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9 of America’s most unusual hotels, from the Clown Motel to an aircraft hangar
Forget cookie-cutter rooms and bland facades and check into one of these quirky properties instead
For a vacation less ordinary in the U.S., look no further than the hotels featured here.
They are nine of the country’s most unusual places to stay, guaranteed to light up your holiday photo album.
Our coast-to-coast round-up includes a motel in Nevada that bills itself as America’s scariest, an inn on the Californian coast with no TVs that you have to phone to book, a one-time jail in Massachusetts where escape will be the last thing on your mind, and a former school in Oregon that’s a real class act.
In Texas, you can experience the romance of yesteryear flying with a stay in a 1940s-style aircraft hangar, or in Tennessee soak upthe soulful calm of a night in a former church-turned-boutique lodge.
Head to Colorado, and you’ll find a hotel with a facade that resembles tree bark and in Connecticut, a property housed in a dramatic brutalist structure.
Read on for getaway destinations with a delightful twist.
1. The Clown Motel, Tonopah, Nevada
This Nevada motel stands little chance of making the bucket lists of those who suffer from coulrophobia (an irrational fear of clowns).
Even guests who don’t may find themselves slightly unsettled by the sheer intensity of the clown theme, which includes more than 6,500 clown figurines donated from around the world that adorn the shelves of the motel lobby, plus two to three eclectic pieces of clown art in each of the 31 rooms.
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The Clown Motel embraces its power to disturb, describing itself as “America’s Scariest Motel.”
This claim received a boost when an episode of Ghost Adventures was shot there in 2015. It’s said that during filming, a clown moved one of its legs with its hand.
The motel was opened in 1985 by Leona and Leroy David in memory of their father, Clarence David — a clown lover buried in the adjacent cemetery who left a collection of 150 clowns in his home.
Rooms from $90 per night.
Read more: My trip down America's road of the paranormal – with a clown-themed haunted motel
2. Deetjen's Big Sur Inn, California
You won’t find any TVs, wifi or cell service at Deetjen's Big Sur Inn, and making an online booking is not possible. You have to phone the reception desk between 11am and 4pm to reserve one of the 20 rooms.
Once there, you can enjoy a thorough digital detox and a yesteryear vibe.
The rustic inn, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, sits on the edge of the redwood forest in Big Sur. It is formed from a cluster of hand-crafted buildings, some of which date back to the 1930s when the property was opened by husband and wife Helmuth and Helen Haight Deetjen.
The first building was a redwood barn hand-built by Helmuth, which Helen eventually transformed into a restaurant.
Today, it’s the heart of Deetjen’s, where guests enjoy candlelit meals in four intimate rooms.
There are plenty of online reviews for Deetjen’s, but you’ll discover the thoughts of past guests going back decades in the journals left in each bedroom. Share your musings to add another layer of history to the remarkable property.
Rooms start from $250.
Read more: The best California cities and towns to visit, from LA to Santa Barbara
3. The Liberty, Boston, Massachusetts
The Charles Street Jail, completed in 1851, housed some of Boston’s most notorious criminals for nearly 150 years. But in 1973, prisoners revolted over poor living conditions, and the jail was declared unfit and in violation of the inmates’ constitutional rights. The last prisoners were moved out in 1990.
Today, escape is the last thing on the minds of those staying in the building. It’s now a luxurious place to stay – The Liberty, a Luxury Collection Hotel. But there are plenty of reminders of the site’s former, less welcoming guise.
The jail’s 90-foot-tall central atrium has been preserved and forms the core of the hotel, along with the historic catwalks and wrought-iron work on the windows.
Past prisoners might not recognise the exercise yard, though —that’s now a landscaped courtyard.
Rooms from $550.
4. McMenamins Kennedy School, Portland, Oregon
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Being at school has never felt so relaxing.
Welcome to McMenamins Kennedy School, a former elementary school in Portland that’s now a 57-room hotel with a movie theater and bar where the old school auditorium used to be, and elementary workbook pages repurposed as wallpaper.
There’s also a brewery, soaking pool and several bars, including “Detention Bar.”
The school dates back to 1915, and over the decades became a community hub and civic space.
When it closed in the 1974-75 school year, a coalition of neighbors, former students, PTA presidents and the Portland Development Commission saved it from demolition.
After 17 years sitting empty, hospitality chain McMenamins breathed life back into the space. A lesson in meaningful restoration.
Rooms from $185.
Read more: A seaweed foraging adventure along the Oregon coastline
5. Hangar Hotel, Fredericksburg, Texas
Heaven awaits for aviation geeks.
The Hangar Hotel was built from scratch in 1995, designed to resemble a World War II hangar and evoke the romance of 1940s air travel.
It was conceived by private pilot and former Nasa engineer Dick Estenson, who has packed the interiors with vintage aviation memorabilia and 1940s-style furniture.
To add to the allure for airplane enthusiasts, the adult-only Hangar Hotel, in Fredericksburg, is located adjacent to the runway ramp area of Gillespie County Airport, so guests can admire today’s magnificent flying machines as they relax.
There are 50 rooms in total, along with a classic diner serving a range of crowd pleasers, from pancakes to burgers such as the “Sergeant Cheddar” and “Flying Fortress.”
Rooms from $149.
Read more: The best hotels in Dallas-Fort Worth for families, couples and girls’ weekends away
6. Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo, California
Have your sunglasses handy for a visit to the cartoonishly kitsch Madonna Inn — the decor is dominated by a hot-pink hue, from the restaurant booths to the tennis and basketball courts.
Beyond this consistent color scheme, everything else at the motel, halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, is mesmerizingly unexpected.
No two bedrooms in the 110-room inventory are the same — each carries a unique theme, from “Caveman” (featuring a rock pond and stone shower) to “Buffalo” (complete with a wall-mounted buffalo head).
The inn also incorporates custom-made stained glass and blingy chandeliers, and sports a facade with white Disney turrets. Other amenities include a bakery and pastry shop, a pool, a spa, a gift shop, and free wifi.
Rooms from $200.
Read more: The best budget hotels in Los Angeles for location and style
7. The Russell, Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is blessed with one of Tennessee’s most memorable places to stay — The Russell, a former Presbyterian church dating back to 1904 that’s now a 23-room boutique hotel.
The property, nestled in the trendy East Nashville neighborhood, retains many of its original features, including stained glass windows, and some of the old furniture has been repurposed. For example, the pews have been reused as bed headboards.
Beyond the architecture, the hotel carries forward the church’s legacy of sanctuary: a portion of every stay supports local homeless ministries, providing beds and meals for those in need.
Rooms from $170.
Read more: From foodies to Swifties – America’s music city is the perfect holiday break
8. Populus, Denver, Colorado
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With its striking design and claims of being America’s first “carbon-positive hotel,” Populus quickly became one of Denver’s most talked-about properties when it opened in October 2024.
The 13-storey, 265-room hotel is named after, and inspired by, the populus tremuloides, or Aspen tree, and has a sculptural facade formed of irregularly shaped windows and panels designed to resemble the tree’s bark and minimise sun glare.
Owner Urban Village aims for the hotel, located just across from Civic Center Park, to sequester more carbon than it emits through initiatives such as the One Night, One Tree program, where a tree is planted for each night you stay, and by investing in regenerative agriculture and nature-based carbon credits.
Amenities include signature restaurant Pasque, serving seasonal dishes, and rooftop bar/lounge Stellar Jay.
Rooms from $160.
Read more: Six US airports that are so good you’ll enjoy your layover
9. Hotel Marcel New Haven, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, Connecticut
It was a bold move by Hilton to open a hotel inside a starkly brutalist structure. After all, they’re not known for their welcoming aesthetics.
However, the hospitality giant has made the 165-room Hotel Marcel in New Haven work, incorporating it into its “Tapestry Collection” and creating one of America’s most spectacular places to stay.
Whatever your views on the Brutalist style, there’s no denying the unique drama of the building with its two-story void, concrete facade and hypnotic recessed windows.
The 1968 structure was designed by modernist architect Marcel Breuer and Robert F. Gatje, and began life as the Armstrong Rubber Company (later Pirelli) headquarters.
It opened as a Hilton hotel in 2022 and is powered entirely by 1,000 solar energy panels.
In contrast to the outside, the inside is thoroughly inviting, full of warm woods and handmade terracotta tiles.
Rooms from $175.
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