When you built sandcastles as a kid, did you ever fill your bucket with sand, add one more turret to your miniature recreation of Neuschwanstein Castle, and then stop to survey your architectural wonder and think, “Man, I wish I could sleep here.” Yeah, me neither.
That said, there is one sandcastle that would be worth the risk of getting sand in your unmentionables: Booking.com has just unveiled a sand mansion in celebration of National Sandcastle Day. (That was yesterday.) The life-size sandcastle is less of a Sleeping Beauty-esque domain and more of a modern mansion, or “SAND”-sion as Booking insists on calling it.
The structure stands 8 feet high and is 18 feet long and wide. It’s not only a sweet beachside getaway, but also the largest sand sculpture constructed in New York City. The project, built at the beach on Coney Island, was overseen by Matt Long, the master sand sculptor, and was built in homage to the 29th Annual Coney Island Beach Sand Sculpture Competition, which took place on Saturday, August 17, 2019.
If you want the chance to sleep on the beach without getting arrested for vagrancy, head to Booking.com on August 22 at high noon (EST) to vie for a shot at booking an overnight stay. You have to be prepared to be in New York City on August 23 and 24, though.