Weird and wonderful hotel rooms

The world's strangest hotel rooms, from underwater villas to glass igloos

Forget gliding down a red carpet. The next time you treat yourself to a luxury stay, you may find yourself shimmying down rungs nailed into a cliffside, or climbing up a staircase wrapped around a tree trunk: welcome to the global boom in extreme accommodation.

No longer content with checking into a luxury suite, today's been-there-done-that traveller is looking for something more memorable – an underwater villa, perhaps, or a glass igloo.

"It's not enough to stay at a five-star hotel anymore," says Michael Londregan, managing director Asia-Pacific for Virtuoso, a global network of luxury travel advisers. "These products are capturing people's imagination. They are structuring their entire trip around these experiences."

But, most of all, it got us talking about wanting to be somewhere a little warmer and enjoying a stunning view from our very infinity pool. So we ran an internal poll and shortlisted our Top Six infinity pools from around the world. Take a look and let us know if you agree with our selection, or if you have better ones to add to the list.

#Four Seasons Safari Lodge, Serengeti

Talk about a pool with a view. Nestled within the Serengeti National Park this infinity pool boasts panoramic landscape views and a front-row seat to the variety of wildlife that rocks up daily to the watering hole just beyond. The pool at the Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti made it into our list simply because of this sideshow.

#The Resort at Pedregal, Los Cabos

On the very southern tip of Baja California Sur, you'll enter this infinite paradise at The Resort at Pedregal, a luxury Cabo San Lucas Resort. Overlooking the Pacific from atop the cliffside, these ocean views will calm your soul to their core. We also imagined that the drink on the table was particularly tasty too. Cheers...

#The Cambrian Hotel, Adelboden

Offering stunning panoramic views of the Swiss Alps, the infinity pool at the Cambrian is thankfully heated to a balmy 32 degrees, although that might contribute to making it even more difficult to leave. What a place to enjoy the unique views of mountains and waterfalls following a day flying down the slopes. Preparing you perfectly for some serious apres ski activities.

#Grace Hotel, Santorini

One of the most typical pictures of Santorini is the dazzling infinity pool perched atop the cliff, with the pool surface merging harmoniously with the waters of the Aegean in the distant background. The infinity pool at the Grace usually is that view, and as the destination itself, this iconic view conjured memories and images for us all.

In reality, there are very few actual infinity pools on Santorini and – I’ll be honest (technically infinity pools have a precise definition) this pool probably doesn't qualify. But it's such a fantastic pool that allows you to peer from the caldera cliff to provide incredible views of the volcano or sunset – or both, that we let that slip.

#Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Quite possibly the most famous infinity pool in the world, with the surreal backdrop of a bustling highrise city. Imagine soaking in the world’s largest rooftop infinity pool and gazing down on the glittering expanse of the city from 57 levels above. Even sunbathing on the luxurious poolside loungers, in the shade of the sky-high palm trees seems ludicrously magical, especially with a glass of champagne in hand.

#Alila Resort, Seminyak

We've included this pool, as not only is Seminyak a year-round favourite and one of the most popular search destinations for Room-Res, but equally, we have an unbeatable rate for this hotel that you could wow your customers with, for which they'd be forever your satisfied customer.

Agree with our Selection?

You've seen our short-list, let us know if you agree with it, but remember keeping it to six was tougher than we thought. Or, if you have a better one, why not tell us where it is and why.

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