Five Amazing Ice Hotels That Will Give You a Really Memorable Experience
by valli on 12/03/08 at 10:15 am
Igloos are the houses built by the people of Polar Regions to protect them in winter. This idea lead to the building of ice hotels. An ice hotel is completely made up of snow and sculpted blocks of ice. These hotels are built near rivers where workers can draw water, freeze it into ice and cut ice into large blocks. These hotels are built in December and end in April every year as they melt away.
In an ice hotel, ice surrounds you everywhere- tables, chandeliers, bar, bedrooms and even vodka glasses are all made from ice. Tables and chairs are covered with the skin of reindeer. There are special sleeping bags covered with reindeer skins. These bags can cause sweating even though the room temperature is actually between minus four to minus nine (-4 to -9 C).
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Alta Igloo
This is located in the Lapland region of Norway. This hotel features 30 rooms including two suites, two bars and lounge area. It is decorated with ice sculptures and ice furnishings. This hotel also contains an ice chapel and ice gallery. The theme of this hotel changes every year. You can stay here for around $300 per person based on double occupancy. This includes one-night’s stay, round trip transfers to the city of Alta, a two-course dinner, breakfast and a morning sauna. This hotel also offers day trips, snowmobile safaris, astronomy tours and wildlife viewing.

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Jukkasjarvi
This is the first ice hotel of the world which was built in Jukkasjarvi village near North Lapland in Sweden. It has 85 rooms and suites, a bar, reception area and church. Each room is unique and the architecture of the hotel changes every year. The hotel charges around $150 to $220 depending on season and days.
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Ice Hotel Chapel
This hotel is near Quebec, Canada. The hotel features 85 beds, 13 suites, a movie theatre, two art galleries, a night club, the Ice Lounge, and a romantic Ice Chapel. An overnight package includes one-night’s accommodations in the queen room, a welcome cocktail, a gift certificate per person worth $10, access to the Nordic-style relaxation space with hot tubs and sauna, a hot beverage in the morning, a full buffet breakfast and complete equipment for the night including sleeping bag, blanket and a pillow for around $550 to $670 depending on the day of the week.

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Igloo Dorf
Igloo Dorf is another variation on the ice hotel theme with small igloo villages built each winter in five different locations in the Swiss and German Alps: Zermatt, Engelberg, Gstaad, Scuol and Zugspitze. The Zermatt village features four beds, four romantic suites, one whirlpool and an igloo bar. At Zugspitze, there are 50 igloo beds, four romantic igloos, two whirlpools and an igloo bar. Each igloo village offers saunas and an igloo bar serving meals. Rates vary from $120 to $175 depending on the season and days.
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Aurora Ice Museum
This restaurant cum museum is in Alaska. Here everything including bar glasses and chandeliers are designed as fine art work. The cost of the package is $449 per person based on double occupancy which includes accommodation for two nights, Chena sled dog kennel tour and ride, geothermal renewable energy tour and ground transportation to Fairbanks and the resort. Though it has only four rooms, each room has quite a unique style.
No doubt, these hotels all give a memorable experience for the visitors. Hence they became popular places for birthdays and wedding day parties. These are especially wonderful honeymoon spots for newly wedded couples.
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11 Comments
IcyCucky
Mar 12th, 2008
That’s beautiful, but I’ll pass.
It’s too cold where I am at already..
valli
Mar 12th, 2008
Thank you, Icy.
Alexa Gates
Mar 12th, 2008
thats beautiful! But…do they have seasons when the hotels arent open?
Judy Sheldon
Mar 12th, 2008
Awesome illustrations. Nice article.
CHAN LEE PENG
Mar 13th, 2008
Thanks Valli for sharing this!
Dee Huff
Mar 13th, 2008
What amazing places. Aren’t people clever.
valli
Mar 13th, 2008
Alexa, the hotels open only in winters when the climate is cold enough to maintain them.
Thanks for the comments, Alexa, Judy, Chan, and Dee.
Anne Lyken-Garner
Mar 14th, 2008
These are truly magnificent. I must say though, that even though they look lovely, I love heat and all things hot.
Gerlaine
Mar 17th, 2008
Wow, in my upcoming travels, I must visit.
Charlotte H.
Oct 28th, 2008
Wow, I really hope I can visit one of these one day. They all look o beautiful!
Rhea
Oct 28th, 2008
How lovely… is that all you can do there? sleep?
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