8 Of Australia’s Weirdest Hotels
Five stars and a buffet breakfast is all well and good, but in this day and age of abundant tourism, yesterday’s prime accommodation comforts don’t always yield as much pizazz as they used to. When it comes to your temporary digs on the road, sometimes you need to transcend the tried and true and relish in a dose of weirdness instead.
Here’s a peek at some of the nation’s craziest, wildest, and downright weirdest hotelling options for those seeking some slightly different winks.
[listicle]The Lily, WA
With perfect views of WA’s Stirling Ranges, the uber-unique Lily offers the willing punter two fabulously out of the ordinary lodging options. If slumbering in its authentic 16th Century design brick ‘ground-sail’ windmill doesn’t float one’s moat, then a kip and a frolic in its adjacent Dakota DC-3 airplane (or C-47, if you’re militarily inclined), is sure to hit the mark. The aircraft-cum-boudoir is one of thousands that were manufactured for the war effort during 1943/44, and after completing service in Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia, can now be enjoyed by all.
Fremantle Prison, WA
Backpacker hostels are typically likened to human zoos, while others are known to dip into the quality and comfort calibre of your run of the mill penitentiary. In WA, the latter experience is much more than a metaphor. Welcome to Fremantle Prison – one time lockup, now budget backpacker accommodation hub. Replete with barbed wire, cells and an exercise yard, this 19th century UNESCO protected gaol is the perfect nexus of old and new, where locals and out-of-towners can savour history and live like a convict from Australia’s distant past. Nothing too heavy here, either, with the the most common offences of prior residents including vagrancy, loitering in public places, drunkenness, obscenity, soliciting, being idle or having no visible means of support.
B Division, Pentridge, VIC
Staying with the prison theme, Pentridge Prison’s B-Division was once home to Australia worst and most notorious criminals, including gagster Squizzy Taylor and self-made celebrity Chopper Read. Decommissioned in 1997 after a brutal and bloody 146-year history, developers are set to transform this site of bloodshed, murder, fires and escape into a luxurious refurbished accommodation experience. Sweet dreams, folks.
President Hoover’s House, Goldfields, WA
Did you know that before becoming the 31st President of the United States of America, Herbert Hoover lived in and mined for gold in and around the goldfields of Western Australia? A bona fide self made mining man prior to his political ingress, 23-year-old Hoover lived and mined the WA fields from 1897 as an employee of Bewick, Moreing & Co., a London-based gold mining company. Hoover set up shop for a while in an old homestead in the ‘living ghost town’ of Gwalia – those seeking refuge on the old outback mining trail can find top quality shut eye here in the Prez’s old digs.
Mira Mira Fantasy Hotel, VIC
“Mira Mira on the wall, what’s the weirdest accommodation of them all?” So goes the query posed on the Mira Mira Fantasy Hotel’s website. The answer: quite possibly this joint. Bed and breakfasts don’t have to be boring, and Mira Mira takes this tenet to the next level. Located in the beautiful Gippsland Region, just 90 minutes from Melbourne, guests can “live in art” within one of three self contained fantasy retreats: an ominous ‘magog-mouthed’, fire-lit cave; a sensual, tranquil Japanese den; or the ethereal, Gaudi-inspired house of ‘Tanglewood’. Weirdness at its finest.
Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse, NSW
Who hasn’t at some point in their life considered the incredible coolness inherent in being able to shack up a night or two in the hold of a Round the Twist-esque lighthouse? You might not be able to doze off in the thing itself, but you can get pretty darn close to it at Sugarloaf Point in NSW. The coast’s lighthouse on Seal Rocks is still functional, however punters can get close to the action by renting out one of its stunning, refurbished keepers’ quarters.
Photo: National Parks NSW
Gagudju Crocodile Hotel, NT
In a state where crocodiles make the front page of the paper most days, there’s bound to be at least one accommodation house championing the local star attraction. Mercure Kakadu Crocodile fills that niche, a 250-metre homage to Kakadu’s most notorious inhabitant: the saltwater croc. Two and a half hours from Darwin, in the middle of a World Heritage listed park, this Indigenous owned four-star getaway offers a decadent swimming pool oasis, Kakadu bush tucker, and deluxe Aboriginal art-adorned suites.
Photo: Tourism Top End
Underground Desert Cave, SA
Where else but Coober Pedy would you find the nation’s most sought after underground hotel? Shade yourself from the sweat and heat and dig the dug-out style living of local inhabitants at Desert Cave Hotel, decadently decked out with underground shops, bar and obligatory opal store displays. One of the most restful (if not slightly claustrophobic) slumbers in the nation.[/listicle]
