World’s first sandcastle hotel is delightful

MOVE over kids, the grown ups have gone wild with the bucket and spade and created a giant sandcastle that you can sleep in.

Sandcastles just got an upgrade.

WATCH out kids. This is what grown-ups call a sandcastle.

A group of sand sculptors has taken playing with a bucket and spade to a whole new level in the Netherlands.

To coincide with the annual sand sculpture festivals taking place in the Dutch cities of Oss and Sneek, festival organisers Global PowWow have built from scratch two one-bedroom sandcastles.

Called the Sand Hotel, the two “buildings” consist of thin walls, covered inside and out with reinforced sand to ensure they don’t disintegrate in the rain or wind.

The rooms are hidden inside eight-meter-high sand sculptures, one decorated with a Terracotta Warriors theme, one of China’s top tourist attractions, and the other is modelled on the Flintstones’ cartoon home town of Bedrock.

The suites are decked out with a queen bed, carpet, a bathroom with running water, electricity, Wi-Fi, windows and cost €150 a night (about $235) based on double occupancy.

Sandcastles just got an upgrade.

An overnight stay includes breakfast, a bottle of Prosecco and a personal tour of the nearby festival.

A sand sculpture based on the Terracotta Army.

The hotels were inspired by ice hotels in Sweden and Finland, CNN reported.

One of the grand sand sculptures at the Zand Hotel.

And like the ice hotels in Scandinavia, the sand hotels are only temporary – and they’re already booked out.

They’ll close once the sand sculpture festivals end in early October, but the organisers plan to build the hotels again next year.

Washing off the sand in the bathroom of the Zand Hotel.