The first ever sand hotels have been opened in the Dutch towns of Oss and Sneek. To make it more significant, these fully furnished one-room suites have been built as part of the annual sand sculpture festivals in Sneek, Friesland and Oss, Brabant.
And unlike the sandcastles you may have built in your youth, these pop-up palaces have windows, electricity, running water and Wi-Fi.
Event organizers Global PowWow took four weeks to construct the sculptures, which were inspired by the ice hotels in Sweden and Finland.
For anyone who’s ever experienced the childhood trauma of being buried in sand by siblings, it might be a genuine concern about how these rooms stay up. The basic structure of the hotel is made of thin walls, covered inside and out with reinforced sand to ensure it does not crumble. However, the shower, bathroom fittings, and deluxe box spring bed are made from the traditional materials.
An overnight stay for two costs $168 a dollar a night, and includes a personal tour of the nearby festival.
There are 30 large sand sculptures at each. The Friesland festival alone uses more than 800,000 kilograms of sand.
Like all sandcastles, sadly, the hotels are only temporary and have already sold out.
They’ll close once the festivals end (September 28 in Sneek and October 4 in Oss).
Zand Hotel plans to create similar hotels in Germany and the UK.
