Hostels used to have a reputation as backpacker flophouses, but more and more of these affordable accommodations can be found in some creative and very unusual locations.

In northern California the Pt. Montara lighthouse, which is actually a working lighthouse, is also a 50-bed hostel.

You get to stay in converted rooms that used to be Coast Guard quarters.

In England, you can sleep in a water-powered corn mill at the Winchester Mill hostel.

Or, for more upscale lodging, how about St. Briavel’s Castle youth hostel, a real English castle that used to be a king’s hunting lodge.

Best of all, one night will only cost you about $30.

And last but not least, there’s a weird hostel, and you’ll find it at the Stockholm airport in Sweden.

It’s actually made from a real Boeing 747.

It features 25 dormitory rooms plus a luxury suite in what else – the cockpit.

As for the food served on board – well, you guess it, you’re on your own.

Check out more unusual accommodations with the World’s Most Unusual Hotels.

Or get more ideas in our Hotels section.

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