Inside the World’s First Sand Hotel

Forget ice hotels—now there’s a chance to stay in a functional sand hotel instead.

Are the ice hotels in Finland and Sweden just a little too cold for your tastes? You’re in luck! Head to the Netherlands and you could stay in the exact opposite — a sand hotel.

Two pop-up Zand Hotels, each containing 60 one-room suites, were built for annual sand sculpture festivals in Sneek, Friesland and Oss, Brabant. Each hotel, organized and constructed by Global PowWow, took four weeks to build.

The sand hotels have running water, electricity, windows and Wi-Fi, all in the fully furnished suites. Plus, the water fixtures, deluxe box spring bed, and bathroom appliances are all made from traditional materials instead of sand.

And because it’s, well, sand, the main structures are actually constructed of thin walls, just embellished with reinforced sand and sand sculptures: one is designed to look like the Flintstones’ home, and the other has a Chinese theme with the Great Wall, dragons, and the terracotta army.

The hotels are only available for a limited time (during the festival) and are sadly already sold out for this year. But get a reservation in now—they’ll open again for next year’s festival. Others are planned to open in Germany and the U.K. as well.

A one-night’s stay for two people costs $168, including a personal tour of the sand sculpture festival where your hotel would be, both of which have about 30 sand sculptures.

[Photos: Zand Hotel]