What makes a hotel truly memorable? Is it the comfort of a luxurious room, an amazing view, or an amazing location?
Recently, we decided to push the boundaries of what a hotel stay can look like by booking a night in two of Europe's most dangerous places: The lowest hotel in Europe, buried 1,300 feet underground, and the highest hotel in Europe, 10,000 feet above sea level.
From wandering through pitch black holes and zip lines to skiing above the clouds and relaxing in saunas, these two stays offer an unforgettable experience. Here's what it's like to sleep at both ends of Europe's extremes.
Deep European Hotel: Deep Sleep, Snowdonia, UK
Located 1,300 feet below a mountain peak in Snowdonia, UK, the Deep Sleep Hotel is not only the deepest hotel in Europe but also the deepest hotel in the world. And let me tell you, it's one of the craziest accommodations we've ever stayed at.
The Journey Down
The trip to Deep Sleep Hotel is a big part of what makes this hotel so unique because the hotel is located in an abandoned mine shaft. You can't just take the elevator down to the hotel – you have to start a wild ride to get there.
You'll start by getting the right gear – helmets, headlamps, rubber boots, and riding gear – before saying goodbye to the sun for the next 24 hours and pressing into the deep, dark tunnel.
Expect to attach to zip lines and fly over caves you can't see, swing over planks nailed to the side of a cliff, swing over swinging suspension bridges, and tumble down rock walls. By the time you get to the hotel, it will seem like you've been crawling through small tunnels forever, but in reality, you'll have explored only a small part of the 62 mile stretch.
The trip back up after your stay is just as exciting. The brave guest will take part in the biggest challenge – a bungee jump into a deep, dark hole that will leave your heart racing for hours afterwards.
A hotel
When you think that everything used to build and run this hotel had to be lowered into this cave 1,300 feet underground, it's hard to imagine how that could be possible.
Deep Sleep Hotel has four cozy wooden cabins, big enough to fit two twin beds. The cabins' decor pays homage to the mining history of the 1800s, with vintage mining lamps, patterned quilts, and coat hangers made with carabiner hooks.
Next to the kitchen, bathrooms, and duck pond, there is a bridge that leads to the 5th room of the hotel – the Grotto. This room is built directly inside one of the mine tunnels, giving the impression that the room is inside a cave. There's a queen bed with warm blankets, nightstands with charging stations, and a sink – all things you wouldn't expect to find down here.
Dinner and breakfast are included with your stay, as well as hot coffee and tea on tap at all times. For dinner, you can choose from frozen entrees such as mac 'n vegetables or porcini mushroom risotto, served with warm rolls, salad, and fruit. Breakfast is a selection of pastries, muffins, and croissants to fuel your journey back up.
Experience
Perhaps the coolest part of the Deep Sleep Experience was being completely immersed in history. The mine shafts feel like a piece of history frozen in time, with evidence of the miners left behind in every corner.
There are scars on the walls left by burning candles, pickaxes leaning against the walls, and rusted quarry carts that used to haul the stones up. It's almost as if you can feel that there are miners still here.
The hotel isn't called Deep Sleep for nothing either – surrounded by a warm, pitch-black cave, you can expect to get the best sleep of your life.
Europe's Top Hotel: Glacier Hotel Grawand, Maso Corto, Italy
The Glacier Hotel Grawand is located at an altitude of 10,000 meters, high above the clouds of the Italian Alps. We've stayed at some amazing lodges in the mountains, but this hotel had the best view we've ever seen.
A Journey to the Top
The journey to Europe's highest hotel started with a flight to Verona, Italy, then a 3-hour drive through the Tyrolean Alps. At an altitude of 4,000 feet, you will leave your rental car and head to the cable car that will take you up another 6,000 feet.
No matter how green, warm, and sunny the weather is below the cable, as soon as you step out of the cable car at the top, you will be greeted by a lot of snow – the hotel is still a snowball, after all. everything.
A hotel
The entire hotel offers the vibe of a mountain house with warm walls lined with wooden panels, a restaurant serving hot dishes from fresh pipes and the highest sauna in Europe.
Each room is very basic, with a desk, a bed, a sofa, and a large storage space. The jewel of the room we stayed in was the large window that offered expansive views of the mountain landscape – or a mass of clouds, depending on the weather.
Every stay at the Glacier Hotel includes breakfast and dinner, featuring traditional dishes like Tyrolean cheese dumplings, gelato, and locally made wine—all of which taste amazing.
An unexpected part of the Glacier Hotel is a small museum dedicated to Otzi The Iceman. This 5,000-year-old mummy was found not far from the hotel. It's a fun little show to check out while warming up between runs on the ice.
Experience
When you stay at Glacier Hotel Grawand, you definitely need to bring your ski gear to experience what it's like to ski on some of the world's most beautiful mountains. There's no better way to spend the day than skiing the slopes, enjoying a bowl of fresh pasta for lunch, relaxing in the sauna, and then cooling off by jumping into a huge pile of snow!
The cloud cover over the mountain top prevented us from seeing a clear view of our surroundings for most of our stay, but we waited and hoped we would be able to catch a glimpse of the hotel's famous views. On our last morning, our wish finally came true and it was well deserved. The views are absolutely insane – hundreds of snowy mountain peaks rising above the clouds look like islands floating in the sea.
Final thoughts
The highest and lowest hotels in Europe couldn't be more different, yet both were unforgettable experiences.
To learn more about our top and bottom hotel stays in Europe, watch the video below and let us know which one you'd like to stay at.
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