Ice hotel

Ice hotels are promoted for adventurous travelers who are interested in novelties and unusual environments and are comfortable with the outdoors. 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. Lobbies are often filled with ice sculptures, and food and drinks are specially chosen for the circumstances. For instance, glasses in an ice bar can be made of ice and people sit on benches made of ice. 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. ==By country==

Canada Ice Hotel The Hôtel de Glace () first opened in January 2001. 85 rooms are furnished with ice beds covered with deer furs and mattresses and equipped with arctic sleeping bags. It operates from the first week in January to the last week in March. 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. In 2005, construction involved "400 tons of clear ice blocks, trucked in from Montreal, and 12,000 tons of snow produced on site." It has suites, standard rooms and igloos, an ice restaurant, ice bar and patio, ice chapel and outdoor hot tubs. with double rooms and a honeymoon suite. The facility also has a restaurant, chapel, and ice sculptures. 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. It may be Japan's first ice hotel, and everything in it is constructed from ice. 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. which serves drinks all year long in an artificially frozen environment. Ice Lodge The Ice Lodge in Norway is part of the Bjorligard Hotel. It is the largest ice hotel in Norway, and its season is longer than other ice hotels due to its elevation at above sea level. The hotel is 15 km from the Norwegian-Russian border 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. The igloo hotel has been rebuilt yearly since 1999. It is Europe’s northernmost ice hotel, as it is in the Finnmark region and is approximately from the North Cape. The 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. The ice sculptures at the hotel change yearly. This picturesque setting is next to Bâlea Lake, Local artists imitate sculptures by Romanian modernist sculptor Constantin Brâncuși. Typically the hotel is completed in December and remains open until it melts in late March or April. Sweden Icehotel Jukkasjärvi 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. File:ICEHOTEL_Main_Hall_(2014)_by_Alessandro_Falca_&_AnnaSofia_Mååg.jpg|Main Hall "Secret Garden" at Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden (January 2014) File:Icehotel-se-27.JPG|A room at the Icehotel IGLOOTEL Lapland IGLOOTEL Lapland is located in Piteå, Sweden approx. 100 km south of the Arctic Circle. Every winter IGLOOTEL is 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. 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. 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. In the igloos, sleeping areas are raised, and are "layered with foam, carpet and sheep skins", atop which sleeping bags are provided. Lighting is provided by candles. ==See also==