Where oh where to stay?? Europe Hostels and Hotels

So today it's all about where to stay on my trip to Europe. Just for fun I put them in order of which ones I'm most excited about rather than chronologically. I've divided them into VERY SUPER EXCITED, LOOKING FORWARD TO, and PLACES TO SLEEP.

To whet your appetite here is the VERY SUPER EXCITED group....

Local Cave House Hotel
Cappadocia, Turkey

Photo Courtesy of Hotel Website

This hotel is exactly what it sounds like - a hotel built into the side of a mountain where you sleep in caves. I love the idea curling up in the heart of a mountain almost as much as decending into the Pyramids of Giza.

La Mamounia
Marrakech, Morocco

Photo Courtesy of Hotel Website

This hotel is located on the grounds of 200-year-old gardens, which were given as a wedding present in the 18th century to Prince Moulay Mamoun by his father. The hotel, itself, was built in 1922 using traditional Moroccan design. I am completely enthralled by the decadence shown on the website and can't wait to spend one glorious night here pretending to be a Moroccan princess.

Aigialos Luxury Traditional Settlement
Santorini, Greece

Photo Courtesy of Hotel Website

This hotel or "settlement" features sixteen houses that were once the homes of Santorini's noble families. They have since been renovated into a hotel but the architecture and design still beckons back to the traditional designs of Greece. Each of the houses are named after the Aegean winds and look out over the cliffs to the sea.

Blue Palace
Crete, Greece

Photo Courtesy of Hotel Website

This hotel is pretty much heaven on the beach. We get to stay in our own villa with an infinity pool that runs into the ocean. AWESOME.

Colmberg Castle
Colmberg, Germany

Photo Courtesy of Hotel Website

Yes, I'm staying a f**king castle! Colmberg Castle's history can be traced back to the 1318 century due to a sales contract found in a book on the city of Rothenburg. It has been owned by Duke Frederic IV. of Nuremburg and the last imperial consul of Japan and was also at one point the headquarters of the kingdom of Bavaria. The castle looks out from the top of a mountain about 511 meters tall. It's gonna rock!

Hotel Grande Bretagne
Athens, Greece

Photo Courtesy of Hotel Website

At this 5 Star hotel I will be eating breakfast on the patio with a breathtaking view of the Acropolis and the Parthenon. This hotel has won awards from Conde Naste, CNN, Travel & Leisure and has been the preferred hotel for the famous from Winston Churchill to LBJ and Elizabeth Taylor. I'll be livin' it up here for a couple days.

Desert Camp
Sahara Desert, Morocco
No really pictures or website for this. We are going as part of a tour to ride camels out into the Sahara Desert to spend the night like the Bedouin looking up at the stars from a desert tented camp. Bad. Ass. Too bad it will be really hot...

Check back tomorrow for the LOOKING FORWARD TO group!