| If you have a knack for novelty and adventure out in | | | | The Ice Hotel begins to melt down into water by the |
| the cold, the Ice Hotel Sweden is just the place for | | | | end of April. The only part of the crystal clear structure |
| you. And if you ask what is novel about a hotel, well, | | | | that is saved, in addition to the selected sculptural work |
| be prepared to listen; it is not just about any hotel, it is | | | | that the artists decide to preserve, is the huge ice cut |
| built of ice and snows of the arctic regions. If this has | | | | chandelier. All other remains of the Ice Hotel disappear |
| sent you in a tizzy, let me tell you more; this hotel is | | | | to pave the way for another, new Ice Hotel next year. |
| situated 200 km north of the Arctic Circle on the river | | | | The Interiors of the Ice Hotel |
| Torne, at a place called Jukkasjarvi in Sweden. | | | | When it was built, the Ice Hotel had only one room. |
| Jukkasjarvi, a word of the old Lapp languages, | | | | Today, it is a 4000 square meter structure with 60 |
| meaning 'meeting place' and it is exactly that, the | | | | rooms, a bar named Absolute Ice Bar, a cinema with |
| meeting place of the adventure loving tourists who | | | | screen of ice, and a church where marriages and |
| come here every here to spend a night in the Ice | | | | baptisms are solemnized within icy walls. |
| Hotel. | | | | In the rooms of the Ice Hotel, even beds are made of |
| Birth of the Concept | | | | ice although with wooden boards at the top and |
| About ten years ago, in 1989, an igloo, named Art-ic, | | | | covered with mattresses. They are provided with |
| was constructed, for exhibition, right on the stream of | | | | specially designed hot sleeping bags. Inside the rooms |
| the frozen Torne. A large number of visitors who | | | | the temperature can be between -4Ës to -9Ës C. It |
| came were amazed to see the 60 square meter art | | | | depends on how many guests are present inside and |
| galleries of ice, and many of them even stayed there | | | | on the temperature outside which could be as low as |
| for the night. It was thus that the idea of the Ice Hotel | | | | -40Ës C. |
| took shape. | | | | Drinking Delights |
| Construction of the Hotel | | | | The Ice Hotel has a fabulous bar, named Absolute Ice |
| The Ice Hotel is built every year in the season of | | | | Bare for drink lovers. Just like the remaining part of the |
| winter and melts down into water in the spring. In | | | | hotel, it is also different in design every year. In 2001-02, |
| March and April, when the previous winter's ice hotel | | | | its roof was a dome with the inside covered by |
| starts melting, big blocks of ice are cut out from the | | | | innumerable snowballs, made in the most part by hand. |
| frozen Torne, using special ice saws. These ice blocks | | | | The specially designed drinking glasses are of ice. So |
| are crystal clear as the water of the fast flowing | | | | you literally have drinks on the rocks. And yes, keep |
| Torne is extremely clean. They are then transported | | | | your gloves on when you drink lest the glass melt |
| using tractors to the Ice Hotel Art Centre, and stored | | | | down before your drink is finished. |
| there to be used as building blocks in the construction. | | | | Watching the Auroras |
| The Art Centre is a 1500 square meter freezer building | | | | However, if you would rather stay in warmer comforts |
| containing an exhibition of ice sculpture and snow | | | | watching the shining beauty of the Northern Lights, you |
| work. It also contains igloos if you would like to | | | | always have the option of Aurora Houses on rent. |
| experience a night's stay in an igloo even in | | | | These houses are comfortably warm and the |
| midsummer.. | | | | bedroom roofs are fitted with special skylights that |
| The construction of the Ice Hotel begins towards the | | | | enable you to view this wonderful spectacle of the |
| end of October with the arrival of a dozen artists and | | | | Arctic region. However, this sight is not for early to bed |
| other workers. The stored ice blocks are shaped into | | | | sort of people; it is best viewed at midnight. |
| huge arches and other forms, some being as high as 5 | | | | The Aurora Houses are a special attraction of the |
| meter and as wide as 6 meter. Ice pillars support | | | | place, especially for the Japanese tourists. They |
| these arches. | | | | believe that if a child is conceived under these lights, it |
| The interior construction of the Ice Hotel begins in the | | | | would be male. |
| dark days of December, when the construction of the | | | | So if you are already ringing up your travel agent and |
| main structure is over. The work continues up to | | | | packing your bags, wait; the best time to visit the place |
| January end. Windows and doors, pillars and arches, | | | | is winter, between December and April. So, plan |
| desks and chairs, lamps and decorative statues, | | | | accordingly and do experience a wonderful stay for a |
| everything is made by cutting and carving ice. Artists | | | | night at least in the Ice Hotel. In fact most tourists who |
| of international fame are invited to decorate certain | | | | visit the place stay in there for a one night experience |
| rooms, and the effect is extra ordinary- the ice | | | | only, and then shift either to the Aurora Houses or to |
| sculptures catch and reflect gleaming light, creating a | | | | other hotels providing warmer environs. |
| very special ambience. | | | | |