Cool Ice Hotels around the World

Back in the fall of 1990, friends Par Granlund and Yngve Bergqvist had a plan to build an Inuit-style igloo that was bigger than anything that had ever been built before. Their first igloo was in a small Swedish town called Jukkasjarvi. It was a simple art gallery that was mostly viewed by people from the town.

In the late 1990s, ice rooms were added for people who wanted to stay longer, get inspired, or just look at the building and its beautiful setting. The Ice Hotel in Jukkasjarvi is still built from scratch every year, but there are now ice hotels in several other northern countries for adventurous tourists who want a cool place to stay.

Keep in mind that these are not the kinds of places where you can just show up and ask for a room. Most of these ice houses have to be reserved up to a year in advance.

List of Cool Ice Hotels around the World:

Hoshino Resort Tomamu, The Tower

In Japan, the Alpha Resort Tomamu has its ice town with a hotel where the dining room, bedroom, and bathroom are all made of ice. Even dinner is put on a plate made of ice. Still, it doesn’t come cheap. The room costs about 50,000 yen ($603) per night, which is two and a half times as much as similar rooms in other parts of the island.

Snow Village Hotel Kittila

High above the Polar Circle, the Snow Village has rooms with ice furniture and ice and snow sculptures in some of them. Guests can have dinner in the IceBar or go to the Igloo Bar. Or they can just look at the beautiful sculptures that are all over the area. There are also organized events like ice fishing, dog sledding, and snowmobile and reindeer safaris that can be booked through the hotel.

Snow Village Canada

The Snow Village Canada is on St. Helen’s Island, about 5 km (3 miles) from the center of Montreal. Every year, the hotel makes a model of a different big city out of ice and snow, and at night, the buildings are lit up in different colors. At The Kube Ice Bar, guests can get a drink in an ice glass or relax in one of the hot tubs. At Snow Village, all of the rooms and igloos are made of ice. Ice, a wooden frame, and a cushion are used to make the beds. There is a waterproof sleeping bag to keep you warm at night.

Igloo Village Kakslauttanen

The Igloo Village Kakslauttanen is in Finnish Lapland, high above the Arctic Circle. It has glass and snow igloos for people to stay in. It also has the biggest smoke sauna in the world. There are 4 restaurants in the Igloo Village. Two of them are in traditional Lappish huts. Each restaurant offers Lappish specialties like reindeer and salmon that have been grilled over a fire. Even the smoke room in the hotel has its place to eat. Guests can try exciting reindeer, husky, and snowmobile outings or take part in a snow rally while they are there.

Balea Ice Hotel

The Balea Ice Hotel is the only ice hotel in Romania. It is found 2,000 meters above sea level. Every year, ice bricks from the nearby Balea Lake are used to rebuild the hotel in a different style. All of the rooms have ice beds with soft mattresses, sheets, and furs on top. A sleeping bag will also be given to each guest for the night. The only way to get to the Ice Hotel Balea is by cable car. It also has a diner that serves food from all over the world.

Snow Hotel

The Snow Hotel is part of the Snow Castle of Kemi in Finland, which is the largest snow fort in the world. It is made out of ice and snow and has no wooden parts. Every winter since 1996, it has been rebuilt with a different plan. Even though it looks different every time, the snow castle always has a church, a restaurant, and a hotel. The average temperature in the hotel is -5 °C, and all of the beds are made of lamb skin and sleeping bags. Some rooms have beautiful ice carvings on the walls.

Read More: Beautiful Lakes of Color

 Kirkenes Snowhotel

The Kirkenes Snowhotel opened for the first time in 2006. Since then, it has given its guests a great time in one of Norway’s most beautiful places. The hotel is in the Arctic town of Kirkenes, close to the border with Russia. Each winter, it is remade, and it opens around December 20. It is made entirely of ice and snow, but there are standard beds with mattresses so people can get a good night’s sleep. Right next to the Snow Hotel is a heated service building and a heated Lavvo restaurant that serves foreign food.

Hotel de Glace

The Hotel de Glace is on the first slopes of the Laurentian Mountains, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) north of Quebec City. It was the first ice hotel in North America. Since it opened in 2001, more than a million people from all over the world have stayed there. Every year, the Hôtel de Glace opens in early January and stays up for three months before being taken down in April. Only the bathrooms, which are in a separate, insulated building, are warm. There’s also a church where people get married.

Alta Igloo Hotel

The Alta Igloo Hotel is one of Norway’s other ice hotels. It is built every year from snow and ice and gives guests a unique experience in the country’s far north. Each room has a reindeer-leather bed pad and a very warm sleeping bag, but since the temperature is always between -4 and -7 °C, guests are also asked to bring their thermal underwear. The hotel also has a spa and two outdoor hot tubs where you can relax and warm up. You can go on a snowmobile tour to see more of the area.

Icehotel

The world’s first ice hotel was in the small town of Jukkasjarvi in northern Sweden. Since 1990, when it first opened, the hotel has been rebuilt every year from December to April. The snow and ice blocks from the frozen Torne River are used to build the whole hotel. Even the cups are made of ice in the bar. On the Discovery Channel and National Geographic, you can sometimes see documentaries about the Ice Hotel.

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