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In the jungles of Central America is an airplane-fuselage-turned-luxury hotel suite that has all the right stuff—including wood flooring.
The 727 Fuselage Home at Hotel Costa Verde is a remodeled 1968 Boeing 727 secured atop three large pillars that loft the plane just above the jungle canopy overlooking the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.
Inside the two-bedroom suite, the fuselage is paneled with teak, but the 1-inch-thick, 2½–inch-wide wood flooring comes from an unknown jungle species, says Allan Templeton, the room’s designer.
“It’s really an unusual wood,” he says. “It has a white sapwood you can get glimpses of, but it’s almost a burgundy color.” It was stunning and reminded him of cocobolo, so he purchased 12,000 board feet. The flooring runs across the width of the fuselage.
It is nailed into 2-by-4s attached to the aluminum I-beams original to the plane, so its thickness plays a structural role.
A night in this high-flying hotel room will cost you as much as $750, but walking on your favorite floor covering while hovering above the canopy would be priceless.