100 NO-TEL EASTLINK

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HOTEL EASTLINK—GETTING A ROOM HERE IS TRULY IMPOSSIBLE

Located alongside a motorway outside of Melbourne, in Australia’s Victoria state, lies Hotel EastLink. At least, what looks like a high-rise hotel, because in reality, it Is just an unusual sculpture.

Designed by local artist Callum Morton, Hotel EastLink was introduced in 2007, and it has been confusing motorists ever since. It is not as large as a high-rise hotel – 20 meters tall, 12m wide, and 5m thick – but if you are driving past it at high speed for the first time, it is really hard to tell, so it is no wonder that people actually look it up online and call in for reservations.

To make it even more confusing, at night, some of the windows are lit up, which makes it seem like some of the rooms are occupied. But there are no rooms, and the building itself cannot be entered, because the whole thing is a just sculpture designed purely for ornamental purposes.

“Motorists will view it from the car as an actual hotel and perhaps, over time, as a fake construction from a theme park or film set,” artist Callum Morton said, describing the concept of this project in the early 2000s. Now, almost two decades later, his creation still plays with people’s minds as they pass it on the EastLink toll road in Melbourne’s Dandenong neighborhood.

At first, the rectangular building with a big, red “HOTEL” sign at the top seems pretty normal, but then you start to realize that it is not so large as it should be and that it is located in the middle of an empty field. That is when people start to get confused. But it is all by design.

“I think it is interesting how putting something in a space that is slightly beguiling or a little bit strange changes the way people think about art and reality,” Morton said about his unique artwork.

Interestingly, Hotel EastLink has its own website, if you want to learn more about it, but do not try to book a room.

You can book a room at this interesting hotel if you do not mind traveling a lot above and below ground.