Okay, so we all have heard of sleeping in coffins, hyperbaric chambers and even 6 x 6 pods…but this may be a new idea..sleeping in wine casks. Welcome to the De Vrouwe Van Stavoren Hotel located in the Northern port town of Stavoren in the Netherlands.

This hotel overlooks the harbor and  is close to all local attractions. Formerly filled with over 14,000 liters of Beaujolais wine, these oak wine casks salvaged from Switzerland have been converted into cozy two person hotel rooms, with sitting rooms, private bathrooms and all amenities you would expect at any standard hotel. This out of the box idea seems to be the ultimate example of using recycled materials to build your Eco friendly hotel. Even though this hotel boasts old world charm, the must-have free Wi-Fi internet service is available in all public areas of the hotel, along with fax and photo copying services. This hotel has topped the list as one of the five Green hotels in Europe to eco explore. Also, staying at this hotel will be a great topic for conversation among your friends. Of course many jokes about sleeping it off in a wine cask and having hobbits as your neighbors will no doubt run rampant.

These unique rooms seem to be pretty popular with tourists, so booking in advance is a must. It is said that one out of every ten Hollander’s owns a boat so there are Boat/Yacht races galore during the summer, so you may want to avoid visiting in June and July unless you are into sailing. Seasonal rates are about $150 per night and off season rates can be as low as $40 per night. The hotel features a restaurant on the pier that has a great fresh fish selection and a fantastic view.

You can arrive in the sleepy quaint town of Stavoren by train from Amsterdam or in summertime by ferry. Holland is a country where there are more bikes than people, thus pollution from automobile exhaust is not a problem. Since no cars are allowed on most of the narrow town streets (one more green aspect of visiting this town) many bicycle rentals are available, enabling visitors to meander the many paths leading to the beach and old forests. Stavoren is a great starting point for the many outdoor activities that the area has to offer such as; hiking, fishing, canoeing, sailing and wind surfing.

We all can raise a toast to these most uniquely designed rooms in which every wine connoisseur would love to spend time. Green travelers can take pride in staying in this type of green environment. It seems as though anything can be recycled into a hotel these days; shipping containers, jumbo jets and even oil rigs. Maybe we will clean up and reclaim our way back to a beautiful planet. Holland’s Eco motto is “Live it, adapt it and change it”. Hooray for Holland!

Stay tuned for the next green travel wonder we find while exploring the world.