AS NOVELTIES go, aeroplanes that have been turned into hotels are not all that novel.
In the ever-quirky Netherlands you can stay in a Cold War-era East German aircraft now converted into a super modern luxury hotel suite, permanently moored at Teuge Aiport (hotelsuites.nl).
Not only does room service come via your very own round-the-clock air host/ess – so you can press the call button with abandon – but it has three flat-screen TVs, a Blu-ray player and a jacuzzi. A night’s BB here for two is €350.
Alternatively, head to Stockholm-Arlanda Airport for a (stationary) whirl in a disused Boeing 747, now reborn as the Jumbo Hostel (jumbostay.se).
This one has 25 rooms of more modest dimensions, most have three bunk beds and a TV. The property’s deluxe suite is the cockpit, with instruments still intact.
Be warned however, while some of the rooms have en suites, in others you’ve to queue down the back as you would on a regular plane. Still, prices start at €40 for a bed in a four-bed dorm.
Further afield, if you’re heading down Costa Rica way stay in a refurbished 1965 Boeing 727, the premier suite at the otherwise rather traditional Hotel Costa Verde (costaverde.com) overlooking the Manuel Antonio nature reserve. Prices here start at $250 (€184) a night.
Uniquely, this one is perched high amid the tree tops with the wing doubling as your terrace.
The only problem here – and there’s just no way around it – is that a plane stranded in the treetops is just not a good look, particularly if you are anyway nervous about the long flight home.