Unique luxury hotels, fashionable travel and much more

I’ve featured a few quirky hotels in these posts, and here’s another: the V8 in Germany, which offers guests the chance to sleep in beds made from cars.

The luxury hotel is based in Stuttgart’s Meilenwerk – an international hub for car dealers – and guests can choose to sleep in anything from a small family saloon to a large limousine.

Built inside the city’s old Boblingen Airport, the hotel also has rooms on three levels within the building’s former control tower. For around £312 ($488) a night, visitors can stay in the spacious Zeppelin Suite featuring a sauna, terrace and landscape views over the old airport grounds.


The four-star hotel incorporates 34 rooms, all themed around the car, so you can rest your head in an old Cadillac at a drive-in cinema, a Mercedes at a car-wash or a Morris Minor at a service station. The motoring motif extends to the reception and the restaurant.


by Andy Moreton

For non ‘petrol-heads’, Luxique offers the best rates at a range of other luxury hotels in Germany.

The Germans are introducing a new hiking trail for people who want to walk in the nude.

It’s an 11-mile route through the Harz mountains near Leipzig in east central Germany and is due to open in May next year. However, some enthusiasts have already stripped off and have been striding off with nothing more than a smile and a rucksack.

There are signs warning more conservative walkers that they might prefer to use alternative routes. “If you do not want to see naked people then do not go past this point.”

The Germans already lay claim to the world’s first nudist hotel, have hundreds of nudist beaches and even hold the occasional nude tobogganing race.

Jeanette Schuchmann, Deputy Director at the German National Tourist Office for UK and Ireland said: “Walking is a passion shared by many nationalities. Nudism is an expression for many a liberated mind in many countries.”

Heinz Ludwig, who runs a nearby campsite and led the project to create the nudist trail, overcame some local protests by pointing out the trail’s potential. “I think it’s a great way to promote tourism here,” he said.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique gives you the bare facts about luxury hotels in Germany.

It brings a new meaning to the phrase ‘hitting the hay’. 

There’s a trend among some nature-lovers and spendthrifts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to opt for accommodation where the beds are freshly raked hay. 

Hay hotels offer exactly what the name suggests.  For as little as 8 euros (£7 / $11) a night, backpackers, couples and families can rest their heads in a way nature intended, in converted barns.

Such holidays also generally include activities such as horse riding, canoeing, mountain-biking and archery, and the chance to buy fresh meat, cheese and other farm produce on site. 

The Hofgut, a hay hotel situated just outside the small town of Kassell in Germany, has been operating for some years now.  The manager, Sarah, said: “I suppose some people might find the idea unappealing, but for anyone who wishes to snuggle up close to nature it’s perfect.”

To the sceptics, she says: “Think back to when you were a child - this would be heaven! What’s changed since then?”

Apparently, hay hotels have become popular for honeymoons, although it has to be remembered that there’s a strict no-smoking-in-bed policy.

by Andy Moreton

If you prefer freshly-laundered bed linen, fluffy pillows and an alarm call that’s not a crowing cock, Luxique can offer the best deals at luxury hotels in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.