NESTLED near the Andes mountains in South America is the world’s weirdest hotel – made entirely of salt.
The resort, on Earth’s largest salt plane, used 10,000 tonnes to make its furniture, walls, flooring, sculptures and even to feature heavily on its menu.
Hotel Palacio de Sal, meaning ‘Salt Palace’, is made entirely of saltSolent
Some of the floors are covered in a sort of sand made from saltSolent
GettyThe resort is built next to the Salar de Uyuni – the world’s biggest salt flat[/caption]
The marble-like walls are made with a salt based compoundSolent
Guests apparently lick the walls to see if they’re really made of saltSolent
The Hotel Palacio de Sal, meaning “Salt Palace”, is built on the shores of the Salar de Uyuni – a dried up pre-historical lake that left behind a 4,000 square mile desert of salt.
Fascinating pictures show the pillars and walls inside the hotel carved from a pale, salt-based brick.
And in some rooms the floors are covered in a sort of sand made from the salt next to large white salt-based sofas.
The restaurant menu boasts “salty dishes” using llama meat, lamb and chicken.
One of the hotel staff said its guests are “amazed” when they visit and “try to lick the walls or furniture… just to be sure it is made of salt”.
And the outside of the building is built with the same material – harvested from the salt flat just metres away.
It’s roof is even made up of salty domes.
A million 35cm blocks of compressed salt grains reportedly went into making the hotel – totalling a whopping 10,000 tonnes – and it took two years to complete.
Views from the hotel bedrooms stretch across the vast South American desert.
And soft furnishings in darker or brighter colours are used to balance out the stark whiteness of the salty foundations.
Naturally, salt-water baths are part of the hotel’s spa experience.
One of the bedrooms has a concave dome ceiling made of salt bars and the bathroom sinks look to be formed from a sort of salt-based marble.
Just outside the entrance white stones – presumably also made of salt – line the walkways.
The Bolivia hotel is 12,000 ft above sea level, and the area it’s nestled in looks at first glance to be covered in snow.
But in fact the salty ground is made of individual crystals that crunch underfoot.
The Salar de Uyuni is considered one of the most impressive places to visit on Earth.
Every so often nearby lakes overflow and a thin layer of water covers the flats, transforming them into a reflective mirror under the sky.
Pillars inside the resort are built with salt bricksSolent
GettyThe world’s largest salt flat, Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, stretches over 4,000 square miles[/caption]
It took two years and a million blocks of salt to build the hotelSolent
Domes on the roof of the hotel are also made of saltSolent
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