A couple were blown away by a Boeing 747 converted into a hotel.
Annabelle Green, 20, and her partner Joel Simons, 21, both ardent plane spotters, jumped at the opportunity to spend a night in the Jumbo Jet Hotel, located on the tarmac of Stockholm Arlanda Airport in Sweden.
Offering 14 different rooms and dormitories, with rates starting from £70 and suites going up to £180, the Jumbo Jet Hotel has become quite the attraction among the aviation community. For Annabelle and Joel, indulging in the prized cockpit suite for £200 was a chance they couldn’t resist, declaring the entire encounter as one that vastly surpassed their anticipations.
From Daventry, Northamptonshire, student Annabelle was thrilled with how the stay unfolded. She said: “The whole experience definitely exceeded our expectations. As people interested in planes, it was just exciting to even get to see inside a Boeing 747 because they’re so rarely used for passengers these days.”
Meeting online nine months prior over a shared wanderlust, Annabelle and Joel have developed their relationship around aviation, often enjoying picnics near airports to watch aircraft ascend and descend. When planning their Scandinavian escape last November, choosing the jet-set accommodation of the Jumbo Jet Hotel seemed nothing short of destiny.
Annabelle gleefully shared: “It was like a totally upgraded version of our usual dates sitting in a park watching the planes take off.”
The enamoured pair enjoyed the ‘cockpit’, the hotel’s prime accommodation, and exclusive access to the former first-class section. Annabelle enthused: “Getting to sleep in the cockpit was great. They still had all the buttons and switches from where the pilots would fly the plane. We were also able to walk out onto the wing and watch planes taxi along the tarmac near the hotel.”
The Swedish plane hotel is not the only one welcoming in guests. The appropriately named Private Jet Villa in Bali, Indonesia, combines all of the luxury of 1950s air travel with stunning scenery, while staying firmly on the ground.
The plane was once part of Mandala Airlines’ fleet and has since been bought by Russian developer Felix Demin, who moved it to its current spot on an island. The jet had to be taken apart “like Lego” and transported to its current spot bit-by-bit, before being reassembled again, Business Insider reports.
Anyone looking to stay in the unique accommodation is going to have to fork out for it, with the whole plane currently costing £5,920 a night. One particularly eye-catching feature of the plane hotel the private swimming pool which has been built into the ground below its tail.
Guests may feel a little as if they’re flying when lounging around in its waters, as the plane sits right by a cliff edge. The jet’s internal decoration is similarly to a modern hotel, with fluffy white linens and wooden panelling, and all the amenities you need for a home-away-from-home feel.
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