An Ice hotel is a temporary building made up entirely of snow and sculpted blocks of ice. They are built each year in the coldest regions of the world as a way to attract vacationers to resort areas. They are heavily promoted by their sponsors and have special features for travelers who are interested in novelties and unusual environments. Their lobbies are filled with Ice sculpture and food and beverages are specially chosen for the circumstances.

Sweden

The Ice Hotel near the village of Jukkasjärvi, Kiruna, Sweden is the first, and perhaps the most famous. In 1989, Japanese ice artists visited the area and created an exhibition of ice art. In Spring 1990, French artist Jannot Derid held an exhibition in a cylinder-shaped igloo in the area. One night, some of the visitors spent the night in the exhibition hall, sleeping in sleeping bags on reindeer skin - the first guests of the hotel.

Since its creation, the hotel has featured in many television travel programmes, magazines and newspapers. With the exception of the beds, the entire hotel is made completely out of ice blocks - even the glasses in the bar are made of ice. The ice is made from water taken from the Torne River. The hotel has more than 60 rooms and suites, a bar, reception area and chapel. It charges around 2,800 Swedish Krona (approx. 390 US dollars) per room per night. The hotel only exists between November and May. In its latest incarnation it will probably be over 30,000 square feet in size. The management boasts that each room is unique and that the architecture of the hotel is changed each year, as it is rebuilt from scratch.

Norway

The Alta Igloo ice hotel has been rebuilt yearly since 1998. It is Europe’s northernmost ice hotel, as it is located in the Finnmark region and is quite far from the North Cape. The hotel has 20 beds and it is decorated with numerous ice sculptures and ice furnishings, including lighting systems which enhance the different types of crystalline formations. The guests use sleeping bags covered on reindeer hides.

Finland

The Mammut snow hotel is not an ice hotel per se as it is made entirely of snow. Many of its furnishings and its decorations, such as the ice sculptures, are made of ice. Il is located within the walls of the Kemi snow castle.

Canada

About 10 km East of Québec City, near Montmorency Falls and within the grounds of the Duchesnay winter resort the first ice hotel in North America is erected each January. Its 22 beds were sold out when it first opened in 2000. In its last iteration it had 85 beds, all made of ice but lined with deer furs and covered with mattresses and arctic sleeping bags. Only the bathrooms are heated, in a separate insulated structure. The hotel is usually made (the architecture and size may vary from season to season) with 4,750 tons of sculpted ice, forming arches over rooms with 16 foot (5 m) ceilings and larger and higher spaces for two art galleries (filled with ice sculptures of course) a bar, a movie theater, and a chapel where weddings are celebrated. The walls are more than 4 feet (about 1.2 meters) thick on average. All of the furniture is made of ice. In addition to using ice glasses as in the Kiruna ice hotel, the bar (and room service) also serves cold cuts on ice plates. The hotel charges from $120 to $180 US dollars per night and each room has Internet access. In its first 4 years of operation the hotel has had 220,000 visitors and 10,500 guests. In 2005 it will open on January 7 and close down on April 3rd. Because of the insulating properties of ice the interior stays between minus 6 and minus 9 degrees Celsius during the three months, even when the exterior temperature reaches minus 40 degrees or less.

See also

• Ice palace

External links

• Ice Hotel Canada