Do luxury hotels and caravans seem to be irreconcilable concepts? Well, that’s not the case at all, especially if we delve into the welcome and fascinating meanderings of glamping.
The fusion of these two opposites is both possible and intriguing, and goes by the name Airstream hotel. As the name suggests, these are hotels and guest houses that don’t offer hospitality in traditional buildings and rooms, but rather are equipped with a fleet of Airstream trailers that have been ultra-accessorised and customised to accommodate the most disparate range of ideas and needs (from rustic country to super-technological, by way of the 1950s).
The Airstream hotel phenomenon is experiencing a sharp increase, and in fact this type of tourism is increasing in popularity practically throughout the whole world, from the USA to Europe and South Africa, with an increasingly varied selection suitable for every budget.
One of the most chic options, for example, is the Grand Daddy Hotel in Cape Town: here you can choose between seven completely vintage Airstreams that have been meticulously reconstructed, each furnished and laid out according to a completely different theme. The names of the Airstreams are Duck (with characteristic furniture covered completely in polka dots), Afro Funk (with an African theme), The Ballad of John and Yoko (in honour of the famous couple Lennon-Ono), Earthcote Moontides (with a magical and bizarre atmosphere), Love of Lace (in boudoir style), Goldilocks and the Three Bears (with a fairy-tale theme) and finally Pleasantville (furnished like a classic Fifties home). All this costs around 120 dollars a night.
Conversely, the more rustic choice, Vintage Vacations in England has 13 Airstreams and the prices for weekly stays range from £350 to £680 depending on the season. Their caravans are truly exceptional and you can choose to stay in a highly spartan Airstream from 1946, for example, or a futuristic one from 1954 or a classic version from 1962.
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