The Rotel, a combination between a bus and a hotel, has been conducting worldwide tours for the last 50 years.
Rotel – Hotel on Wheels
The company is called Rotel Tours (the word is a portmanteau of ‘rolling’ and ‘hotel’) and it has, unbelieveably, been hosting bus-bed tours of Europe, Asia, and Africa since 1959. It was founded in 1945 by a man, ironically named, George Hotel. His firm’s buses cater almost exclusively to German tourists, in the past fifty years, they have done everything from crossing the Sahara desert to traversing Mongolia and Vietnam.
Typically, the coaches are custom-modified Mercedes 0404’s which feature 24 passenger seats and 26 sleeping berths (an extra one for the driver and tour guide). Featuring three-foot-wide and three-foot-high bunks, accessible through a zippered curtain, Rotel isn’t exactly the most comfortable hotel in the world, but it’s the only one that will take you around the world. The only serious problem is, while the Rotel features a bathroom, there are no showers. But the tour operator says its mobile hotels do make occasional stops, specifically for bathing purposes.
Rotel – Hotel on Wheels
Rotels operate in Africa, Europe and Asia with the company saying it chooses the best places to stay, usually in campsites and sometimes with an occasional stay-over in hotels or lodges. It admits its drawcards are nights spent in the quiet of the deserts, the wilds of Patagonia or camps in the Serengeti.
The Rotel travel programs are designed to allow plenty of time for sightseeing, relaxing, a little walking and leisure programs. On every trip there is a detailed daily schedule and other updated information prior to departure.
The company says it upholds the cultural and traditional values of the countries and people it visits and promises to show participants an authentic view of the people, culture and nature of a country, rather than art shows and museums.
Rotel – Hotel on Wheels
Rotel – Hotel on Wheels
Rotel – Hotel on Wheels
Rotel – Hotel on Wheels
Rotel – Hotel on Wheels
Rotel – Hotel on Wheels
