Ikea sleepover and other unusual accommodations

For some, Ikea is more than a store, it’s a vacation destination. This according to World Hum’s Weblog, which has a funny post about the Ikea store in Oslo, Norway, that’s opening up a temporary and free hostel for enthusiastic shoppers. Swedish meatballs and Ikea bathrobes will be part of the package for up to 30 visitors per night.

The post also hits on something I tend to cover in bits and pieces during the year, but never before explored as a trend. The sleepover phenomenon mostly caters to families looking for an exciting and unusual camping destination. The listings in the blog post include sleepovers at Dodger Stadium and SeaWorld, but I know you can do the same at other museums and animal parks around the country, including the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park.

I like unusual accommodations, from lighthouses to old convents (speaking of which, if you’re looking for offbeat but charming places to stay in Holland, check out Erfgoed Logies), and if similar museum and park sleepovers had been around when I was young, you can bet I would have dragged my family to every last one of them.