Ice hotel
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An ice hotel is a temporary hotel made up of snow and sculpted blocks of ice.<ref name="Andrews2007">Template:Cite book</ref> Ice hotels, dependent on sub-freezing temperatures, are constructed from ice and snow and typically have to be rebuilt every year. Ice hotels exist in several countries, and they have varying construction styles, services and amenities, the latter of which may include ice bars, restaurants, chapels, saunas and hot tubs.
Overview
Ice hotels are promoted for adventurous travelers who are interested in novelties and unusual environments and are comfortable with the outdoors.<ref name="Andrews2007"/><ref name="TimothyTeye2009">Template:Cite book</ref> Customers have to be prepared to sleep in beds made of snow or ice, but in the warmth of furs, blankets and sleeping bags designed to withstand extremely cold temperatures. Temperature in the rooms is below zero Celsius, but much warmer than outside. Staying at an ice hotel is expensive as prices for a night range from around US$300 to $3,000.<ref name="TimothyTeye2009"/> Some ice hotels may be destination hotels.<ref name="McLean">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Lobbies are often filled with ice sculptures, and food and drinks are specially chosen for the circumstances.<ref name="Andrews2007"/> For instance, glasses in an ice bar can be made of ice and people sit on benches made of ice.<ref name="TimothyTeye2009"/> An ice bar, sometimes associated with an ice hotel, is a drinking establishment primarily made of ice.
Construction
Ice hotels are dependent upon sub-freezing temperatures (colder than 0 °C or 32 °F) during construction and operation. This imposes time constraints on construction and makes the hotel's season short. Construction typically begins between November and March when snow can be compacted and thick levels of ice form. Although constructing an ice hotel is more labor-intensive than a regular building, building materials are cheaper.<ref name="TimothyTeye2009"/> Ice hotels have to be reconstructed every year.<ref name="Andrews2007"/> This is not entirely detrimental to the operators; if an ice hotel does not meet its financial goals, the owner can simply let the building melt in the spring and is left with no building to permanently upkeep.<ref name="TimothyTeye2009"/>
The walls, fixtures, and fittings are made entirely of ice or compacted snow, and are held together using a substance known as snice, which takes the place of mortar in a traditional brick-built hotel. Sometimes steel framing is used in their construction.<ref name=OLAT>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
By country
Canada
Ice Hotel
The Hôtel de Glace (Template:Langx) first opened in January 2001. 85 rooms are furnished with ice beds covered with deer furs and mattresses and equipped with arctic sleeping bags.<ref name="Andrews2007"/> It was originally located on the shores of Lac-Saint-Joseph, Quebec, 31 minutes north of Quebec City, but has since moved closer to the city, 10 minutes away from Old Town Quebec.<ref name="icehotel-canada">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It operates from the first week in January to the last week in March.<ref name="hoteldeglace-canada">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It has the adjacent Le Quatre Temps restaurant, an ice bar named Absolut Ice Bar, which serves Absolut Vodka and other beverages, sauna and outdoor hot tub.<ref name="McLean"/><ref name="Baldwin"/> Construction involves the use of blocks of ice and snow.<ref name="Baldwin">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2005, construction involved "400 tons of clear ice blocks, trucked in from Montreal, and 12,000 tons of snow produced on site."<ref name="Baldwin"/> Beds are constructed of ice, which are topped with "a wooden boxspring and mattress",<ref name="McLean"/> and mummy-style sleeping bags are provided.<ref name="McLean"/> The hotel offers paid tours, the participants of which are allowed to use the ice bar until midnight.<ref name="McLean"/> Ice Hotel was previously the only ice hotel in North America.<ref name="McLean"/>
- Ice Hotel
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The chapel, 2006
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The chapel, 2006
Snow Village
Snow Village is a half-hectare village and 30-room ice hotel located in Parc Jean-Drapeau, east of Montreal, in Quebec, Canada that first opened in 2012.<ref name="TCP">Template:Cite news</ref> It has suites, standard rooms and igloos, an ice restaurant, ice bar and patio, ice chapel and outdoor hot tubs.<ref name="TCP"/> It is constructed from man-made snow created by snowmaking machines, which is blown onto frames that are removed when construction is complete.<ref name="TCP"/> This is performed because the density of the artificial snow is greater than that of natural snow.<ref name="TCP"/> The hotel is equipped with fire alarms that are built into snow walls, as required by the city of Montreal.<ref name="TCP"/> Initial construction cost $2.1 million, and the Quebec government provided some financial support for its construction.<ref name="TCP"/>
Finland
SnowCastle of Kemi
The SnowCastle of Kemi in Kemi, Finland is the largest snow fort in the world, is rebuilt every winter and has a snow hotel<ref name="POTD">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> with double rooms and a honeymoon suite. The facility also has a restaurant, chapel, and ice sculptures.<ref name="POTD"/> It is near the Gulf of Bothnia.<ref name="POTD"/> The style of the facility, including the theme, shape, size and decorations, changes annually.<ref name="POTD"/>
- SnowCastle of Kemi
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A view in 2006
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The dining room in February 2013
Lainio Snow Village
The Lainio Snow Village is located 150 km north of the Arctic Circle in Lapland.<ref name="O'Brien">Template:Cite news</ref> This snow hotel is built in the winter atop a wood building. In 2007, construction began in November, and in December, it began providing lodging.<ref name="O'Brien"/> The hotel has restrooms and a sauna, and the village has a restaurant.<ref name="O'Brien"/> Rooms are decorated with artwork created from snow.<ref name="O'Brien"/> In 2007, art students contributed to the art with professional artists.<ref name="O'Brien"/> In the summer, the village provides log cabin lodging.<ref name="O'Brien"/>
Japan
The Alpha Resort Tomamu in the Shimukappu village of Hokkaido Island in Japan builds and opens an ice hotel every year.<ref name="Koh">Template:Cite news</ref> It may be Japan's first ice hotel, and everything in it is constructed from ice.<ref name="Koh"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The hotel interiors are typically −3 to −5 °C. Guests dine on ice tables and sit on ice chairs covered with sheepskin. The hotel provides sheepskin apparel for guests to stay warm.<ref name="Koh"/>
Norway
Ice Bar
Ice Bar, run by Ice Hotel, is a bar located in downtown Oslo, Norway<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which serves drinks all year long in an artificially frozen environment.
Ice Lodge
The Ice Lodge in Norway is part of the Bjorligard Hotel.<ref name="Flores">Template:Cite news</ref> It is the largest ice hotel in Norway, and its season is longer than other ice hotels due to its elevation at Template:Convert above sea level.<ref name="Flores" />
Kirkenes Snow Hotel
The Kirkenes Snow Hotel is located in Finnmark, Norway, the easternmost and northernmost county in Norway.<ref name="Cahill">Template:Cite news</ref> The hotel is 15 km from the Norwegian-Russian border<ref name="Cahill"/> and first opened in 2006.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It had 20 rooms and the largest snow dome in Norway (8 metres high and 12 metres in diameter). All the rooms were individually decorated by ice artists from Finland and Japan. The west Snow Hall was decorated by local sculptor Arild Wara. A night in the snow hotel is combined with a special dinner prepared on an open fire.<ref name="Cahill"/> Visitors can get a sauna before or after staying at the hotel. The hotel has an ice bar,<ref name="Cahill"/> a reindeer park, and a husky farm.
Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel
Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel is located in rural Alta Municipality, about Template:Convert south of the town of Alta.<ref name="Henderson">Template:Cite news</ref> The igloo hotel has been rebuilt yearly since 1999.<ref name="Storey1">Template:Cite news</ref> It is Europe’s northernmost ice hotel, as it is in the Finnmark region and is approximately Template:Convert from the North Cape. The Template:Convert hotel has 30 rooms, including two suites. It is decorated with ice sculptures and ice furnishings, including lighting systems which enhance the different types of crystalline formations. Besides the bedrooms the hotel contains an ice chapel, ice gallery and ice bar where drinks are served in glasses made of ice. Additional facilities include a sauna and outdoor bathtubs with hot water.<ref name="Bello">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The ice sculptures at the hotel change yearly.<ref name="Storey1"/> The Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel in Alta has a changing theme every year. In 2004, it was a Viking theme, in 2005, Norwegian fairytales, and in 2006, the theme was wild animals of the region. To stay warm when sleeping, guests use sleeping bags that sit on top of reindeer hides.<ref name="Henderson"/><ref name="Bello"/>
- Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel
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Entrance to the ice bar
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Interior of the ice bar
Romania
Bâlea Lake Ice Hotel, the first ice hotel in Eastern Europe was built in 2006 in Romania, deep in the Făgăraș Mountains, at an elevation of 2034 meters above sea level. In winter, it is only accessible by cable car, since the national road DN7, the Transfăgărășan, is closed in the winter.<ref name="BusinessReview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
This picturesque setting is next to Bâlea Lake,<ref name="BR1"/> where each year local craftsmen wait for the lake to freeze, before using the ice to build the small 12-room Ice Hotel and its adjacent Ice Church, Ice Restaurant and Ice Bar.<ref name="BR1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Local artists imitate sculptures by Romanian modernist sculptor, Constantin Brâncuși. Typically the hotel is completed in December and is open until it melts in late March or April.<ref name="BR1"/>
Bedding, furs, specialist sleeping bags are all provided, with bathroom facilities nearby. There are two chalets within walking distance, which also provide accommodation. Activities such as skiing, sledging or riding a snow bike are on offer. Those who are more organised and adventurous can arrange heliskiing.
The Bâlea Lake Ice Hotel is Romanian owned, but has a relationship with a travel company Untravelled Paths Limited, based in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Sweden
Icehotel Jukkasjärvi
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Each year between December and April, the Icehotel in the village of Jukkasjärvi is open. It is about 17 km from Kiruna, Sweden, and it was the world's first ice hotel. 80 rooms and suites are available.<ref name="Andrews2007"/> In addition to the entrance hall, the hotel has a chapel<ref name="Andrews2007"/> and an ice bar named Absolut Icebar.<ref name="Moore"/> 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 there were no rooms available in the town, so some of the visitors asked for permission to spend the night in the exhibition hall. They slept in sleeping bags on top of reindeer skin.
The entire hotel is made out of snow and ice blocks taken from the Torne River;<ref name="Moore"/> even the glasses in the bar are made of ice. Each spring, around March, Icehotel harvests ice from the frozen river and stores it in a nearby production hall with room for over 100,000 tons of ice and 30,000 tons of snow. Some of the blocks of ice weigh two tons, and cranes are used to place them.<ref name="Moore"/> The ice is used for creating Icebar designs and ice glasses, for ice sculpting classes, events and product launches all over the world while the snow is used for building a strong structure for the building. About 1,000 tons of what is left is used in the construction of the next Icehotel.
Each year, for the past 24 years now, the ice hotel has accepted applications from artists around the world to design the world-famous hotel's art suites. In 2013 there were more than 200 applications submitted from a wide range of artists to design and build an Art Suite. These included artists from a variety of creative backgrounds – including theatre and photography, to interior design and architecture. Around 15 applications are accepted with their designs and head there in November to build the suites.<ref name="Discover-the-world">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Icehotel
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Main Hall "Secret Garden" at Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden (January 2014)
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A room at the Icehotel
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IGLOOTEL Lapland
IGLOOTEL Lapland is located in Piteå, Sweden approx. 100 km south of the Arctic Circle. Every winter IGLOOTEL is being built and designed from scratch in cooperation with engineers and designers. IGLOOTEL consists of different IGLOOs, for example Sleeping-IGLOOs, Event-IGLOOs, an Ice-Bar and an Aurora Spa Area with a wood fired Outdoor Sauna and Hot Tubs. The IGLOOs are connected through hallways, which are also made of snow and ice. IGLOOTEL has an inner surface area of approx. 900 – 1.000 m2.<ref name="IGLOOTEL">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Engravings in the snow and ice walls, illuminations and other art varies and creates a new, individual theme each year. Design students from an Art Academy develop the theme and create unique art work in each of the IGLOOs. Natural materials, for example local woods and reindeer skins are used to establish a comfortable atmosphere. The temperature inside IGLOOTEL is constantly between 0 °C (32 °F) and -4 °C (25 °F). The beds in IGLOOTEL Lapland are built on wooden platforms with mattresses and reindeer skins. Guests sleep in polar sleeping bags.<ref name="IGLOOTEL"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Switzerland
The ski resort in the village of Gstaad, Switzerland in the Swiss Alps has an igloo village where guests can rent igloos for overnight lodging.<ref name="Steel">Template:Cite news</ref> In the igloos, sleeping areas are raised, and are "layered with foam, carpet and sheep skins", atop which sleeping bags are provided.<ref name="Steel"/> Lighting is provided by candles.<ref name="Steel"/>
See also
- Ice palace – a castle-like structure made of blocks of ice
- Ice pier – a man-made structure used to assist the unloading of ships in Antarctica
- Ice road – frozen, human-made pathway on the surface of bays, rivers, lakes, or seas in polar regions
- ICIUM – a winter entertainment park built in Levi, Finland from ice and snow
- List of ice and snow sculpture events
- Michigan Technological University's Winter Carnival – an annual celebration in Houghton, Michigan that includes the construction of large snow structures
- Palacio de Sal – Spanish for "palace of salt", it is a hotel built of salt blocks
- Snowking Winter Festival – an annual festival held each March in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada that includes the construction of a large snow castle
- Winter carnival
References
Further reading
External links
- Create your own ice hotel adventure, Kiruna, Sweden
- Kemi SnowCastle, Lapland, Finland
- Lainio Snow Village, Lapland, Finland