Although there are ice hotels across the world in Quebec, Norway, Romania and Finland I think the ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden is one of the most interesting as it was the first hotel to be created entirely out of snow and ice. At 5500 square meters, it is also the largest hotel made entirely of ice and snow in the world.
On the hotels website, you can read about the interesting way in which this hotel came to be. The hotel began as an art exhibit and in 1989 a Japanese ice artist was brought in to demonstrate the art of ice carving and create a 60 square meter igloo. Years later, visitors who had come to the exhibition found themselves with no nearby hotels to stay in and became the first “guests” of the ICEHOTEL when they stayed overnight in sleeping bags.
The ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden is open each winter between the months of December and April. Ice and snow blocks made from the nearby Torne River are all that is used to create this one of a kind hotel. Over 30,000 tons of snow and 10,000 tons of ice are collected each March from the river and are stored over the spring and summer until construction begins the net year.
The hotel has grown over the years and now offers both “cold” and “warm” rooms. The cold rooms are found in the original hotel, where guests stay in sleeping bags in rooms made entirely of ice. The warm rooms are for those who may not be brave enough to stay on ice and offers indoor traditional style rooms in a chalet.
Let’s just hope that they’re wrong about global warming so this hotel will be around long enough for me to visit.
If you did get to stay at the ice hotel would you pick a warm or cold room?
ReplyDeleteI think I would stay in one of the cold rooms for one night just for the experience. I'm not sure I would be able to stay any longer, it may be too cold.
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