A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging. Hotels are classified from one-star class ones to the five-star class ones. A typical hotel room usually has high-speed Internet access, cable television, DVD player and mini bar. On the other hand, a motel is a drive-in inn where people stay for the night en route to a long journey.

The tallest hotel in the world is the Burj al-Arab in Dubai. It actually is an artificial island and it is shaped like a sail but actually a Muslim crescent. It stands tall at 280 meters and it opened to the public only this millennium. At night, the sail shape is illuminated. The helipad on top of the sail is already a popular sight. It served as the set of a music video by Ronan Keating. At another instance, Tiger Woods hit golf balls from the helipad towards the Persian Gulf below. Also, Roger Federer and retired tennis star Andre Agassi played an exhibition game at this same helipad in February 2005. The interior of the hotel is made of 30 kinds of marble. There are 202 suites and each are reserved for at least two months. The cost of the least expensive suite is $15,000 a night. The hotel is also strict in the attire of its restaurant guests. All people who wish to dine out in the restaurant must be dressed in semi-formal wear. One of the restaurants in Burj al-Arab even sport an aquarium ceiling complete with aquatic life.

Another unusual hotel is in the middle of a very remote rainforest – the Amazon. Owned by billionaire computer magnate Bill Gates, the Ariau Towers are built on top of trees in the banks of the Amazon river. The tree towers are linked by catwalks but the accommodations in the hotel are as good as a regular hotel minus the Internet connection and cable television of course. But each television set in the hotel suites has an accompanying DVD player. The least expensive room is $200.

In Sweden, there are several ice hotels that are rebuilt every winter simply because they melt down in spring. Their lobbies are filled with ice sculptures. There are ice art exhibitions during winter. Plates served in its restaurant are also made of ice frozen from the Torne River. Free overalls, boots, hats and mitts are provided to guests. There are also several winter clothing items sold at the hotel like microfleece, woolsocks and caps.

The world has only one underwater hotel and is located, again, in Sweden. The underwater suite contains the same amenities in a regular hotel. It even has a kitchen stove where you can boil water using a kettle.

The largest hotel in the world is the famous MGM Grand in Las Vegas with a total of 6,276 suites. It opened in 1993. The hotel complex is actually a combination of the original main building and The Signature, SKYLOFTS and The Mansion. So wherever you are in the world, there is always an exotic hotel near you.