The world's wackiest hotels

If you fancy a hotel with a bit of bite, the Holiday Inn Resort Gagudju Crocodile, in Australia’s Northern Territory, might tickle your fancy. Users of travel site TripAdvisor have voted it as their favourite “wacky hotel”

While wackiness might not be a word you’d normally associate with Holiday Inn, an aerial shot of the hotel reveals what makes it so special. Darwin architect John Wilkins designed the hotel in the shape of a 250m-long crocodile after consulting with the local Gagudju Aboriginal people, to whom “Ginga”, the giant crocodile, is of great cultural significance.

Visitors to the hotel enter – slightly unnervingly – through the croc’s jaws, although the marble foyer within is designed to resemble a cool and lush billabong (or watering hole). The 110 rooms are located in the crocodile’s body section, which surrounds a shady central courtyard. The hotel’s swimming pool represents the crocodile’s heart.

The resort is located around two and a half hours’ drive south-east of Darwin in the Kakadu National Park, an area the size of Israel. The park has been listed as a Unesco World Heritage site for both its natural and cultural importance. As well as its breathtaking scenery and diversity of wildlife, it’s home to important Aboriginal rock paintings, recording around 40,000 years of continuous habitation.

Fancy spending a night in a hobbit hole, an enormous model dog – or a tiny floating survival capsule? In the weird world of wacky hotels anything’s possible…