10 Cave Hotels for Underground Luxury

Let’s travel to some of the most unique hotels in the world and check out the cave lodging at cool hotels at caverns and cliffs all across the globe.

Iconic Santorini Hotel

Perched on a cliff with a commanding view of the Aegean Sea, Greece's Iconic Santorini Hotel is carved out of volcanic rock with whitewashed Grotto Suites tucked into caverns on multiple levels. Luxuriate with a private plunge pool set against a dramatic rocky backdrop on the famed isle of Santorini. Continue the cave-tastic experience with a naturally sheltered indoor grotto pool.

The Caves, Jamaica

Set off for the tropics and a boutique cave experience at The Caves in Jamaica. Nestled on a strip of limestone cliffs before the crystalline waters of the Caribbean Sea, cottages and suites rise from the rocks to meet thatched roofs and offer awesome levels of rustic luxury. Narrow stairways carved out of the seafront cliffs descend to idyllic grottoes while a clifftop bar offers stunning views of paradise.

Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita

A complex of ancient caves was transformed to create the modern-day marvel of Le Grotte della Civita. Here you'll find hundreds of structures carved out of stone, an entire village that was inhabited by cave dwellers stretching all the way back to the Stone and Bronze Ages. The mountainside retreat overlooks the picturesque city of Matera and the stunning La Gravina Gorge, offering stone-walled suites with pocked-stone floors and antique furnishings that transport you to an earlier age.

Gamirasu Cave Hotel

Check into a cave dwelling that dates to the Byzantine Era at the Gamirasu Cave Hotel, converted from a monastery that was carved out of the rocky terrain about 1,000 years ago. Some of the holy site's ancient wall frescoes survive to this day. Rooms at the remote retreat, about a three-hour drive from Turkey’s capital of Ankara, range from modernized village homes to now-luxe monastic cells that were once home to monks from a bygone era.

La Dimora di Metello

The stone caves of Sassi di Matera have offered shelter in Southern Italy since ancient times, as far back as 7000 BC to the region's first human inhabitants. But never in such chic style as you'll find today at La Dimora di Metello. If you're lucky enough to stay in one of their four exclusive suites, you'll enjoy a maze of stone steps that bring you to rooms with rough rock walls that stand in stark contrast to the modern appointments.

Sala Silvermine Hotel

Sweden’s Sala Silvermine Hotel offers one of the most extreme cave-hotel experiences you can find; the stay takes you more than 500 feet underground! No surprise it goes that deep as Swedes have been mining for silver at the site since the 15th century. There's just one suite, and it only accommodates two guests, with hotel staff staying far above on the surface. While you're down there you can explore the mine, following tracks through tunnels to underground lakes.

Sultan Cave Suites

Choose one of over 30 rooms carved into a hillside at the Sultan Cave Suites, surrounded by a sea of rocky outcrops and the fairytale chimneys of Cappadocia, Turkey that have found fame on Instagram. The residents of these ancient cave homes have long since relocated to modern dwellings in surrounding villages, leaving these paleolithic pads to get revamped for today's visitors, who enjoy stone terraces and grotto dining.

Beckham Creek Cave Lodge

Venture out to Buffalo River Valley in the Ozarks of Arkansas for a cave stay at the Beckham Creek Cave Lodge. Don't be fooled by the rural setting; you're in for a luxury experience! And a stunning one, from the moment you enter the getaway that's set in an expansive natural cavern. Beckham's exclusive cave house has an indoor waterfall from a natural underground spring and ultra-modern furnishings under stalactite dotted ceilings.

Kokopelli's Cave

Head out into the rugged landscape of America's Southwest for a stay at New Mexico's Kokopelli's Cave. The cliffside retreat that lies nearly 300 feet above the La Plata River takes you down 70 feet to a subterranean suite that’s carved into sandstone. The luxurious accommodations include a jacuzzi, waterfall shower, and your very own kiva, a recreation of the circular rooms that have been used for ceremonies by indigenous people for centuries.

Kagga Kamma Nature Reserve

Offering a nature escape like no other, South Africa's Kagga Kamma Nature Reserve welcomes with cave suites tucked into the unspoiled Cederberg Mountains. A three-hour drive from Cape Town, the caveman-chic getaway has sandstone accommodations that are designed to recreate the rocky dwellings that have sheltered the local inhabitants for centuries, all set before a rocky landscape that stretches for as far as the eye can see.

Didn’t realize there are so many amazing places to stay underground? Maybe on your next trip, you’ll enjoy some prehistoric pampering and check into cave accommodations.

Written by William McCleary for Knockaround.