Pop-up Sandcastle Hotels Open in the Netherlands

You may have heard about those temporary ice hotels that Sweden, Norway and some of those near-Arctic-circle countries put up during the winter and lasts through a season until the ice melts. Now the Netherland-based Zand Hotel is doing the same, but with sand.

Two sand hotels have popped up, one each at the cities of Oss and Sneek, in the Netherlands, and both have been fully booked for weeks. The fully furnished one-room-hotels were built to coincide with the annual Brabant and Friesland sand sculpture festivals, which lure holidaymakers and some of the world’s best artists. The rooms have windows, beds, electricity, running water and Wi-Fi.

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Photo credit: Zand Hotel

But how do the sand stay up? If you are worried that the walls might crumble when you bang the bathroom door close, fear not, the organizers assures. The sand hotel is actually made of a sturdier material and covered inside and out with “reinforced sand”. Bumping against the wall is still not advisable. The shower, bathroom fittings and deluxe box spring bed are made out of traditional materials for the convenience of the boarders.

An overnight stay for two costs $168 a dollar a night, and includes a personal tour of the nearby sand festival. The hotels will stay open till the end of the festival with concludes on September 28 in Sneek and October 4 in Oss.

Zand Hotel plans to reopen both in time for next year's festivals. They are also hoping to create similar hotels in Germany and the UK.

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