or predictable. Moving into ‘Original’, you’re suddenly a part of a three-dimensional Victorian decoupage packed with butterflies, suns, moons and other natural subjects. But ‘Privilege’ feels like another hotel altogether, bright and modern with bold prints and colors.

“For me traveling is going through the looking glass, whether it’s a painting, a photograph, a text,” says Lacroix. “When in a train or hotel room, I travel inside my head.”

Barcelo Raval Hotel, Barcelona, Spain

When architecture firm CMV Arquitectos and interior designer Jordi Gali took on the renovation of the Barcelo Raval Hotel in Barcelona, they were faced with a unique challenge: the unusual elliptical shape of the building. They solved this problem with a central concrete core that acts as the spine of the building, providing a smoothly flowing space in which the oval is echoed at every turn, becoming a theme for the design as a whole. A plush pink seating area and a mass of white foam cylinders hanging from the ceiling make the lounge and bar all eye candy.

Upstairs, the guest rooms vary slightly by floor, with varying shades of neon accents, but all are anchored by plenty of sleek black and white surfaces. Open baths with tubs made of Corian look like sculptures, and LED lights in bright colors shine from the white headboards.

Byblos Art Hotel, Italy

From the outside, the Byblos Art Hotel could be virtually any elegant manor in the Italian countryside – and indeed, architecturally, the same could be said about the interior. But where some designers might just shrug and go with a classic theme in order to honor the historical elements of the building, Alessandro Mendini took a risk and ultimately created one of the most stunning juxtapositions of old and new in recent memory, artfully combining tray ceilings and crystal chandeliers with spare midcentury-modern furnishings and mod textiles.

The hotel is a veritable museum of contemporary art, with works by Frank Lloyd Wright, Anish Kapoor and Beatriz Millar. The hotel’s three suites – the Presidential, the Baroque and Mendini’s Cult – continue the design theme in three very different ways. Where the Presidential suite is positively regal and appropriately traditional with plenty of heavy jewel-toned drapery and gilt flourishes, the Baroque Suite is outfitted in cheerful yellow stripes and a coral-red headboard. The Mendini’s Cult suite is practically a shrine to the design of Atelier Mendini, an Italian design firm headed by brothers Alessandro and Francesco Mendini.

The G Hotel, Galway, Ireland

In  the 1990s, supermodel Linda Evangelista famously said that she wouldn’t get out of her bed for less than $10,000. At the G Hotel in Galway, Ireland, you can actually stay in that very bed – once owned by Evangelista herself – in the specialty suite named after the model.

Milliner Philip Treacy has designed some of the most fanciful and whimsical hats in the world, so it’s no wonder that as design director of the G Hotel, he chose bubblegum pink as the main color for the club room. Everywhere you look, there are hints of the elements that Treacy often includes in his wearable creations – from feathery mirrors mounted on the doors to the origami-like bird sculptures that hang from the ceiling in the spa.

While the most obvious traces of Treacy’s influence are seen in the communal areas of the hotel, the rooms themselves carry a subtle iteration of the theme with framed illustrations of Treacy’s creations and Frette linens that the milliner designed himself.

Tree houses, neon lights, robot sculptures and all-white rooms reminiscent of outer space: these loopy lodgings definitely can’t be found at your local Holiday Inn. And why settle for a bland everyday room when you could have a totally one-of-a-kind respite designed by a local artist or even an internationally renowned architect? These 20 rooms at 6 hotels around the world are in a (weird but wonderful) class of their own.

Wanderlust Hotel, Singapore

(image via: habitusliving)

Try to conjure up the most incredibly creative, artistic hotel rooms you can possibly imagine, and they might very well look something like the real-life rooms of the Wanderlust Hotel in Singapore. Each room at the Wanderlust is like an art exhibit at a gallery, as different from one another as if they were created by a diverse team of designers – and that they were.

From the ‘industrial glam’ lobby you’ll walk up onto a first floor filled with bright neon capsule-like rooms, a second floor with similar neon rooms named for color-related songs, and a third floor featuring black-and-white rooms as well as stunning origami-themed rooms where every element, from the ceiling fan to the headboard, appears to be made from folded paper.

On the top floor, ‘Creature Comforts’, is an incredible array of surreal rooms including one that looks like a modern tree, another with a huge monster on the wall and yet another with a couch that looks like an overgrown typewriter run amok.

Lub D Hostel, Bangkok

(images via: weheart)

Vibrant colors and quirky murals give the Lub D Hostel in Bangkok the look of a high-end boutique hotel on a shoestring budget. Bare concrete surfaces and exposed ducts that would otherwise look drab take on a stylish industrial look when paired with modern furnishings and solid blocks of vivid paint.

Definitely not for conservative tourists, this youth-skewed hostel by designLAB is packed with fun and unexpected details like the striking living wall in the courtyard and a cheeky mural ad for a local cabaret that reads, ‘Ladyboy Heaven – Is it a she or a he? He he he…”

The Winston Hotel & Bar, Amsterdam

(images via: winston.nl)

You’d never guess from the staid exterior of The Winston in Amsterdam that this hotel & hostel – which also has its own bar and club – contains such wildly creative rooms inside. Or perhaps you would, if you realized you were in the city’s notorious Red Light District. The Winston is a budget art hotel where every room is unique, including one with a bizarre transformer-like robot mounted on the wall and a child-like room appropriately called the ‘Playnation Room’. The bathroom in the hotel’s club even has its own mini art gallery.

Hotel Puerta America, Madrid

(images via: hoteles-silken.com)

You know that the Hotel Puerta America in Madrid is something special before you even walk in the door. The exterior is encased in brightly colored cladding printed with the poem ‘Freedom’ by Paul Ellard. But that’s nothing compared to the showcase of international design talent found inside. Each of the 12 floors of this new boutique hotel was designed by one of the world’s most sought-after architects including Zaha Hadid, David Chipperfield, Normal Foster and Jean Nouvel.

Ascending from one floor to the next, one encounters jarring shifts in color and mood, shifting from Chipperfield’s toned-down monochromatic luxury to faceted stainless steel to Italian opulence. Marc Newsom’s sixth floor is practically vampiric with its red lacquer, white marble and black furniture while Ron Arad takes the seventh floor to a futuristic, almost space-like place with curved white Corian. Interactivity, Japanese minimalism, industrial cement and zebra-striped formica walls are just a few of the other themes included in the eclectic mix.

Hotel du Petit Moulin, Paris

(images via: hotelpetitmoulinparis.com)

Designed by Christian LaCroix, the Hotel du Petit Moulin in Paris embodies the style of the renowned clothier and of the city itself. Whimsical and feminine, the boutique hotel is located in a former 17th-century bakery and packed with toile, beading, intricate illustrations and luxe fabrics. Each of the hotel’s seventeen rooms offers a different way of experiencing the district of Le Marais in which the hotel is located, according to the designer.

“When I designed l’Hotel du Petit Moulin in Le Marais, I had the impression of rediscovering an erstwhile childhood dream, left by the wayside. A dream of living in a hotel, building a decor, day after day, in the colors of the times, putting ambiences together into volume and space and not only on paper or through fashion collections.”

Daddy Long Legs, South Africa

(images via: daddylonglegs.co.za)

Staying at the Daddy Long Legs Hotel in South Africa is like being part of an interactive art exhibition – and that’s exactly what the hotel believes many travelers are looking for. “They are independent, creative, forward thinking travellers….. who don’t want to stay in another regular hotel room in another regular city on another regular holiday.” No danger of that happening here.

The hotel has 13 rooms designed by 13 artists, each with their own creative theme. The Emergency Room resembles a blood-drenched hospital suite with an IV stand and a nurse’s uniform hanging on the wall, but it’s anything but sterile (and doesn’t smell like a hospital, so they say.) Graffiti artist Mak1One designed a highly unusual 3D wall sculpture above the bed in the ‘Being Mak1One’ room, and in ‘The Photo Booth’, 240 images by Antony Smyth create one large portrait.