Hotel Palacio de Sal (or The Salt Palace Hotel). Photo: Uniq Hotels

What went from a solution to the lack of building materials has turned into a masterpiece of accommodation design: over one million 14-inch blocks of solid salt was used to built the world's first salt hotel.

Hotel Palacio de Sal (or The Salt Palace Hotel) in Uyuni, Bolivia is made entirely from local salt. The exceptionally flat salt plains in southern Bolivia are the largest in the world covering over 4000 square miles. They are rich in minerals and contain around 60% of the world’s Lithium.

Photo: Uniq Hotels

Extracting and exporting the minerals has been big business and a railroad was constructed by the British in the late 1800s. By the 1940s the business was abandoned and now hundreds of old trains are just abandoned on this desert of salt.

Seeing the salt flats of Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni is an out of this world experience. Located 12,000 feet above sea level, the vast, alabaster-white landscape looks like snow but is actually completely made up of salt, a whopping 4,000 square miles of it. Walking along this barren landscape you’ll feel the crunch of salt crystals under your feet as you traverse the moonlike region.

You will be captivated by hexagonal salt patterns along the way and mesmerized by the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets if you time your trip accordingly. Tourists flock here from all over the world to experience this unique setting and you should too.

Visiting the destination and catching the sunrise would be a surreal experience of a lifetime. Hotel Palacio de Sal - Bolivia

The spa features a dry sauna and a steam room, a saltwater pool and whirlpool baths. Photo: Uniq Hotels

The Palacio de Sal was built in 2007 to accommodate travelers to the Salar de Uyuni in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes. The hotel is organized as a palace with large common rooms, a bar, a restaurant and spa, and 16 private rooms with bathrooms that resemble igloos with domed roofs.

Tourists often come here for a wellness treatment. You can sign up for an aromatherapy jacuzzi experience, massage or facial. There is also a new full-body treatment in the works involving, you guessed it, salt that will slough off any old skin and will reveal your smoothest body to date.

On top of its beautifying qualities, this treatment can also help you with water retention which at this high altitude is a recurring issue. The salt helps drain excess water so that you feel slimmed down after the treatment.

Photo: Uniq Hotels

The walls, floors, ceilings and even the furniture (beds, chairs, tables, and even couches) are constructed entirely out of salt blocks, which are easily visible in the pictures. Tourists are even tempted to try tasting the salt blocks out of curiosity.

Photo; Hotel Palacio de Sal - Bolivia

Previous to the Palacio de Sal, another salt hotel was built back in the mid 90s, but succumbed to sanitation problems as it was difficult to manage waste in the middle of the desert.

The queen-size broom Photo: Uniq Hotels

The twin bedroom. Photo: Uniq Hotels

The balcony with spectacular view of Salar de Uyuni. Photo: Uniq Hotels

The new Palacio de Sal has sought to overcome those issues and now has a sanitary system that complies with government regulations. In order to maintain the integrity of the hotel’s structure, as one can imagine, it is strictly forbidden to lick the walls.

Photo: Vietgiaitri

The 9-hole golf course is open from May to November and is a unique course with a hard surface of salt. This specially designed golf course can be organized (need to be reserved one month before your arrival) for those who want the unique experience of playing on a salt plane.

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