UFO Love Hotel - Love hotels are places for couples to meet...

MAKUHARI, CHIBA, JAPAN - 2017/09/10: UFO Love Hotel - Love hotels are places for couples to meet up for some intimate time together in in cases where they may not have privacy. Sometimes family matters prevent the amorous from hosting visitors. Simple solution: lovers turn up at a love hotel and instead of being greeted by a receptionist, check in is machine automated for extra privacy. Typically there is a board which shows which rooms are available. Those that you can select at that given moment are illuminated. You can select a rest which is for a 90 minute quickie or a stay for longer overnight sessions. With the competition intense, love hotels have come up with all sorts of innovative ways to compete with each other. In addition to the usual competition strategy of offering more amenities like videos, rotating beds, costumes or sex toys some have entered the realm of theme parks. Love hotel themes in Japan include the White House, UFOs, Christmas, underwater sea scenes, railway cars, cruise ships, doctors offices and even schoolrooms. Part of the theme trend is to make the experience more lighthearted and fun which makes the situation less embarrassing by offering up exotic or funny settings. This renders the visit into an experience rather than a sordid affair. Couples can select a different theme for each tryst. For better or worse, recent trends are moving away from the bizarre or comical and more towards luxury and exotic. Bali anyone?. (Photo by John S Lander/LightRocket via Getty Images)