Don’t build your house on the sand; build a hotel

Two hotels in Holland are literal sandcastles

The Zand Hotel in the Netherlands
The Zand Hotel in the Netherlands

Two hotels in the Dutch towns of Oss and Sneek are shaking things up with a first-of-its-kind design.

The “Zand Hotels” are actually made of sand and intended for use as lodgings for the local sandcastle festivals, where roughly 30 large sand sculptures are made, using nearly 900 total tons of sand, according to Atlas Obscura.

Event planning company Global PowWow is behind the project and was inspired by Sweden’s ice hotels.

Inside, the rooms feature wifi, running water, electricity and real furnishings. The walls are made of reinforced sand and concrete, which explains a lot.

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Unfortunately, both hotels will come down after the festival, but hopefully these ephemeral, life-size sandcastles will become an institution in years to come.

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[Atlas Obscura]Christopher Cameron