I’m going to keep out of trouble today, not be controversial and mention the Mr Blobby hotel, yes, you read that right. The Semiramis Hotel, located in Athens, Greece, is a 51 bedroom hotel, and all of the rooms have got Pink furniture, green walls and a purple mini bar.

The hotel also features 5 poolside bungalows, 3 penthouse studios and 1 semiramis studio and all of the hotel rooms have wireless internet, sound proof, electronic blinds, and an entertainment centre with DVD with free library of movies.

It’s not cheap, but with the superb facilities and comfort of the hotel rooms, it’s worth the €230 per night for a standard room, and €265 to stay in a superior room in this very unusual Greek hotel.

I think this has to be the most unusual hotel that I have covered so far – Dubai, is known for it’s unusual hotels, but the Hydropolis Underwater Hotel is something special. The hotel is not due to be completed until December 2007 and I understand that it will be the world’s first luxury underwater hotel, 20m below the surface of the Arabian Gulf, just off the Jumeirah Beach coastline.

According to the designers the hotel will cost over £300 million to build and visitors will take a train to an underground tunnel direct to the hotel – the hotel will feature 220 suites, and the resort covers an area of 260 hectares, which is the size of London’s Hyde Park.

The Hydropolis will open at the end of 2007, and is expected to receive over 3,000 visitors per day, on top of guests staying at the hotel – rates for the hotel are yet to be announced officially, but I’m informed that it will be in the region of £300 per night.

This weeks featured unusual hotel is the Plane and Train Motel, located in Otorohanga, New Zealand. The plane motel is a 1950’s Bristol Freighter fully refurbished into 2 beautiful self contained motel units, whilst the train motel features a 1950’s rail car beautifully refurbished into a completely self contained motel unit.

Both of these hotels are located on the North Island, in the middle of a fantastic nature preservation called Woodlyn Park, and just 900 metres from Waitomo Caves. Apparently Lonely Planet listed the motels within it’s top 10 most unusual hotels in the World.

Accommodation on the train is £41 ($115) per couple per night. The Plane Accommodation is £45 ($125) per night per couple for the Plane Tail or £48 ($135) per night per couple for the Cockpit. Each area sleeps up to 4 in one double bed and one single bunk set.

This week we visit Tokyo to view an unusual Capsule Inn hotel in Akihabara, Japan. The hotel is split into two sections; public space including bathing and the other is a private space where the capsules are arranged.

The capsule unit is made of reinforced plastic and designed in the image of a jet airplane’s cockpit. You’ll find all the required amenities are provided; TV, radio, alarm clock, adjustable lighting all within your reach and you can control everything in a sleeping position.

The hotel features WiFi internet access, luggage storage, café lounge, and no closing limits, so you can come and go as you please. It costs 4,000 Yen (£17) per night and the hotel is split into two floors, one for men and one for women.

Regular hotels in Tokyo cost between 8,000 – 12,000 Yen (£34 - £50) per night, so it is a cheap way to travel around Japan, and well um an unusual hotel to see the sights of Tokyo. I’m not sure I would like it – it seems too claustrophobic.

This is the first of a new section on Travel Rants, of Unusual Hotels, and I think this gets my vote for weirdest hotel in Europe – everyone goes on about the Ice hotel in Sweden (yes, I’m sure it’s Sweden and not Iceland) but the Park Hotel, located in Linz, Austria, consists of re-designed, durable standardized sewer pipes.

The hotel “rooms” are supposedly full of home comforts including double bed, light, hut sleeping bags, and the hotel complex features toilets, showers, mini bar, cafeteria etc. Your hotel “room” is secured by a security key code, to ensure that all of your luggage is safe whilst you visit the local attractions.

Apparently, you reserve your room, and pay as you wish, and if you want additional services, like electricity, shower etc, then you “pay as you go” which is quite a novel idea. The hotel is open between May and October so if you fancy spending the night, somewhere unusual, and quirky then visit the Das Park Hotel.