Six of the world's most extreme hotels

Why stay at an ordinary hotel when you can check in to an extraordinary hotel? From a sky-scraping bed in the world's tallest hotel to a private room in an underwater lodge, these ground-breaking hotels and resorts take accommodation to the extreme.

Largest hotel

When it comes to guest rooms at the Izmailovo Gamma-Delta Hotel in Moscow, it's not the size of the room but how many you have that matters. Built in 1979 on the site of the historic Izmailovo village and Royal Estate, where Peter the Great grew up in the 17th century, the mammoth complex with its four towers boasts an astounding 7500 rooms (second-placed The Venetian hotel and casino in Las Vegas has 7117 rooms). The Izmailovo can accommodate more than 10,000 guests at one time. Now that's a lot of beds to change!

Smallest hotel

From one extreme we jump to another with what could best be described as the world's smallest hotel. The One Hotel Angkor in Siem Reap in Cambodia lives up to its name by offering only one hotel suite. Yes, you read that correctly. There really is only one room at this hotel. Yet while it may be diminutive in size, the One Hotel is far from thin on services and amenities.

Located on the fascinating Passage laneway near the Old Market, the hotel features a stylish lobby, a boutique shop, private rooftop terrace, personal chef, sensuous spa treatments and a team of on-call staff devoted to catering to your every whim. And with only one suite available in the hotel, you literally have the whole hotel to yourself.

Highest hotel

Acrophobics be warned: the rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Hong Kong are not for the fainthearted. Soaring from the 102nd to the 118th floor of the city's tallest skyscraper, the International Commerce Centre, the 312 guest rooms in this hotel are the highest in the world. But if you want to conquer your fear of heights, a sky-scraping bed some 490m above sea level might just be the ticket. With magnificent floor-to-ceiling windows offering sweeping panoramic views of world famous Victoria Harbour, thrill-seeking guests really will wake up on top of the world.

Deepest hotel

When novelist Jules Verne wrote Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea in late 1800s, spending a night sleeping at the bottom of the ocean seemed like a fanciful idea. But not any longer. At the aptly named Jules' Undersea Lodge — a 56-square-metre converted marine lab located 6.5m beneath the ocean's surface in Key Largo, Florida — you can live out Verne's ultimate fantasy with an underwater bed. The only catch is you'll have to know how to scuba dive to reach your bed. Once there, though, you won't need to worry about hanging a "do not disturb" sign on the door as the only intruders peeping through your room's 105cm-thick window will be curious fish.

Coldest hotel

A great place to chill out in is Canada's famous Ice Hotel. Each year the cathedral-like hotel is carved entirely out of ice, including the floors, the walls, the light fittings and, yes, even the beds! The walls are 1.2m thick and insulate the hotel to a crisp -2°C to -5 °C. Thankfully, you're supplied with an arctic sleeping bag and fur blankets to keep yourself toasty warm while you sleep. The hotel though, which opens in early January, sadly disappears in early April as it slowly melts away under the warm spring sun.

Hottest hotel

From the icy realms of Canada, the parched deserts and sun-soaked dunes of the United Arab Emirates' Empty Quarter beckon. Located just 90 minutes from Abu Dhabi in the famed Liwa Desert where daytime temperatures soar into the '50s, the world's hottest hotel, the Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara, stands like a mystical oasis for sun-weary travellers.

Inspired by the simple grandeur of an old desert fortress, the 206-room resort embraces the epic adventures of traditional Arabian style and design and combines it seamlessly with five-star luxury. When you're not luxuriating by the free-form swimming pool, you can take in the towering red sand dunes that glimmer as far as the eye can see.

Source = msn.co.nz