BEEN-SEEN.COM - A DIFFERENCE IN WHERE AND HOW WE TRAVEL

Whoever sang, “Ohh, heaven is a place on earth,” was right. The Yi-spa in Berlin, a full service massage parlor complete with exotic body treatments, Thai-style massages and aromatherapy, claims they can show you the way.

Talk about a room with a view. The Hatari Lodge is a former farm located in woodland on the edge of the Momella swamp, right under Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania.

The idea of a floating hotel isn't new, I know, but check out this cool alternative to a gleaming white cruise ship. The Vat Phou is a former teak wood ferry boat,  converted into a boutique hotel that cruises the Mekong River in Laos.  

Laos is not one of those countries that tourists regularly beat a path to, so it's great to read about the Mekong Estate, a new 'smart dwelling concept' in the north of the country. Located in the former royal capital of Luang Prabang along the Mekong River, it's a complex of dwellings available to rent by the week or month. 

I'm never happier than when I'm immersed in a totally new environment, especially if it's somewhere new - and breathtakingly beautiful. The Juvet Landskapshotell fits this vision perfectly. The 'landscape hotel' in Gudbrandsjuvet, Norway, is a bold blend of modern design and natural surroundings.

According to late makeup guru Shu Uemura, we come from the sea, and its waters contain all the elements that our bodies need. That was the logic behind setting up Utoco Deep Sea Therapy Center & Hotel in Japan, far off the beaten track in Kochi, on the subtropical island of Shikoku. Unlike any other spa on earth, the revolutionary center uses water pulled from the deepest depths of the ocean. 

As calming summer breezes transition to nippy fall mornings, it's a good time to start dreaming about late autumn holidays. Just a few photos of Albergo il Monastero and I knew what I wanted to put on my wish list.

There's a lot of controversy over how many names Eskimos really do have for snow, but it's interesting to discover their word for iceberg. The Seeko'o Hotel in Bordeaux, France, takes its name from this word, and it's easy to see why.

One day every hotel will be eco-friendly, but until then Costa Rica seems to have the eco-travel market cornered. One hotel which is getting a lot of attention of late is El Silencio Lodge in Bajos del Toro, surrounded by 500 acres of tropical cloud forest in the island's central volcanic region.

Mamma Mia may have everyone flocking to the Greek islands but, for an alternative to whitewashed homes poured down rocky hillsides, check out this cool hotel in central Athens. Appropriately named, Fresh Hotel is probably the opposite of that every moviegoer would expect of Greece right now. 

In a word: enchanting. How else would you describe a castle as old as the green hills that surround it, nestled in the Irish countryside? An estate where you can be both enveloped by a rich cultural history as well as stimulated by modern spa therapies? In two words: Castle Leslie.

I guess it was inevitable. We've had hotels on trains, a hotel in a submarine, and even a hotel inside a harbor crane. So, the recent unveiling of designs for a Jumbo Hostel in Stockholm, Sweden, shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise.