Go Niche

ANYONE LOOKING to immerse themselves in art while on a citybreak should check out Propeller-Island City Lodge in (where else?) Berlin.

The hotel is the creation of local artist Lars Stroschen as a way of exhibiting his audio visual “sound sculptures” and each room is designed to be a “habitable work of art”. You have been warned.

In one, for example, you sleep not on a flying carpet but a flying bed which hovers over a steeply slanted floor. Another is a prison cell, complete with bunk and in-full-view toilet.

(On the plus side, there is a hole in the wall through which you can bust out onto a small balcony.)

Still another room is clad, and furnished, entirely in green leather, with padded walls. It’s like a nightmare about Chesterfield furniture. Another has a double bed that becomes two singles at the drop of an illuminated barrier, depending on your mood.

Should you prefer it, you can sleep 1.5m off the ground in a cage, like some exotic bird. By contrast, the bed on a log pile looks positively traditional, especially compared with the coffin room where guests can choose to sleep in one of two white coffins, with the lids closed if you like.

Room rates vary from €79 to €115 for one person, plus an additional €15 for a second guest. You choose your top three room preferences when you book and then hope for the best.

Breakfast is €7 per person and reception is open only between 8am and noon. Arriving after that means picking up your key from a safe in the lobby and venturing into the weirdness alone.

* propeller-island.com