THE WINNER

Saline solution

Would the air taste salty? How well would the walls insulate against the bitter temperatures outside? Would we experience unquenchable thirst? What happens if there is a water leak?

It's not every day you find yourself in a building made completely out of sodium chloride, unless you happen to be on the world's largest salt flat.

Bolivia is split down the centre by the gigantic Altiplano plateau, where the Salar de Uyuni, a thick crust of pure white salt, stretches in every direction to the horizon. With so much salt lying around, and so many tourists flocking to see it, some entrepreneurial genius decided to combine the two and make a salt hotel.

Despite strict rules against licking the construction, I felt compelled to test the validity of the Hatullcha Salt Hotel and found it to be satisfactorily salty. The walls are made with solid bricks cut from the depths of the salt crust and stuck together with a salt-based cement. Our beds, chairs and tables were all chipped into icy-looking blocks, too. I was slightly disappointed that the windows and toilets weren't also made of salt, but I suppose that wouldn't be entirely practical.

The overall effect is, strangely, remarkably festive; it's easy to mistake all the whiteness for snow, and the sub-zero temperatures complete the effect.

Somewhat inevitably, our dinner conversation centred around plans to build a rival pepper palace, with options to expand into the herb hotel sector with buildings made entirely out of coriander and parsley – all to be taken with a pinch of salt, of course.

Take away the novelty factor and the salt hotel is actually a pretty grim place. Besides licking the walls, there's not a lot to do there apart from shiver, eat and sleep, none of which is particularly comfortable or pleasant. The real attraction, of course, is the location. Salar de Uyuni is stunning, and totally surreal. It is a place without perspective, where speed, time and distance seemingly cease to exist. You can drive for an hour without any perceptible change in the landscape, and without knowing how far you have gone. It is like nowhere else on earth.

Visits to Hatullcha Salt Hotel can be arranged by Tupiza Tours (tupizatours.com/eng/programas_info.php)

Alex lives in Telford

The judge: Alastair Sawday, of Sawday's (sawdays.co.uk), which recommends special places to stay, said: "I found the winner amusing, refreshingly devoid of cliché and very evocative."

The prize: A two-night break at the medieval-style Peckforton Castle (peckfortoncastle.co.uk) near Tarporley in Cheshire for two people, sharing a room half-board.

RUNNERS-UP

20 Sud, Mauritius

I know we're onto a winner when we get smoked marlin for breakfast. Later I sip salty-sour-sweet margarita and dabble my feet in the freshwater slate pool. The waiter brings another selection of pre dinner canapés: little egg creams on rye and tiny tuna salsas.

Half-past four is cake o'clock at 20 Sud (20degressud.com, half-board from £160pp). Vanilla or marzipan sponge, then a digestive game of billiards before dinner. We initially balk at eating only at the hotel. But needn't have. Creamy crab tiramisu, and tuna carpaccio rolled in smashed pepper. We discuss venturing out, but don't.

Sarah Schofield, from Burscough, Lancashire

Hans Brinker Hotel, Amsterdam

It takes courage, or maybe insanity, to market your business as "The Worst Hotel in the World"; the Hans Brinker (hans-brinker.com, dorm beds from £22pp) does just this. While most hostels try to obscure the fact that they don't provide outstanding service, the Hans Brinker uses slogans such as "Improve your immune system – stay at Hans Brinker!"

The joke is that it's a cut above other low-budget accommodation in the city, especially in such a central location. You share a bathroom and the bunk-beds have no ladders, but it caters for no-frills partygoers who couldn't care where they sleep so long as it's cheap, with a bar. I've stayed in a lot of crummy places, but I like to think the Hans Brinker is the best of the worst.

Laura Liddell, from Forncett St Mary, Norfolk