Sandcastle Hotels Make Debut in the Netherlands

Have you ever made a fanciful sandcastle that is so enchanting you wanted to step inside and spend some time?  Well now your daydream has become a reality in the Dutch cities of Oss and Sneek.  As last winter’s Ice Hotels slowly melted into the landscape, the Dutch came up with a new challenge for their talented ice sculpture artists….create a Sandcastle Hotel for the summer season!  Now childhood fantasies are coming true as the world’s first sandscastle hotels, complete with drawbridge and turrets open for occupancy.

The two cities were chosen as they are the locations of popular summer sandcastle sculpting competitions and attract many talented sculpting teams.  The fanciful hotel structures are first constructed with a wooden infrastructure and then sand is applied to cover all surfaces.  A special lime mix is added to bind and harden the sand and keep it from crumbling.  The massive art works are designed to be disassembled at end of summer and will hopefully reappear each spring.  The Oss project sports a collection of marvelous life-sized sand-sculpted dinosaurs, medieval explorers and robots.  The Sneek location depicts a “trip through Asia” complete with replica terracotta solders.

Guests enjoy ‘normal’ bedding, carpeting on the floor and a fully-equipped bathroom.  Overnight stays at the sandcastle hotels cost 150 euros ($167) per night, and are sold out for 2016.  Based on early popularity, there are plans for  sandcastle hotels in Germany and Britain in coming years.  Watch the internet for activation of the web domains www.sandhotel.co.uk and www.sandhotel.de.  So don’t be afraid of a little sand in your shoes, this unique hotel experience is worth traveling for.