These Wild Hotels Are Blowing Up Your IG Feed

From underwater properties to treetop hotels, Instagrammable accommodations are on the rise

Would you stay in a cabin made completely out of ice? Or spend the night surrounded by fish in an underwater hotel? If you’re a millennial on Instagram, chances are your answer is, “Hell yes!”

Experiential hotels that offer out-of-this-world experiences are becoming as important to the social media generation as the destinations themselves. These properties promise an immersive stay that’s beyond the ordinary. Whether guests are hardcore adventurers or just looking for something different, these highly Instagrammable accommodations prove to be an adventure in and of themselves.

“Experiential hotels offer guests believable escapism that is increasingly more difficult to find,” said Leslie Swanson, owner of Washington, D.C.-based Leslie Swanson Travel LLC, an affiliate of Departure Lounge. “Places like Finland’s Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort (with glass igloo accommodations), the pop-up yurts at Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia and Costa Rica’s Pacuare Lodge — accessible only by river or air — give people the chance to live out a completely different experience, if only for the night. That kind of promise is exciting, curious and fun to share.”

U.K.-based tour operator Off the Map Travel specializes in soft-adventure tours that incorporate wild accommodations, from a luxury catamaran anchored in the Norwegian fjords to a hotel on skis in northern Finland that moves locations based on the position of the northern lights. According to Gwen Tavares, Off the Map’s marketing pioneer, the company has seen an uptick in requests for experience-based hotels — and for secluded accommodations, in particular.

Mirrorcube is camouflaged by mirrored walls that reflect the surrounding forest. Image courtesy of treehotel

“Experience-based accommodations are picking up, and we try to include at least one unique stay in every trip,” she said. “Travelers are more interested in booking wild accommodations now than ever before, because they want to feel immersed in the destination as it gives them a truer feeling of relaxation and a more genuine experience, especially when they are in a remote place.”

Tavares cites social media as a major driving force. In this day and age, it’s a status symbol to share photos of yourself in places that few have had an opportunity to visit.

“People now document their entire lives on social media, and holidays are often a reward for working hard,” Tavares said. “To that end, travelers want to share their experiences, because this is their way of showing their success to a certain extent. It also drives them to plan a more shareable trip; the more out there or different the accommodation is, the more shareable.”

Social media — and Instagram, in particular — has brought valuable business to Andrea Espinosa, a private travel designer at Harmon Travel in Boise, Idaho. It has also offered opportunities to showcase her expertise.

“It’s about pushing boundaries and searching for authentic experiences. The deeper into the unknown and the more remote, the better.”

“In my opinion, eight out of 10 times, clients book wild accommodations for the ’gram. They want to be able to say, ‘Oh, I’ve been there before.’ And, usually, the more remote, the better,” Espinosa said. “They see a picture of a hotel on Instagram and tell me they want to stay there because it looks amazing. Sometimes, they don’t even know where the location is or the costs associated with certain experiences, but it’s fun to educate and offer options.”

Slated to open in the 2020 winter season, Arctic Bath in Harads, Sweden, is one of the latest wild accommodations to come to market. Billing itself as the world’s first Arctic floating spa, the property will comprise a dozen cabins; a Scandinavian restaurant serving locally sourced fare; and a spa with multiple saunas, baths and a treatment room.

While Arctic Bath caters to wellness travelers, its stunning design and unusual location are perhaps the biggest draws. Resembling a jam of timber floating down Lule River, the main lodge pays homage to Swedish log-shipping traditions. In the winter, the floating resort will freeze into the ice.

A rendering of the Arctic Bath resort in summer. Image courtesy of Arctic Bath / Off the Map

Arctic Bath is a sister property to social media darling, Treehotel, located a 10-minute drive away. Treehotel features visually arresting guestrooms that are suspended in a pine forest 13 to 32 feet above ground. Accommodations are accessible by ramp, bridge or electric stairs, and feature creature comforts such as heated floors and Wi-Fi access. Among the more striking units are the Mirrorcube (camouflaged by mirrored walls that reflect the surrounding forest), the hyper-realistic Bird’s Nest and the family-friendly UFO that sleeps up to five guests. Straight from the pages of a 1950s sci-fi novel, the UFO is accessible by an electric, collapsible ladder through a hatch in the floor. Alien sightings are not guaranteed.

At both Treehotel and the soon-to-open Arctic Bath, guests can book a number of once-in-a-lifetime excursions. Sure to give everyone at home FOMO, tours include moose safaris, bear-spotting in the midnight sun and hang time with a Sami family and their reindeers.

With cliffside hotels accessible only by rock climbing, guestrooms connected by ziplines, underwater properties and ice hotels available for bookings, what could possibly be next for this style of travel? In an effort to lure travelers who have “been there, done that,” expect the hospitality industry to continue to push the envelope and attempt to one up each other.

“This takes engineering and creativity to the next level,” said Off the Map’s Tavares. “Creating accommodations in ‘unlivable’ or unbelievable locations is on the rise and what we will see more of in the coming years. It’s about pushing boundaries and searching for authentic experiences. The deeper into the unknown and the more remote, the better.”

Have an out-of-this-world experience at UFO, one of treehotel’s quirkiest units. Image courtesy of treehotel.

A version of this story was originally published as a cover story for Explorer magazine. You can read it here.