By Trey Leslie I Everyday California Head Writer & Resident DJ
It’s like #vanlife, but bigger.
Two Portuguese surfers designed, built, and are now operating a mobile home turned hotel, and they take it to the best of Portugal’s and Morocco’s surf destinations.
The truck itself. Image from the Truck Surf Hotel website
They call it the Truck Surf Hotel, and it makes your buddy Chad’s surfing van look like a cardboard box glued on top of a red wagon.
Essentially, it’s a multi-destination mobile surfing resort. Trips come in three salty flavors: surf experience, surf lessons, or group adventure. The itinerary is planned out at the beginning of the week with Daniela and Eduardo, the hosts and owners of the hotel.
Wait, it’s a motorhome hotel?
Exactly. The vehicle is a customized Mercedes Actros with sliding hydraulics that expand whenever the vehicle is stopped. That’s nothing new - many motorhomes have the ability to expand horizontally to increase the square footage inside the vehicle.
The Truck Surf Hotel, however, has a curious vertical expansion in addition to the usual horizontal. The vehicle has an upper section that, while driving, sits inside the main area, but once stationary it can literally raise the roof.
This allows space for 4 bunk beds and one “couple bed” above the lower living area. With the added space, the mobile home can accommodate up to 10 people (!) each night.
That might sound like a crowded clown car, but the Truck Surf Hotel looks pretty spacious to me:
Packages include trips in Portugal and Morocco, but unfortunately Daniela and Eduardo aren’t delivering delicious surfing trips to the California coast just yet.
Of course, we’re hoping their success will rise as high as their expandable ceiling, and a Truck Surf Hotel like this will roll into California. However, since the one-of-a-kind Mercedes Actros took about 9 months to customize, the two surfing Portuguese natives might be contentar with what they have.
Daniela and Eduardo aren’t the only ones satisfied with their experience. They’ve racked up a decent amount of reviews since beginning operations, which are overwhelmingly in praise of the hotel.
One review reads, “The whole truck is super modern with all the facilities you could wish for in a home (plus a rainshower!!), except you can wake up in another beautiful location every day if you want to!”
They had me at rainshower.
Check out their site for reservations or more information. Meanwhile, leave a comment below if you think we should transform our VW Bus into a mobile hotel. (Fair warning: the mechanics recommend we limit it’s time on the road to just a few miles a month, so we might have some engine trouble during your stay.)
Next up, mobile kayaking hotel
