Facts at A Glance

Utter Inn (in English, Otter Inn) is an art project by Mikael Genberg which offers an underwater accommodation for the public. The facility is entered through a typical Swedish red house located on the surface of the water.

The guests of Utter Inn arrive at the port of Vasteras and are taken out one kilometre on Lake Malaren with an inflatable boat. After receiving all the instructions guests need, they are then left alone. If guests prefer deluxe accommodation, someone can deliver dinner by boat in the evening. Guests can use an inflateable canoe to visit the closest uninhabited island. Guests can also swim, sunbathe or watch the fish (from both upstairs and downstairs) at the hotel. It's a remarkable feeling to go to bed while the fish surround and watch you carefully.

From the shores of Lake Malaren in Sweden, the Utter Inn looks like a bright red gardening shack stuck improbably in the middle of the lake. That visible section of the Inn includes a kitchenette and little dining area surrounded by an outdoor terrace. But what makes the Utter Inn really cool is part you can't see from shore: the bedroom is down a ladder below the water! The sleeping quarters, submerged 3 meters (10 feet) underwater has windows with fish views on all sides.

The room above the water's surface is equipped with kitchen equipment, hotplate, dinner service, 10-litre can of fresh water and cooler. The hotel is equipped with a porta-potti. As night falls it's time to climb down 3 metres underwater to the bedroom with panoramic windows towards all four points of the compass. There is no main electricity in the room but there is gas-fired heating and electricity for lighting. Fishing is strictly forbidden at the hotel.

Utter Inn is open April-October. Located near the port of Vasteras (about a 90 minute drive west of Stockholm).