Used to be places like the Ritz and the Four Seasons were the standard for luxury hotels.
These days people have wilder tastes, and by wild we do mean actual wilderness. And the Treehotel in Sweden is currently killing the game on that front, with a growing selection of cabins in Sweden’s remote northern region of Harads (population: 600). We’ve written about their Mirrorcube cabin before, but the group just released the 7th Room by Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta (September 11 Memorial Museum, Egypt’s Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Oslo Opera House), which by all appearances is a glorified tree-clubhouse for grownups.
The elevated cabin sits 30 feet up in the canopy, with two masses supported by 12 columns. The space between them is a stargazing patio shot through with a giant pine tree. Said patio, mind you, is essentially just a span of net stretched across an open space, bringing guests into a more intimate if altogether terrifying relationship with the surrounding nature.
A dark monolithic exterior of charred wood contrasts with a warm, light-filled interior. Sunken beds (with room to sleep five) might give the feeling of sleeping on the floor, except sans creaky bones in the morning. And the large viewing windows give a perfect viewing platform for the Northern Lights, which are the most active in the wintry months — incentive to stay cozy indoors.
There are a few quirks that make this cabin pretty remarkable: for one, you don’t have to haul all your packs up the stairs, as there is a small lift for that. Second, the bottom of the cabin is covered in a print of trees, making it camoflauge when looking up from the forest floor. Then there’s the standards that all Treehotel cabins come with: heated floors, green energy and combustion toilets. Yes, combustion toilets.
Hot sh*t.
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
