Blog 10: Cave Hotels

Set in the Stone Age town of Bedrock, The Flintstones made cavemen life popular while it resembled some 20th century problems and technology. Fred and Wilma lead a happily married life in their cave house. They go about their lives as evolved cavemen and frequently go bowling, watch the opera and movies, go camping and visit the doctor.

If the Flintstones ever wanted to get some down-time and go on a vacation, I think they'd pick a cave-hotel from the list below. Maybe a little futuristic for them, but you know, some people believe that the Flintstones is actually based on distant post-apocalyptic future!

1- Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita, Italy is built on a UNESCO World Heritage site and the excavated cave houses give a bold voice to the traces of life from the Bronze and Stone Age found in the fabric of the building. With 18 rooms and an ancient church, the Cripta della Civita (now used as a common area in the hotel), the hotel is entirely carved into caves and provides a spectacular view of the Murgia Park.

Suite 14 at Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita

2- Known as the 'largest, deepest, darkest, oldest, quietest motel room in the world', the Grand Canyon Caverns Suite in Arizona ensures an experience unlike any other. The suite is 200 feet by 400 feet with ceilings over 70 feet high and the walls of the cave are roughly 65 million years old. To access the suite, one needs to travel 220 feet below ground level via a lift. Their website says that since it is the driest place with zero humidity and the purest form of air (the air is naturally filtered through layers of limestone), no living creature lives there. Guests staying at the suite are the ONLY living being in the cave and can hear their own heartbeat.

The Grand Canyon Caverns Suite

3- A silver mine converted hotel, the Sala Silver Mine, Sweden, allows guests to enjoy all 10 kilometres of the cave to themselves when they spend a night at their suite. There are plenty of activities onboard, like a high-wire assault course, go whizzing on a zip wire and explore the subterranean world of the silver mine through a number of different tracks including historic tours about the mine. It is also the site of some of the finest cave-diving in the world if that's what you dig!

The restaurant at Sala Silver Mine

4- Peacefully nestled in the cave village of Ayvali, also known as the Underground City, the Gamirasu Cave Hotel, Cappadocia offers tourists a chance to take the off-beaten track and witness the beauty of Turkey like a local. Some villagers still live in cave houses in Ayvali and are happy to show around guests staying at the hotel. With 35 carved rooms and a recently added floor heated pool, one can enjoy the picture-perfect views of the Byzantine ruins from the hotel patio.

An aerial view of the Gamirasu Cave Hotel

5- Not built in a natural cave, La Claustra Hotel, has been built on an abandoned army base in Switzerland. The hotel corridors were blown out of stone using dynamite and more like caves than a part of a hotel. Once an active site for soldiers living in catacombs, today is a popular option for travellers seeking a thrilling stay. If you visit, be sure to split your time between soaks in the jacuzzi bath, meals in a great dining ambience, and views of the pristine greenery and slate grey rock formations of the Swiss Alps. You can enjoy the scenery from the seasonal pool as well. There is also a room that has a 10m gun jutting out of the ceiling!

Army fortress turned hotel- La Claustra Hotel

6- The completely re-modelled Beckham Creek Cave Lodge, Ozark Mountains, presents its guests with an ultra-lux cave stay opportunity. The private cave lodge sleeps ten and is fully equipped with a working kitchen, spacious living areas and spa-like amenities in the bathrooms. I almost forgot, they also have a helipad atop the cave! The one thing guests need to be careful of are the stalactites hanging from the roof. Isn't this the perfect family holiday getaway place?

P.S. This lodge has no connection whatsoever to David Beckham!

The living area at Beckham Creek Cave Lodge

7- 'Mira Mira on the wall, what's the weirdest accommodation of them all?' is what I read on the Mira Mira Cave House's website. Honestly intriguing! Only 90 minutes away from Melbourne at the foothills of Mount Baw Baw, Mira Mira boasts of private secluded properties that perfectly blend with the landscape and scenery of the area. The Cave House is carved from the countryside and remains warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The entrance of the 2 bedroom house gives the feeling of entering a fantasy land!

The Mira Mira Cave House

I don't have psychic powers but I can tell you're caving in to book your next stay at one of these properties. Tell us in the comments section below which of these caves do you like the most!

Like Fred would say after enjoying a weekend away, Yabba Dabba Doo,

I will see you soon,

Anubhuti