CNNGo.com

Outrageous design: Check out pop-up hotel room
Gallery: Extreme shots by daredevil adventure photographer
The Alps' best semi-secret hiking huts
Grab the popcorn. Paramount's first movie-themed resort to open in Dubai

Outrageous design: Check out pop-up hotel room

Posted: 02 Apr 2013 07:00 AM PDT

It only makes sense.

With services like Couchsurfing and Airbnb carving chunks out of the world's budget accommodations market, it was inevitable that someone would invent the instant hotel room.

Say hello to Hotello.

Designed by Italian architect Antonio Scarponi, Hotello is a "portable office/hotel room" device created for empty urban spaces, including lofts, warehouses, factories and military barracks.

We first saw the design on Skift, and must say it looks promising.

Scarponi developed the concept while collaborating with visual artist Robert de Luca, who was inspired by the "DIY windshields that people build on the beach in the Baltic Sea during the summer." Swiss firm Das Konzept, which specializes in "design office innovation," is also part of the project.

"My practice often times focuses on small scale projects, which I believe in many circumstances can have a bigger impact in urban environment," Scarponi told CNN. "We think that interior design is one of the biggest engines of urban transformation in Europe."

Consisting of a metal structure, translucent and sound-absorbent curtain, bed, desk, lamp and stool, the four-square-meter portable room comes packed into a bright red trunk. It can be laid out in various configurations.

Scarponi says that Hotello will debut at Fuori Salone 2013, a design event in Milan to be held on April 9.

Das Konzept is planning to add the design to its upcoming production catalog.

You can see more of the Antonio Scarponi's innovative designs at www.conceptualdevices.com.

More on CNN: Top architect named: Tour Toyo Ito's unusual buildings

Gallery: Extreme shots by daredevil adventure photographer

Posted: 02 Apr 2013 01:06 AM PDT

Although he's often called one of the world's greatest adventure photographers, Tyler Stableford, 37, is uncomfortable with the label.

"In some ways it connotes a profession more interested in thrill-seeking, and that couldn't be further from my goals as a photographer and director," he says.

The Colorado-based photographer says he's more interested in "soulful storytelling."

Yet, for lack of a better term, Stableford admits that "adventure photography" comes closest to explaining what he does.

Physically, anyway.

Harnesses, axes, crampons and ice screws are as much a part of his kit as his cameras as he combines a passion for climbing with a desire to document it.

Extreme conditions

Adventure photographer Tyler Stableford.

Stableford seems to take a masochistic joy in the extreme challenges of his environment.

Many of his shooting locations are in some of the most remote and challenging environments on the planet, from mountains ridges and glacier caves to the bottom of coal mines.

"Really the joy for me is in the process of tuning out the adversities and focusing on creating high-level imagery," he says.

More on CNN: Gallery: A year in the life of a travel photographer

Stableford's favorite shot is one he took of adventure writer and climber Mark Jenkins on an Iceland trip to a rare ice cave (first image in the above gallery).

As serene as the photograph looks, it was a terrifying one to take, as the ice inside the glacier cave was shifting and cracking. In order to get the shot Stableford had to attach himself to the ice below his subject.

It was totally worth it: he counts Iceland as the most photogenic country he's ever visited.

On traveling

"One of the joys of shooting travel images is that having a camera in hand gives me an excuse to walk up to somebody interesting (photo-worthy), whom I'd never talk to otherwise and have a conversation," says Stableford, who travels at least one week per month for work.

"Tha'ts my number one tip for photographers at any level. When traveling use your camera as a way to introduce yourself to locals and to gain access to scenes that other tourists might not get."

Any final word of advice?

"Be sure to send the subjects the images!" he says.

More on CNN: Amazing desert photographs taken by paraglider

The Alps' best semi-secret hiking huts

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 10:59 PM PDT

In days gone by, Europe's high alpine meadows were the summer destination of shepherds and cowherds, who brought their sheep and cattle up the valleys for herb-rich grasses.

These seasonal visitors built rudimentary dwellings, and made money on the side by providing accommodation for occasional hunters and travelers foot-slogging across the mountains.

The seasonal relocation of livestock has since decreased, but the numbers of recreational hikers in the Alps has multiplied.

These days, more than 3,000 huts are spread across the Alps. Despite the primitive implications of the name, some "huts" are large enough to allow as many as 300 people a night to sleep a great deal closer to heaven.

As those numbers suggest, "hut" is a misnomer.

'Huts' with full amenities

Alpine huts Despite the primitive implications of "hut," most are equipped with restaurants, showers and a bar. These places usually have a bar, restaurant, sun terrace, showers, drying rooms and a mixture of dormitories and bedrooms of various sizes.

Beds, mattresses, sheets and duvets are all provided. Some even have Wi-Fi.

Yet the vast majority are unreachable by road, sitting at around 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) or higher, relying on helicopters or goods-only cable cars for their supplies.

In season (they're usually open from May or June until September or October, depending on snowfall) they can be hugely popular.

Thanks to these huts, high-altitude hikers no longer have to descend into the valleys at night, seeking shelter. Nor do they have to carry their own food or bedding.

In effect, the huts are sturdy lodges for sturdy people, invariably in magnificent settings, where the combination of plentiful beer and shared satisfaction after a day's walking well done create impromptu (and multilingual) house parties.

The huts' shelter policy -- no one is turned away -- allows hikers to alter hut-to-hut hiking plans at short notice, according to changing weather conditions.

For a private room, you need to reserve in advance, which is done directly with the individual hut.

This can take some research. You can find a listing of huts on the German Alpine Club site, along with links to the sites of other Alpine associations, and their individual properties.

Association memberships usually include a discount on huts, although some are privately run.

Six of the Alps' best huts

Anhalter Hütte, Austria

This 100-year-old former hunting lodge at 2,040 meters (6,693 feet) is located in the Lechtal Alps, surrounded by magnificent peaks. The interior has wood-paneled walls and portraits of be-whiskered German huntsmen.

Although German-run, it's staffed partly by Nepalese women, so there are Buddhist prayer flags on the ceiling and Nepali noodles on the menu. Magnificent views are its calling card, with supplies flown in by helicopter.

Dormitory bed €14 (US$18) with 50% discount to members; www.anhalterhuette.at

Hanauer Hütte, Austria

A spectacular day's walk through fields of gentian and forests of pine from the Anhalter Hütte along the Eagle's Way, the Hanauer Hütte is larger and newer and has a cable-car lift from the valley floor below for supplies.

The Eagle's Way is one of Austria's finest long distance, high-altitude hikes, and a couple of other long distance routes intersect here, so this is a busy place. Marmots and mountain-cupped lakes are in the vicinity.

Dormitory bed €15 with 50% discount to members; www.hanauer-huette.de

Schachenhaus Hütte, Germany

This privately run hut is in the German Alps, not far from the Zugspitze (Germany's highest point) and the mountain resort of Garmisch Partenkirchen.

The Schachenhaus is both a hikers' hut and a tourist destination in itself, accessible by a relatively easy two-hour walk from the road end below.

Hikers come in numbers for the stupendous King's House mountain lodge, built by King Ludwig II, the crazy monarch who built Neuschwanstein, Disney's model for Sleeping Beauty's castle.

Dormitory bed €10, bed in private rooms €15; www.schachenhaus.de

Kredarica Triglav, Slovenia

Mount Triglav is the Slovenian Everest, and the Kredarica is its base camp. Or rather, its three-quarters-way-up camp, with Triglav topping out at 2,864 meters (9,396 feet) and Kredarica located at 2,515 meters (8,251 feet).

That last hike takes an hour, so the hut fills with hikers and climbers preparing for the final push on the summit. The nearest roads are about five hours away by foot, and yet this hut run by the Slovenian Alpine Association is incredibly busy in summer, with as many as five restaurants in operation.

It has some 300 bed spaces and stays open in winter.

Dormitory bed €18, bed in a private room €24, with 50% discount for members.

Rifugio Regina Margherita, Monterosa, Italy

In thin air up at 4,554 meters (14,941 feet) on the flanks of Monterosa, this highest mountain hut in the Alps is a remarkable place to stay.

Perched on rock, gripping hard with claws of wood, it looks fragile and vulnerable, but nevertheless clings on from one year to the next. It's around five hours' walking from neighbor refuges, and in conditions that can be tricky, so proper mountaineering equipment and a guide are advised.

With 70 bed spaces, it's run by a private company, which has five other refuges.

Dormitory bed €33 (€18 for members), €85 half board; www.rifugimonterosa.it

Cabane des Vignettes, Valais, Switzerland

The Chamonix-to-Zermatt route is a well-trodden trail, but that doesn't make it easy. The Vignettes hut is a sturdy building, making it especially welcome to hikers slogging in bad weather.

Recent renovations have brought proper sanitation, replacing a long-drop outside loo that was a chilly walk along a perilous path.

Dormitory bed €27.50 (€19 to members), €32.50 half board; www.cabanedesvignettes.ch

Grab the popcorn. Paramount's first movie-themed resort to open in Dubai

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 03:00 PM PDT

It's time for your weekly "what incredible development is launching in Dubai now?" update.

This one will please film buffs.

Following an announcement last year, Paramount Hotels & Resorts' first resort is now under construction in the United Arab Emirates. The entertainment company is responsible for such films as "Top Gun," "The Godfather," "Titanic" and the timeless classic, "Zoolander."

Paramount Hotel & Resorts is teaming with Dubai luxury developer DAMAC Properties to create the DAMAC Towers by Paramount, which will include the 540-room Paramount Hotel & Residences, in Dubai's downtown Burj Khalifa area.

With a US$1 billion price tag, DAMAC Towers by Paramount is set for completion at the end of 2015, DAMAC said in a statement.

Judging by the flashy design, the property will be a perfect fit for the city.

Made up of four 250-meter-tall towers, the resort will feature both residences and a separate hotel.

More on CNN: World's tallest hotel opens in Dubai

'An inviting lifestyle'

Keep calm and watch movies. Those thinking they're going to be staying in rooms filled with props from their favorite films will be disappointed, though word has it hotel guests will have access to an in-room Paramount film library.

"The history, glamour and tradition of the movies indirectly transcend every element of the design and ethos of this aspirational project," said DAMAC Properties managing director, Ziad El Chaar.

"We will employ the same, tried and tested production process, pioneered by Paramount Pictures at the studio, to direct, design and detail a world-class experience. The Paramount brand stands for more than exceptional film and entertainment: it's an inviting lifestyle."

The four towers will have a connecting multi-level plaza with themed restaurants and bars, events facilities, a screening room, fitness centers, swimming pools, kids club and retail zone featuring Paramount-branded products.

One tower will feature the Paramount Hotel & Residences while the other three will house the DAMAC Maison–Paramount co-branded serviced residences.

Who'd want to live in a Paramount-branded property? Apparently quite a few people.

DAMAC says DAMAC Towers by Paramount sold out its first phase properties during an invite-only launch event last week.

More on CNN: Dubai plans yet another 'world's biggest' shopping mall

After Dubai

Established last year, Paramount Hotels & Resorts says it plans develop more properties in global gateway cities and key resort destinations, targeting established markets and growth destinations around the world.

Next up for the brand is a resort in Boao, on Hainan Island, China, due for completion in 2016.

"Some properties may be lie within integrated resorts –- incorporating casinos -– or be found in a Paramount Park, a series of global theme parks currently being developed by Paramount Pictures," says Paramount's website.

In other words, watch your back Universal.

More on CNN: Ultimate Dubai stopover guide