The Bold New Trend of Wall-Free Stays: An Adventure or a Risky Gamble? (2024)

According to Booking.com's Travel Predictions for 2024, 58% of travelers prioritize an uninterrupted night's sleep during their holiday. Would they be comfortable sleeping in rooms without doors or windows, surrounded by nature?

Accommodations around the world are redefining what it means to sleep in nature. You may have already heard about yurts, glamping, or even eco-lodges. However, these unconventional venues feature an open concept that completely blurs the line between the bedroom and nature and transform the concept of room with a view.

Sleeping Above the Great Barrier Reef in Australia

Cruise Whitsundays’s under-the-stars Reefsleep experience complements the ReefSuites ‘round-the-clock underwater views.

Moored at Hardy Reef, a section of the Great Barrier Reef, guests can watch marine life through observatory windows or get their sea legs by snorkeling, swimming, sunbathing, or whale watching. In July and September, guests may glimpse a humpback whale as it migrates along the reef for breeding.

Ahead of sunset, guests head to the pontoon's upper deck to sleep in meticulously designed Reefbeds. These unique double beds resemble tents, as their upper canvas unzips on both sides to allow exposure to the elements.

Travel blogger Giselle Whiteaker recalls her peaceful experience. "The only sound was the light lapping of water against the pontoon and an occasional splash as a fish breaks the surface."

Becoming One With Nature in Indonesia

Victoria Henz, travel blogger at Guide Your Travel, visited Le Pirate Island in Komodo National Park in Indonesia, where she stayed in open-air beach huts. She stresses that voyagers should expect warm weather and suggests that those who require air conditioning utilize traditional lodging. "It was definitely hot," she admits, "but knowing what to expect made it more manageable."

Henz recalled how easily she slept in the open. "Since it's a private island, I felt very safe. I was surprised by the lack of insects and other bugs, but that is probably because you're sleeping so close to the beach. We didn't even encounter many mosquitos, which was great. The island itself surpassed all expectations; it was incredible."

According to Tripadvisor, Bali boutique hotel Bambu Indah ranks No. 2 of all 79 resorts in Ubud. Adventurous guests can opt for open-air rooms, while others opt for conventional houses with doors and screened windows. The hotel’s unique Moon House offering is a partially wallless, crescent-shaped space that overlooks a small pond, retreat gardens, and the rainforest.

Despite its promise, a deeper dive into reviews reveals that this accommodation style may not suit all guests. Travel blogger Meeka Fayetima from The Wandering Afro describes her stay in a similar open-air hut in Indonesia. "The most challenging part of my stay was using the bathroom at night alone," she recalls. "The outdoor shower attracted quite a few visitors, but the views were amazing. Waking up gently with the rise of the sun was an incredible experience, and the views were out of this world. I would absolutely do it again."

Monkey Business in Sri Lanka

Kate Veling visited two open-air properties in Sri Lanka: Back of Beyond in Pidurangula and Jasper House in Hiriketiya Beach.

Jasper House features second-floor rooms with one side open to the ocean, while every Back of Beyond room has manipulable bifold screens that expose the entire room. "The only drawbacks were that you may inadvertently flash people walking down the hill nearby," she adds.

Back of Beyond offers guests open-air treehouse accommodations with jungle canopy views. However, Veling says the resort provided a monkey-proof trunk to store her belongings, and staff urged her to zip suitcases to deter nosy, rummaging simians. Though her stay required additional preparation, she recalls no uncomfortable wildlife run-ins.

Under the Mexican Sky Overlooking the Ocean

Sustainable boutique hotel Playa Viva sits on a private preserve on Mexico’s Pacific coast. The luxurious space at the base of the Sierra Madre Mountains boasts a dozen unique cabin styles, all windowless to offer unobstructed ocean views.

This particular open-air concept comes with challenges. 25% of all reported scorpion sting envenomations worldwide occur in Mexico, and guests receive scorpion-detecting UV lights upon check-in.

Not all open-air spaces require the same caution. "While scorpions can be found in the Baja, none have ever been found in one of our treehouses. I'm sure they'd find it tough to climb up the treehouse's steel staircase," says Cameron Watt, owner of Acre Resort.

The resort offers tree houses with thatched walls that allow bird sounds and Baja breezes to travel through. "The decision to go with open-air accommodations was easy," continues Watt. "A true glamping experience requires these sensations you can't find in a typical hotel room."

Vicki Rutwind from Fashion Travel Repeat visited the resort and described her experience as magical, comfortable, and luxurious. "I also really loved the outdoor shower at our treehouse, which gives you complete privacy, but it feels really special to shower underneath the starry sky," she adds.

Tropical Breezes and Starry Nights in the Caribbean

Samana Eco Lodge lies near El Limón on the Samaná Peninsula. Guests can stay in rustic, open-air jungle bungalows with two stories: a swinging bed on the ground floor and a king-size bed upstairs overlooking a rock pool and the rainforest.

Jessica Serna shares her Saman Eco Lodge experience. "Truthfully, I expected more bugs! As someone who does glamping quite often, I did not find a difference in bugs between an open-air place and a glamping place with windows and doors. Yes, there were spiders and roaches, but I expected that."

Jade Mountain in St. Lucia is a unique resort in the Caribbean built on a cliffside, offering direct and unobstructed views of the famous Piti and Gros Piton Mountains through each room's "missing" wall.

"Guests often describe their experience as magical, feeling as if they are suspended in space with the Pitons as a dramatic backdrop, enveloped by the natural elements of earth, air, and water," says Karolin Troubetzkoy, Executive Director of Jade Mountain Resort.

Suspended in the Rainforest Canopy Without Walls in Costa Rica

While 65% of the Booking.com survey respondents prefer green spaces and plants during their stays, most may not need unmitigated rainforest access. Nature Observatorio’s green-thumbed guests will see Monsteras, the most popular indoor plant in the U.S., nearly everywhere in Costa Rica. Guests of Nature Observatorio’s striking open-air treehouse, which hangs suspended in the Costa Rican jungle, will see no shortage of sights and sounds.

The wooded suspended structure’s guests can observe the tropical rainforest and wildlife 360 degrees from the canopy level after being hoisted by a pulley system.

Animals Near Africa's Open-Air Stays

The Chief Marketing Officer Council's survey reports 74% of Western travelers have no plans to visit any African destination, with half avoiding due to safety concerns. Nearby resorts and tourist destinations work to quell consumer concerns and positively impact public perception by embracing exclusivity and leveraging unique offerings unavailable elsewhere.

Go2Africa, an award-winning, B Corp-certified safari operator, listed 26 star-beds in nine African countries, from Botswana's dense rainforest to the South African game reserves.

Managing Director and Travel + Leisure A-List Advisor Maija De Rijk-Uys shares, "There's nothing like snuggling down in a cozy bed in the heart of "There's pristine wilderness. With just a mosquito net between you and Africa's Milky Way, the nocturnal calls of lion and hyena are even more soul-stirring when heard from a star-bed."

Most star-beds are minimally designed, like the one in Tsuwalu Kalahari, which offers two camping beds on a wooden platform. Other resorts, like Segera Retreat's Nay Palad Bird Nest in Laikipia Plateau, Kenya, lure guests with unique architectural designs.

Global travelers seeking unique accommodations may now turn their sights toward open-air stays, where unobstructed views and direct contact with nature replace traditional barriers like doors and windows. From sleeping above the Great Barrier Reef to resting in a beach hut on a private Indonesian island, these experiences redefine the concept of a room with a view.