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Bridgette Meinhold

Costa Rican Hotel Made from an Old Airplane Takes Flight

by Bridgette Meinhold, 03/16/11

727hotel-ed01

If you have fantasies of living like the Swiss Family Robinson or even the characters in Lost, this rainforest resort near Quepos, Costa Rica may be just the ticket. Situated on the edge of the Manuel Antonio National Park, the Costa Verde Resort features an incredible hotel suite set inside a 1965 Boeing 727 airplane. In its former life the airplane transported globetrotters on South Africa Air and Avianca Airlines, and it now serves as a two bedroom suite perched on the edge of the rainforest overlooking the beach and ocean.



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The airplane was transported piece by piece from the San Jose airport to its current resting place on a pedestal 50 feet above the beach. It looks a bit like a model airplane on a stand, and we can only imagine the spectacular views from the balcony and the airplane windows. Five big trucks were needed to get the plane out to the resort, and while the transportation certainly had a negative ecological impact, the finished project is a stunning example of adaptive reuse.

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The two-bedroom, two-bathroom suite also includes a kitchenette, flat-screen tvs, a dining room, and a terrace with an ocean view. We can’t really agree with their choice of furnishings, which are made from teak and shipped across the Pacific from Indonesia, but at least they were hand carved. The tip-to-tail paneling on the inside is also teak, but it was harvested locally in Costa Rica. Like the Jumbo Jet Hostel in Stockholm, this hotel suite is sure to offer jet-setting travelers a lovely location for an extended layover.

+ Costa Verde Resort

Via Re-Nest

All photos by Vincent Castello

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10 Responses to “Costa Rican Hotel Made from an Old Airplane Takes Flight”

  1. greenpalette greenpalette says:

    wow… this is one of the coolest things i have ever seen! completely amazing. the bio building in saratoga springs is also pretty cool – check it out: http://mygreenpalette.com/projects/detail/94

  2. globalhome globalhome says:

    This seems to be a great idea and beautiful handy work and well done. I would like to stay a few nights.

  3. Yensi Yensi says:

    I read the article and I want to know who is in charge of it. How you come up with this idea. I will be waiting for your answer.

    Thanks for your help.

    Sincerly to.

    YENSI PEDRAZA

  4. Chris H Chris H says:

    its in Costa Rica, it cost $375.00 a night, not too bad.

  5. carbajak carbajak says:

    This is one of the most interesting hotels I have seen in awhile. Being in hotel management, they are always telling us to come up with unique ideas to attract guest. This definitely will do the trick. Personally, I would want to stay here even if the furniture is not the greatest.

  6. [...] at Inhabitat we’re huge fans of recycled airplane architecture, and it turns out that if you’re building a house on a sprawling property deep in the hills [...]

  7. Sola Sola says:

    What a great idea! There definately is an element of acting out a scene from ‘Lost’ or ‘Alive’(Let’s hope not!) Thanks for bringing this to attention, there are so many unique places like this all over the world that offer great examples of the reuse of materials to such a different and worthy benefit! I’d certainly like to see more of this sort of thing on your blog.

    Owner,
    http://www.last-minute-hotel.co.uk

  8. MikeeeHo MikeeeHo says:

    We stayed at this Resort at our last visit to Costa Rica and was the perfect place to wind down after a back to back Costa Rica in 10 days trip. There is actually a restaurant as well that is built inside an airplane but we mistakenly walked into the airplane suite in this article by accident – we were told this happens quite often .. :)

    Michael Ho
    http://www.mikeeeho.com/costa-rica-in-10-days-or-one-week

  9. 19sehlers 19sehlers says:

    I’m doing this for my mom. I think she will love it.

    -Spencer Ehlers 10

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