Gimirasu
Home to numerous Byzantine monasteries, Turkey has the longest history and most developed cave hotels
Gamirasu is the name of a painstakingly restored troglodyte cave hotel located in Ayvali Village, Turkey that opened to the public in 1999. The site sits on a thousand year old Byzantine monastery. Unlike the Byzantines, hotel guests know all the modern conveniences while staying here, even wireless Internet. Suites in the hotel even have a bathtub Jacuzzi and an entertainment system with speakers throughout. Central heat is standard, air-conditioning is not necessary. One advantage of living underground is the temperature never gets above average room temperature.
Scientists have found that this area has been inhabited for 5000 years. An “obsidian workshop” dating back to the Stone Age has been discovered here. Ceramics dating back to the Assyrians were also found. The caves provided natural shelter for these people and the curious can sleep in one where many others have slept since time immemorial. To this day, some area residents still live in cave houses.
Le Domaine des Hautes Roches
Not to be outdone, the French have designed another luxurious version of the cave hotel. Le Domaine des Hautes Roches is located near Tours in Rochecorbon, France. The area is home to several local wine growers and guests may partake in the fruits of their labor. Twelve of the fifteen rooms here are caves (or as the French would prefer – troglodytic). The rooms look like any other modern hotel room. The only way to tell you are really in a cave is to look at the ceiling.
Fine French cuisine can be had in the onsite restaurant or delivered to your room 24 hours a day. Lobster, rabbit, duck foie gras, and young pigeon are some of the choices posted on the menu. The area promises breathtaking vistas of the French countryside. The hotel accepts Internet reservations and pets can enjoy a stay along with their owners for a nominal extra fee.
Galera, Spain
Galera, Spain is home to a newly developed cave hotel. The area is in the mountainous region of Spain. This area, much like in Turkey, has remains of civilizations dating back thousands of years. An ancient Roman cemetery is located onsite. The rooms here can be quite large, some have four bedrooms. If heat is needed, each room has a fireplace.
Upon checking in, hotel guests are treated with a complementary bottle of wine produced by locals. The area provides a glimpse into times gone by in the Spanish countryside. Things move a little slower here and people spend a lot of time tending to their beautiful gardens. The hotel offers bike tours, rappelling trips, spelunking, and rock climbing. Guests are even offered the chance to bake their own bread in a firewood furnace.
Desert Cave Hotel
What might be the most famous cave hotel in the world is located among the sandstone beds of the Stuart Range in Coober Pedy, Australia. Featured on traveling shows numerous times, the Desert Cave Hotel has been in business since 1981 when Umberto Coro realized a dream by sharing the experience of underground living with visitors to the town. Coober Pedy has lured adventurous Opal miners since 1915. These miners found that residing in dugouts serves as a natural shelter to the oppressive desert heat.
The hotel officially opened in 1988 and today has underground shops, a café, and a bar and gaming room. The Desert has won several Australian tourism awards. Sunsets are said to be quite remarkable here and not to be missed. The Desert is the only cave hotel I’ve found to offer convention facilities. Next time, why not book your yearly business meeting there for a trip?
Farmington, New Mexico
The only cave hotel located in North America was actually intended to be a prominent geologist’s office. Chiseled out of a 65-million year old sandstone formation north of Farmington, New Mexico, is a 1,650 square foot cave home. The project was started in 1980 by a father-son team both named Bruce Black. It took 16 years to complete the structure. Now operating as a bed-and-breakfast, guests have the opportunity to share the experience of the Black family.
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This entry was posted on Friday, August 10th, 2007 at 1:27 am and is filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 14th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article ve Hotels, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.