AirBed and Breakfast connects people who have a spare bed (or couch, or whatever) with people who need one. Hosts can set the price (or a charity donation), throw in breakfast (or not), and refuse any guests they want. Guests can find available options by date range, location and any other criteria (e.g. WiFi), pay by credit card, and leave reviews. Not quite enough locations yet, but otherwise looks pretty useful.
posted by scottreynen on Aug 11, 2008 - 37 comments

If you've ever felt that yet another vacation in other beachfront paradise would be a waste of your precious leisure time, the Unusual Hotels of the World website is for you. From Treehouse Hotels to mountain Inns carved directly into (out of?) the rock face to Ice Hotels to Undersea lodgings, there's no shortage of vacation spots worldwide that you'll remember far longer than the traditional spa/swim up bar combo.
posted by jonson on Aug 22, 2006 - 12 comments

The Educator's Bed and Breakfast Network Lodging for US $34 per couple per night, and breakfast too! Required - a house of your own (or maybe a large apartment, I suppose) to host fellow members. Membership costs $35 per year with a one-time $10 initial registration fee. "Educators" is a broad category which includes teachers of all sorts, writers, journalists, researchers, librarians, probably DJ's....many bloggers...
posted by troutfishing on Jul 14, 2004 - 5 comments

Where To Stay In Portugal And Spain: You could do worse than try Secret Places, an ambitious and delightful website that has the advantage of emphasizing unusual and charming accommodation. I don't know about Spain, but the places they recommend in Portugal, the Azores and Madeira are top notch and not at all touristy. These are the fairly priced rural inns, private homes and hotels we Portuguese repair to when our batteries need recharging. Although Portugal is a big tourist destination and there are loads of accommodation websites, I'm sorry to say that this is the first I've seen that's any good. I'm not so sure about the other hotel chain websites highly praised in a New York Times article [ registration required; with pop-ups], although the Ian Schrager Hotels [with pop-ups] one is quite attractive (in an early Nineties way) and very efficient reservation-wise.
posted by MiguelCardoso on Nov 26, 2002 - 37 comments

Only 24 more days til the Ice Hotel Quebec opens! You may have heard of the Swedish Ice Hotel, well now they are building one in Canada. A hotel built from ice and snow, and rebuilt every year. It looks beautiful, but I have to wonder, do they bother putting ice machines out in the hall next to the soda machine? Are hair dryers and irons banned? Would you spend a night at an ice hotel? Just remember to pack your fur lined footie pyjamas!
posted by ljc on Dec 8, 2000 - 7 comments