At most hotels, rooms are one and the same. A few pretty finishes shine, but overall, they’re standard and stark, designed to fit under a corporate brand aesthetic that can feel a bit bland and boring.
But that’s not universally the case. For more personality and a fully memorable experience, consider booking a hotel where the decor is the focal point of the entire stay.
Some hotels go above and beyond the typical guest experience to offer fully themed rooms that feel as if you’re sleeping anywhere from a treehouse to a train car. As a travel writer who stays at dozens of hotels each year, I can confirm that quirky themed hotel rooms are catnip for anyone who embraces bold aesthetics and imagination.
After experiencing the non-conformist design elements of hotels like the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, California and The Roxbury in the Catskills, you may never go back to cookie-cutter décor again.
In this article
The Roxbury in Roxbury, New York
The Roxbury is a Catskill Mountain resort with 43 cottages and rooms, each with its own thematic motif.
The Faerie Forest takes inspiration from the surrounding eco-system, bringing the outdoors inside with floor-to-ceiling foliage, hand-carved mushrooms, and hundreds of twinkling lights.
The Superhero Incognito is a shrine to Wonder Woman, her powerful image painted on the walls, headboard, and tiled on the shower and bathtub.
Outside of the rooms, the property is divided into two sides, located 2.2 miles from each other. The Falls Side has an outdoor swimming pool, hot tub, and waterfall while the Village Side features a spa and gardens. Guests may enjoy the facilities on both sides.
Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, California
If you appreciate kitschy décor that isn’t afraid to go maximalist, the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo is a jackpot. Each of the 110 rooms is one-of-a-kind, with themes incorporated into every inch.
Each one is different, but I stayed in the Caveman Room, which is a prehistoric fantasy with walls made of rock, animal print furnishings, and stone-carved details.
The Safari Room, meanwhile, features green walls and carpeting, wallpaper with lush foliage, lots of animal print, and a rock shower.
I’m also a fan of the destination-themed suites that transport you to places like Yosemite National Park’s famed Bridalveil Falls or a Swiss chalet.
Equally whimsical are the common spaces that feature an abundance of pink, right down to the meals. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, indulge in the house-made Pink Champagne cake.
The Curtis Hotel in Denver, Colorado
From the moment you enter the lobby of The Curtis Hotel, it’s wildly evident that a playful spirit saturates every nook and cranny. There’s a swimming pool-themed guest lounge, complete with plastic pink flamingos and a communal table shaped like a diving board, and a Volkswagen Beetle that’s been transformed into a love seat.
Then there are the 336 rooms; 13 of them are hyper-themed rooms and 2 are hyper-themed suites. The hallways of each of the 13 guest floors are also uniquely decorated with on-point art and interactive elements such as gum ball machines and crayons, so you’ll enjoy the creative immersion as soon as you step off the elevator, even if you haven’t booked a themed room.
One of my favorites is the low-tech Summer Camp room, which trades typical hotel decor for folding camp chairs, retro board games, and wallpaper with moss-covered trees. It makes me nostalgic for the Adirondack cabin of my childhood summers.
Or, if you love the ocean, the Under the Sea accommodation has wallpaper dappled with colorful tropical fish, a seashell-shaped headboard, and a clamshell lamp.
Winvian in Morris, Connecticut
Winvian’s 18 individually designed, themed cottages and one lodge suite are nestled in bucolic woods and meadows in the Connecticut countryside. Cottages have private outdoor areas and luxurious amenities such as heated floors, fireplaces, and Jacuzzi tubs, but it’s the treehouse room that’s the most memorable.
Built as an actual treehouse suspended above the forest floor, whispering winds will be your lullaby and birdsong your alarm clock when staying in this room that feels plucked from a fairy tale.
If you’d rather sleep on solid ground, the cottages are also far from ordinary. Take the Helicopter Cottage, which looks like a hangar with a restored helicopter parked inside.
Or, stay in Beaver Lodge, one of the 18 cottages, and you’ll enjoy a rustic fantasy of natural materials with a dome of interlocking twigs embracing the bed and a spiral staircase that winds around a tree trunk.
Hotel ZaZa in Austin, Texas
The offbeat vibe at upscale Hotel Zaza Austin is in tune with the city’s unofficial slogan, “Keep Austin Weird.” The property has 159 guest rooms and suites; book one of the Magnificent Seven Suites or four Concept Suites and you’ll sleep in a thematic room with imaginatively creative décor.
The Magnificent Seven Suites are seven spacious room types that add a strong dose of whimsy. Consider booking Orient Express, designed to evoke the opulence of an old-world European train car with ornate furniture, upholstery with eclectic patterns and textures, and brass accents.
Smaller but no less impressive are four distinct Concept Suites. Live your Rock-and-Roll dreams and book Backstage Pass, styled like an 80s rockstar’s home with cheetah-print rugs, leather couches, and red velvet accents.
Hotel ZaZa’s properties in Houston and Dallas also have an array of fun, thematic suites.
Adventure Suites in North Conway, New Hampshire
Located in the foothills of the White Mountains, Adventure Suites is home to 19 guest suites, all with original themes and plenty of personality. Room choices include a cave with petroglyphs, a 70s love shack with a disco ball and psychedelic lighting, and a spooky haunted castle for brave guests.
Families will enjoy the backyard with a playground, old-school lawn games like cornhole toss, and s’mores by the fire pit.
The Shortcut
Even a standard room at Denver's Curtis Hotel comes with the experience. The lobby and hallways are themed too, so you can take it all in before you reach your door.
When no two rooms match, the theme you pick shapes the whole stay. Madonna Inn alone has 110, so don't book blind.
The standout rooms book first. At Winvian, the treehouse cottage is the one to reserve early if your heart's set on it.
