There ’s camping , glamping , and now , in a forest just outside Iceland ’s popular Golden Circle , there ’s an unusual , inflatable mix of the two : bubble - ing .
The newAurora Bubble Hotel , a clean , inflatable charge card “ sleeping room , ” is the brainchild of Iceland aboriginal and Northern Lights expert Robert Sveinn Robertsson . The conception started when Robertsson was advising a customer on his Northern Lights expedition . In pass , the customer suggested he make a decipherable - ceiling hotel for sleeping under theaurora borealis , and Robertsson quick turned this good word into action . In January of this year , the initial “ Bubble ” was born .
Courtesy of Robert Sveinn Robertsson
At first glance , the Aurora Bubble Hotel is a hybrid between a heated iglu and a bouncy house . The house of cards stays inflated with a noiseless ventilation system that continuously review the air to prevent humidity and adjust the temperature base on thermoregulator mise en scene . If punctured , the Bubble will slowly puncture , but it has a thin metallic element frame to support the walls until it ’s repaired .
indoors , there ’s elbow room for one full layer , one night lamp , two modest suitcases , and … that ’s about it . To provide guests with a sense of secrecy — which is crucial , given its light plastic walls — the house of cards is located on a distant farm near a town call Reykholt . Its accurate placement is only shared with Bubble Hotel Guest ; it ’s not list on the hotel ’s internet site .
Because of the relatively fuddled stern , there ’s no toilet inside the actual Bubble . alternatively , when nature calls , guests use an outhouse with an upscale portable toilet several invertebrate foot by . Bathing - wise , guests shower down at the nearbySecret Lagoon , a remote geyser - power red-hot outpouring that gives the country ’s more famous Blue Lagoon a run for its money .
Stephanie Vermillion
Off - internet site showers . privy in the woods . Secret locations . That ’s a circumstances of work just to sleep in a charge plate house of cards , is n’t it ?
in reality , no . These few small inconveniences are n’t deterring traveller who are willing to put in a fiddling extra movement to sleep with a arresting persuasion . The Aurora Bubble Hotel is booked almost entirely through May ( at rough $ 225 a nighttime ) , and Robertsson has encounter such heavy demand , he ’s opening two more house of cards this July . The Modern social unit will be larger , with room for a board and two chairs . Robertsson is also building an on - internet site shower .
This month , my boyfriend and I were among the Bubble Hotel ’s first guests during a occlusion on our road misstep through Iceland . Even with a little agnosticism , the inside was much cozier than we anticipated , which made for a perfect night of stargazing and , for a brief two minutes , watching the Northern Lights .
As you ’d imagine , sleeping in a clear , inflatable Bubble is a little unsettling . At any moment you could awaken up to a person or fauna ( or heck , even an elf — this is Iceland after all ! ) staring at you through the thin charge plate walls . But luckily , Robertsson ’s secrecy and covert counsel made indisputable that was n’t the case . The only visitant we had were up - and - at-’em wench that awakened us from a amazingly relaxing nap .
Whether it ’s Aurora chasing in the winter or stargazing in the summer , the Bubble Hotel is an unusual , year - turn option for those looking for an off - the - beaten - path adventure . And even if the stars do n’t collaborate , you ’ll have quite the Icelandic tale to state .
