Located in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes Mountains, Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat. Back in 1994, in an attempt to lure tourists to this barren place, a hotel was built completely out of salt. Even the furniture was fashioned from sodium chloride. There were only 12 rooms back then, and guests shared a bathroom, but waste disposal became an environmental problem and it was dismantled in 2002. The second iteration of Palacio de Sal -- now much more luxurious -- went up in a different location in 2007. The 30-room hotel sleeps 48 people, and prices start at about $110 USD (£85) per night.
Salt of the Earth:
- The hotel took two years to build. The second-edition salt palace includes a dry sauna, steam room, whirlpool and saltwater baths for guests to enjoy. If you don’t mind rock-hard fairways, there’s also a golf course.
- The reimagined salt palace has distinctive igloo-style domed ceilings. More than a million salt bricks were cut from Salar de Uyuni and used in the construction.
- Parts of the 4,500-square-foot (418-square-meter) complex have to be rebuilt after every rainy season, because water washes away parts of the structure. Guests are asked not to lick the walls, or the furniture, for the same reason.