An airplane hotel is a real, retired aircraft converted into accommodation you can sleep in. Fewer than a dozen genuine examples exist worldwide, which makes them among the rarest stays on Earth — rarer than ice hotels, treehouses, or underwater rooms. This guide covers six verified airplane hotels operating in 2026, written by the team at Aerotel in Hoedspruit, South Africa — the only aircraft hotel in Africa, and one of very few properties anywhere with two sleepable aircraft.
A definition before we begin: this list covers places where you sleep inside an actual aircraft fuselage. Aviation-themed hotels housed in old terminals are wonderful, but they're a different category — we've noted the best of those, and the best aircraft-restaurants, at the end. Every entry below has been checked as operating in 2026; where we couldn't confirm current operation, we left the property out, even famous ones, because a list of places you can actually book is more useful than a long list you can't.
Why Aircraft Become Hotels
Retiring a commercial airliner creates a problem. A stripped fuselage is too valuable in aluminium to ignore and too expensive to store, so the overwhelming majority of the world's retired jets end their lives in desert boneyards, broken down for parts and scrap. Conversion into accommodation is the rare alternative: it preserves the airframe, turns a liability into an attraction, and gives travellers something no purpose-built hotel can replicate — the experience of living inside a machine designed to fly.
It is not a cheap or simple alternative. Aircraft must be transported (often by road, in slow and complex convoys), structurally secured, gutted, and refitted with plumbing, climate control, and insulation never intended for a pressurised metal tube. The economics only work as a destination experience, which is precisely why so few exist. The properties below each solved that puzzle differently.
1. Aerotel — Hoedspruit, South Africa
Aircraft: Boeing 737-200 and Boeing 727-300
Aerotel is the world's only aircraft hotel set in African bushveld, on the Zandspruit Bush & Aero Estate near Kruger National Park (Orpen Gate is 64 km away). It is also one of the only properties anywhere with two sleepable aircraft. The Boeing 737-200 — driven nine days by road across three South African provinces in 2019, in a journey that went viral — holds six cloud-themed cabin suites with en-suite spa showers, Nespresso machines, and a preserved cockpit guests can sit in. A live flight tracker lets you watch real aircraft cross the Lowveld from inside your grounded Boeing.
The second aircraft is the headline act: a Boeing 727-300 that served as a VIP presidential jet, carrying heads of state across Africa. Known as SAL, it is booked exclusive-use only — three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a private lounge and deck, for up to six guests. The same first-class seats that once held diplomats now hold honeymooners.
Rates from R2,250 per person sharing, bed and breakfast. The on-site Runway Restaurant serves sundowners on the 737's wing. Read the full stories of the 737's road journey and the SAL presidential jet.
Best for: Safari travellers, honeymooners, and anyone wanting two aircraft and a Big Five game reserve in one trip.
2. Hotel Costa Verde's 727 Fuselage — Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
Aircraft: Boeing 727 (1965)
The most photographed airplane hotel on Earth. A 1965 Boeing 727 — which flew for South African and Colombian operators in its working life — now sits on a 15-metre pedestal at the edge of Manuel Antonio's rainforest, appearing to cruise through the jungle canopy. The interior was rebuilt nose-to-tail in teak with hand-carved Indonesian furniture, and a deck extends out onto the right wing. Sloths and capuchin monkeys are regular, uninvited neighbours.
Best for: Rainforest immersion and the single most recognisable aircraft-hotel photograph in the world.
3. Jumbo Stay — Stockholm Arlanda, Sweden
Aircraft: Boeing 747-200 (1976)
The world's only 747 hotel. Parked at the entrance to Stockholm's Arlanda Airport, this 1976 jumbo holds around 30 rooms ranging from shared dorm bunks to the prize: a cockpit suite with panoramic runway views. The wings double as observation decks for plane spotting, and a café operates inside the fuselage. It is the most accessible airplane hotel on this list — you can walk to it from your departure gate, which makes it a favourite for long Arlanda layovers.
Best for: Plane spotters, budget travellers (dorm beds exist), and anyone with a long Stockholm layover.
4. Vliegtuigsuite Teuge (The Airplane Suite) — Teuge, Netherlands
Aircraft: Ilyushin Il-18 (1960)
The most luxurious single-aircraft stay in the world, and the one with the strangest backstory. This 1960 Soviet-built Ilyushin Il-18 flew for the East German airline Interflug and served as a government aircraft for senior Communist officials — reportedly including East German leader Erich Honecker — before reunification left it surplus. After a spell as a restaurant, it was converted in 2014 into a single 40-metre luxury suite for two, parked beside the runway at Teuge Airport near Amsterdam.
Inside: a fully preserved cockpit you can sit in, three flat-screen TVs, and a bathroom with sauna, spa bath, and shower. Breakfast is served in the suite, and a raised terrace overlooks the runway. Recent guests rate it 9.8 on Booking.com — among the highest scores of any property on this list. It sleeps two and isn't set up for children, which keeps it firmly in romantic-getaway territory.
Best for: Couples and a Cold War history lesson with a spa bath.
5. Woodlyn Park — Waitomo, New Zealand
Aircraft: Bristol Freighter (1950s)
A 1950s Bristol Freighter, billed as one of the last Allied aircraft to leave Vietnam, now split into two self-contained motel units at New Zealand's gloriously eccentric Woodlyn Park — a property that also rents a hobbit hole, a converted train, and a patrol boat. The Cockpit unit keeps much of the original instrumentation and is reached by ladder. It's the most genuinely retro entry on the list, and the cheapest way to sleep in aviation history in the Southern Hemisphere outside Aerotel.
Best for: Quirk-seekers and families touring New Zealand's Waitomo caves region.
6. Corendon Boeing 737 Suite — Amsterdam, Netherlands
Aircraft: Boeing 737
The strangest entry on the list: a retired Boeing 737 installed indoors, inside the Corendon Amsterdam New West Hotel, as the centrepiece of a single suite — fittingly numbered room 737. Guests sleep beside the fuselage, sit in original airline seats, and explore the cockpit, all under a roof. Corendon runs its own airline, so the aviation obsession is genetic rather than decorative.
Best for: Aviation enthusiasts and a city-break novelty near Amsterdam.
Honourable Mentions
The TWA Hotel — New York, USA. The Eero Saarinen-designed 1962 TWA Flight Center at JFK reopened in 2017 as a 500-room hotel with an infinity pool overlooking the runways and a cocktail lounge inside a 1958 Lockheed Constellation. You sleep in the terminal rather than an aircraft, which is why it sits outside the main list — but for aviation lovers it belongs on the same itinerary.
JET — Excalibur City, Czech Republic. Not a hotel but a dining curiosity: a Soviet-era Ilyushin Il-62 converted into a restaurant with interiors by Viennese artist Ernst Fuchs, near the Austrian border. Proof the fuselage-conversion idea spanned the Iron Curtain.
How the Airplane Hotels Compare
| Hotel | Aircraft | Setting | Sleeps | Signature feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aerotel, South Africa | 737-200 + 727-300 | African bushveld near Kruger | 18 | Two aircraft; presidential jet; wing sundowners |
| Costa Verde, Costa Rica | 727 | Rainforest canopy | 2+ | Jungle pedestal perch |
| Jumbo Stay, Sweden | 747-200 | Airport apron | 70+ | Only 747 hotel; cockpit suite; dorm option |
| Vliegtuigsuite, Netherlands | Ilyushin Il-18 | Runway-side, Teuge | 2 | Cold War government jet; sauna and spa bath |
| Woodlyn Park, NZ | Bristol Freighter | Farmland | 4–6 | Wartime history; ladder cockpit |
| Corendon, Netherlands | 737 | Indoors, Amsterdam | 2 | A jet inside a hotel |
What to Expect When You Stay in an Aircraft
A few things are common to almost every airplane hotel, and worth knowing before you book. Space is tight by design — a fuselage is a cylinder, so rooms are narrower and storage is limited; most properties restrict you to cabin-size luggage. Cockpits are usually the highlight and are often left intact for guests to explore. Climate control is retrofitted, so comfort depends on the conversion quality (the better properties, Aerotel and Vliegtuigsuite among them, handle this well). And because each is a one-of-a-kind destination, they book out early — particularly the single-suite properties, which can only host one party at a time.
Prices span an enormous range. A dorm bed at Jumbo Stay costs about the same as a budget hostel; Aerotel's suites start at R2,250 per person sharing with breakfast; Vliegtuigsuite and Costa Verde's 727 command premium rates reflecting their exclusive-use, one-party-at-a-time model. In every case you are paying for an experience that perhaps a few thousand people on Earth have had — which is rather the point.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an airplane hotel? An airplane hotel is a retired, decommissioned aircraft converted into overnight accommodation. The fuselage is refitted with beds, bathrooms, and climate control while preserving aviation features like cockpits and original seating. Fewer than a dozen genuine examples operate worldwide.
Where is the only airplane hotel in Africa? Aerotel in Hoedspruit, South Africa — a 4-star boutique hotel built from a Boeing 737-200 and a former presidential Boeing 727-300, set in bushveld 64 km from Kruger National Park's Orpen Gate.
Can you sleep in a Boeing 747? Yes — at Jumbo Stay, a converted 1976 Boeing 747 at Stockholm Arlanda Airport. It is currently the world's only 747 hotel and includes a cockpit suite.
How much does it cost to stay in an airplane hotel? Prices range widely: dorm beds at Jumbo Stay start around the cost of a budget hostel, while Aerotel's suites start at R2,250 per person sharing with breakfast, and single-suite properties like Vliegtuigsuite and Costa Verde's 727 command premium exclusive-use rates.
Why are aircraft converted into hotels? Dismantling a retired airliner is expensive and wasteful, and most end up scrapped in desert boneyards. Conversion gives the airframe a second life — a sustainability story as much as a novelty. As Aerotel's founding mission puts it: restoring dignity to retired aircraft.
Which airplane hotel is best for a honeymoon? Aerotel's Boeing 727 (SAL) is purpose-suited: a former presidential jet hired exclusive-use only, with three bedrooms, a private deck, dinner included, and African sunsets. Vliegtuigsuite Teuge is the European alternative for two, and Costa Verde's 727 the rainforest one.
Can you stay in a real Soviet aircraft? Yes — Vliegtuigsuite Teuge in the Netherlands is a 1960 Ilyushin Il-18 that once served East German government officials, now a luxury suite for two beside Teuge Airport.
Written by the Aerotel team. Aerotel is South Africa's only aircraft hotel, located in Hoedspruit, Limpopo. Last updated June 2026.
