Niche travel: sleep in a shipping container hotel

Spending a night in a shipping container in Antwerp is unlikely to feature on too many bucket lists.

On the other hand the green-minded and the adventurous may be simply charmed by the idea behind a new hotel concept currently popping up, literally, in Belgium.

But first, some context: according to figures from, eh, Google, more than 700,000 loaded shipping containers are abandoned each year in the US alone. The number of abandoned empty ones is anyone’s guess but six have found a new lease of life in a hotel called Sleeping Around.

It is made up of four 20ft containers that have been converted into bedrooms, complete with bed, rain shower, iPod docking station and air conditioning.

A fifth has been transformed into a breakfast and lounge area, while the last is all set to be reborn as a sauna.

The hotel has appeared in a variety of locations in Antwerp since its launch last year, and the management is open to further suggestions. So if there’s somewhere in particular you want to stay – in Antwerp – just ask. It’s a room with a moveable view.

The containers were all made in China and used for worldwide transport, so they’re definitely better travelled than you are.

But because it is not always profitable to return containers empty, many are left behind, making Sleeping Around an innovative solution to an unsightly problem.

And as an exercise in green hospitality, it sure beats leaving the towel on the rack.
From €149 a night.

See sleepingaround.eu