We did a tour of the Ice Hotel located 124 miles (200km) north of the Arctic circle in Sweden.
How anyone could sleep here is beyond me, but they do. Costs between $297-$730 USD for two people per night. Basically you're paying to to stay in an artistic freezer.
We decided to do the much cheaper day tour for only $38 USD.
It was cold when we arrived in the day, so you would have to wonder how it feels during the night as the temperature plummets.
It's amazing and mind boggling. Bravo to the engineers to build such a feat of wonder.
We arrived just in time for the ice harvest festival. Harvesting ice? have you ever heard such a thing.
They cut the huge ice blocks from the river and build the hotel right beside it.
Now as you can see the hotel is completely open to everyone during the day, then the paying guests can come back in the evening to settle in. I have no idea what you would do with luggage or wanting to use the bathroom during the night. An experience I'm sure.
Unsure if you're allowed lie in the beds, but I did anyway.
Having forgotten all of the facts about the place ( we were too busy being in awe of the whole thing) I've Googled for you and found some interesting stats on the hotel's website and wikipedia:http://www.icehotel.com/about-icehotel
To be able to cast the building, “snice” is produced – a mixture of snow and ice made of water from the river. The snice is sprayed onto molds, which are removed once the structure has consolidated. It’s then finally time to continue the creative process inside the meter-thick walls.
Over 10,000 short tons (9,100 t) of ice and 30,000 short tons (27,200 t) of snow.
The guests sleep in polar-tested sleeping bags. There is no heating and the bedroom temperatures are constantly around 23F (-5C). There’s no plumbing at the hotel, but there's a sauna that is run on the premises of the Icehotel with hot tub outdoors.
When spring comes, everything melts away and returns to the Torne River. The Icehotel only exists between December and April, and has been listed as one of the Seven Wonders of Sweden
48,000 man hours to build the hotel each year. (over 12 weeks)
Thank you Ice Hotel, you've been freezing.
Safety first! you just never know
To wrap up the tour we warmed up in the huge three story igloo Ice Bar
Cheers!
Captured using a Canon 5d mk3 with 24-105mm f2.8L and 16-35mm f/2.8L.
Location: Jukkasjärvi, Sweden. (Kiruna)
If you want to see more follow along on the adventures @daxon