• Yes, folks, this really is a hotel

    Allison Joyce / Reuters

    An airplane flies over head as a series of boats comprising of the Boatel are seen docked at a pier in New York, June 1, 2012.

    Allison Joyce / Reuters

    Guests share a laugh inside a boat at the Boatel, June 1, 2012.

    Allison Joyce / Reuters

    Guests dance in a common area along a pier at the Boatel in New York, June 1, 2012.

    Allison Joyce / Reuters

    Guests mingle at an outdoor area at the Boatel in New York, June 1, 2012.

    Allison Joyce / Reuters

    Guest enjoy their drinks while floating along the waters near the Boatel in New York, June 1, 2012.

    Allison Joyce / Reuters

    Guests sign-in at the reception desk of the Boatel located in a bait and tackle shop in New York, June 1, 2012.

    Allison Joyce / Reuters

    A neon sign hangs at the bait and tackle shop that houses the reception desk of the Boatel in New York June 1, 2012.

    By Phaedra Singelis, NBC News

    The Boatel, an artist-run hotel built out of more than a dozen discarded boats at Marina 59 in Far Rockaway, offers a sanctuary from nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport and the buzz of New York City. Since opening last year, the hotel has been booked most summer weekends. A one-night stay costs $55 to $100, and profits go to support a small but thriving art community.

    More about the Boatel from The New York Times

    Book your stay on their website: http://marina59.com/boatel.html

     

    4 comments

    Really -- a hotel? It looks like the fourth level of hell.

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  • 'Buzzing' over the newest residents atop NYC hotels

    Kathy Willens / AP

    Waldorf Astoria hotel culinary director David Garcelon uses a smoker to calm honey bees residing in hives on the hotel's 20th floor roof in New York, on June 5. The hotel, a favorite stopover for numerous presidents, plans to harvest its own honey and help pollinate plants in the skyscraper-heavy heart of the city, joining a mini beekeeping boom that has taken over hotel rooftops from Paris to Times Square.

    AP reports -- An iconic hotel in the heart of midtown Manhattan is buzzing with thousands of tiny new visitors. But watch out: They'll sting if you get too close.

    Honeybees have taken up residence at the Waldorf-Astoria New York, one of New York City's most famous institutions and a favorite stopover for many U.S. presidents. The hotel plans to harvest its own honey and help pollinate plants in the skyscraper-heavy heart of the city, joining a mini beekeeping boom that has taken over hotel rooftops from Paris to Times Square.

    Read the full story.

    Kathy Willens / AP

    Honey bees that reside in hives on the 20th floor roof of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York swarm to consume their own honey as they are removed for a routine inspection, on June 5.

  • 'Hotel test sleeper' checks rooms for quality in China

    Jason Lee / Reuters

    Ms. Zhuang, a Hotel Test Sleeper, checks the bed of a business chain hotel in Beijing on Monday, March 6. Zhuang was selected as one of three final winners out of 7,800 candidates and started working for Qunar as a Professional Hotel Test Sleeper in March 2010. At present, she has slept at more than 200 hotels. "My job is to role-play travelers of different types, different ages and genders at different scenarios, and see how each hotel fits their particular needs." Zhuang said. Her reviews help travelers make smart hotel picks and bring them a more pleasant experience on the road. Qunar, a Chinese online travel platform, started to recruit Professional Hotel Test Sleepers in 2010. The requirement for this new profession is to sleep at selected hotels without disclosing their real job and write expert reviews about the facilities, location, dining, services and prices of the hotels, in order to provide an independent third-party evaluation and an authoritative guide to travelers, according to the company.

    Jason Lee / Reuters

    Ms. Zhuang checks a glass as part of her job as a Hotel Test Sleeper at a boutique hotel in central Beijing.

    Jason Lee / Reuters

    Ms. Zhuang takes a picture of slippers in the bathroom of a boutique hotel.

    Jason Lee / Reuters

    Ms. Zhuang, a Hotel Test Sleeper, checks the network speed of wifi on her iPad at the public area of a Beijing traditional hotel with courtyard houses, known as "Siheyuan" in Chinese.

    Jason Lee / Reuters

    Ms. Zhuang sleeps on the bed as she shows a part of her job as a Hotel Test Sleeper.

    See more images of China in PhotoBlog.

  • Marriott International Inc. via AP

    An undated archive photo shows the swimming pool at the Twin Bridges Marriott, in Arlington, Va.

    Classic photo of guests lounging by the pool at America's first Marriott hotel

    Bill Marriott gave an interview to The Associated Press Wednesday to discuss his forty years in the business and impending retirement from the company that bears his family's name.

    Today there are 3,718 Marriott hotels in 73 countries, but the interview was accompanied by this very cool archive photo of the first — the Twin Bridges Motor Hotel in Arlington, Va., which was opened by Bill's parents in 1957.

  • New York's first straight-friendly gay hotel opens

    Lucas Jackson / Reuters

    A woman walks past colored bean bag chairs in a courtyard at The Out, a newly opened resort in New York, March 1. According to Ian Reisner, managing partner of Parkview Developers, the resort will be the first "straight friendly gay resort" in the city.

    Mario Tama / Getty Images

    A man talks on his phone in the lobby area of a new gay resort hotel, The Out NYC, in midtown Manhattan after the ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 1.

    THE OUT NYC is part of a global trend, said Darren Cooper, senior consultant for Out Now Consulting, an international company based in the Netherlands that specializes in marketing to the gay community.

    “Traditionally gay-owned and or operated hotels and guesthouses have been located in vacation resorts, and catered almost exclusively to the gay leisure traveler,” Cooper said. But since 2003 there has been growth in larger, metropolitan, upscale, boutique hotels that are predominantly aimed at the LGBT community but also marketed as "straight friendly." The LGBT community is announcing that it is now “part of the mainstream, but that straights are welcome, too,” he said.

    Cooper cited a number of reasons for the increase, including the fact that post 9/11, the LGBT travel market “showed remarkable resilience, a fact that was not lost on the global travel industry as well as gay entrepreneurs and hoteliers.”

    -- Reported by msnbc.com contributor Tanya Mohn

    Timothy A. Clary / AFP - Getty Images

    The front of New York City's The Out NYC, during the official opening to the public March 1.

    Mario Tama / Getty Images

    A room is seen at a new gay resort hotel, The Out NYC, in midtown Manhattan after the ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 1. The 105-room gay urban resort features a nightclub, spa, restaurant and outdoor spaces.

    Timothy A. Clary / AFP - Getty Images

    The Spa Deck of New York City's first-ever gay hotel, The Out NYC, during the official opening to the public March 1. The urban resort in Hells Kitchen on 42nd Street will be the first hotel and entertainment complex targeted specifically at attracting the LGBT tourist and local community.

     

  • Turkmenistan's president wants a Las Vegas-style resort on the Caspian Sea

    Reuters

    A general view shows the resort of Avaza June 8, 2011.

    Reuters

    A woman relaxes underneath a photo displaying Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at the resort of Avaza June 8, 2011. Turkmenistan's all-powerful leader promises that, one day soon, he will build a Las Vegas on the windswept shores of the Caspian Sea.

    Reuters

    A general view shows the resort of Avaza June 8, 2011.

    Reuters

    A general view shows the resort of Avaza June 8, 2011.

    Dmitry Solovyov of Reuters writes:

    Turkmenistan's all-powerful leader promises that, one day soon, he will build a Las Vegas on the windswept shores of the Caspian Sea.

    Illuminated by distant gas flares, thousands of construction workers toil through the night to build the next stage of Avaza: a fantasy resort built on the reclusive Central Asian nation's fabulous energy riches.

    Seven colossal, marble-fronted hotels ordered by President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov line the coast. At least another 23 are planned in a project which some say could divert up to $5 billion from Turkmenistan's state coffers.

    But state publicity and lavish spending cannot hide the fact that Turkmenistan is one of the world's most authoritarian and secretive nations, where Berdymukhamedov's word is final and opposition among the 5.4 million population is non-existent.

    Continue reading...

  • Lu Xin / EPA

    A man poses in a capsule at a capsule hotel soon to be opened in Shanghai, China, Jan. 8. Each capsule, 2.2 meters long with a 1.1-by-1.1 meters opening, is equipped with a flat TV set, wifi access, power sockets, lights, an alarm clock and bedding. The cost of the room is 88 yuan (10.28 euros) a night or 28 yuan (3.27 euros) an hour.

    Capsule hotel to open in Shanghai

    By Katie Cannon, Senior Multimedia Editor

    This seems like it could be a pretty great option if someone didn't plan on spending a lot of time in his or her hotel room.