Ladies and gentlemen, prepare for ‘radical innovations’ in hotels

Here at the ol’ Oyster HQ, we like to think we’ve seen it all – but, uh, we haven’t. And neither have you.


No, seriously: have you seen the plans for a hotel suspended over the Grand Canyon? No? Thought so.


Business Week gave us the heads up on a little something called the Radical Innovation in Hospitality Awards, a program aimed to “discover, identify and explore ‘radically innovative hospitality concepts’ that are either currently open and operating, in the development stage, or in conceptual form.”


And these aren’t your typical hotel “innovation” ideas like in-room workout kits or TV's in bathroom mirrors – oh, no, no. This year’s award nominees (the program is in its third year) are a wee bit more – dare we say – radical. Out there. “Ridic,” as the kids say these days.


There are four finalists being considered by a judging panel – but only one of the four is open and operating: The Pixel Hotel in Linz, Austria, which invites guests to spend the night in “leased and renovated functioning space” inside cool places like art galleries and boats, offering a “new way to experience the city first hand.”


The remaining contenders are only sparkles in the eyes of some very ambitious hoteliers-to-be (at this point, anyway). The concepts, per Business Week:


Bucket List Lodging, a hotel aimed at the baby boomer generation, would offer temporary, luxury modules in remote areas such as the Himalayas and the Amazon that change every season and have minimum environmental impact. The Zephyr Resort, a locomotive hotel (like a cruise on a train), uses the country’s existing rail infrastructure, also a fuel efficient form of transportation. The Cliffhanger stacks individual guest rooms—one per floor—and suspends them over dramatic landscapes like the Grand Canyon for a 180 degree view. Uh, wow. That man-made volcano doesn’t seem so awesome now, does it?