The Website Where Cool Hotels and Poetry Meet

By Brad Tuttle
October 3, 2012
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Courtesy <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/arru/6070326081/" target="_blank">arvidr/Flickr</a>

At HotelHaiku.com, everything you need to know about a hotel is described in 17 syllables.

That's the premise anyway.

Or perhaps "gimmick" is the more appropriate word? HotelHaiku is a niche site that highlights highly unusual hotels around the world, and yes, the write-ups of each property consist solely of a traditional three-line haiku poem: five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables.

As of now there are over 70 hotels listed on the site. For instance, there's 9 Hours, an ultra-modern capsule hotel in Kyoto, Japan, described here:

Check-in then shower /

Fall asleep in your capsule /

Prepare then check-out

Maybe that's enough of a description for some travelers. Well, that and, presumably, the implicit endorsement of the tastemakers at HotelHaiku.

In our recent "World's Weirdest Hotels" feature, though, you'd learn a lot more about this same property, including that it has "amenities you would expect from a four-star hotel (rain-forest showerheads, complimentary mineral water, pillows specially designed to ensure healthy posture during sleep)." Also, that "each capsule includes a computerized-lighting/alarm-clock system to facilitate sleeping and waking."

Sweden's Treehotel also gets the haiku treatment:

Nesting with the birds /

In the forest canopy /

Where tree lovers flock

That one's also in our "Weird" story, only with a whole lot more detail. Here's some:

Fixed about 20 feet up in the trees of the Harads woods are five separate "rooms" that each offer distinct tree-house experiences. The Bird's Nest is exactly what it sounds like, with a wild twig exterior on grand scale. The Mirrorcube is a square unit that reflects its surroundings, doubling as a kind of forest camouflage. (Bird lovers, don't fret—it's covered in an infrared film that's visible to our feathered friends, to avoid crashes.) The UFO evokes a spinning spaceship from just about any '60s sci-fi movie. Each structure is only accessible by an individual ladder, staircase, or bridge, so to wander among them is to stroll the forest floor.

Even so, HotelHaiku is a neat starting point for tracking down one-of-a-kind lodging. If you're bored by cookie-cutter chain hotels, give the site a look. Just don't end your research there, obviously.

UnusualHotelsoftheWorld is another good resource, as is our "World's Weirdest Hotels" feature and our Hotels section as a whole.

MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL:

World's Weirdest Hotels

The Dirty Truth About Hotel Ratings

26 Gorgeous Hotels You Won't Believe Are Under $150

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