The world's first sand hotels

There are plenty of sand-sculpture festivals in the world, but only in the Netherlands can you sleep in one of the temporary artworks. The furnishings within these sand castles may not be made of sand, but the walls are. They have windows, electricity, running water and internet access. The beds and bathrooms are made of traditional materials. It only took four weeks to contructs the sand castles, which were inspired by the ice hotels in Sweden and Finland.

A room for two costs 150 euros a night and includes breakfast. The sand castles, located in the towns of Oss and Sneek, are booked out. That's not surprising since each hotel contains only one room. In Sneek, you'll find a 30-meter-high sculpture that required 800,000 kilos of sand. The sand sculpture festival runs through the end of September, at which point the two pop-up hotels will be demolished. But never fear - they'll be rebuilt next year. And there may be more sand hotels on the horizon. People in England and Germany have indicated interest in copying the idea.

cd/jc (zandhotel.nl)