It’s a hotel where the temperature is below freezing, there’s no ensuite
bathroom and no television, but people clamour to pay hundreds of pounds to
stay there.
Sweden’s Icehotel opened for its
eighteenth season this week, and despite a host of replicas around the
world, few match the Icehotel's popularity.
The hotel is in Swedish Lapland, a magical region that’s a good match for
Narnia for around four months of the year. The fir trees are dusted white,
street lamps glow all day with only a glimpse of subdued sunlight over
midday, and children glide down the streets on foot-propelled sledges.
Each year the Icehotel is built in the village of Jukkasjarvi, 100 miles
inside the Arctic Circle. Construction starts in mid-December using pure,
clear ice harvested from the Torne River. Ice and a mixture of snow and ice
is used to build the hotel walls, ceiling, beds, reception desk, the bar and
even the glasses.
The hotel opened its first ten bedrooms on Friday December 7 and will open a
further 80 bedrooms over the coming weeks.
The good news for British visitors this year is that direct flights between
London and Kiruna, a 15-minute drive from the Icehotel, will launch on
December 18. The flight time is three-and-a-half, which saves a four-hour
flight via Stockholm plus at least an hour transfer time. The flight is
operated by Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) from Heathrow.
Visitors tend to spend between two and four nights in Jukkasjarvi, with one
night in an ice room and the remainder in one of the Icehotel’s warm rooms,
either in a hotel or one of the chalets. The short days put a dampner on
day-long activities for much of the year, but most guests find time for
husky dog sledding, snowmobiling, ice driving or a lesson in ice sculpting.
Drinks are served below zero degrees in the hotel’s Absolut Icebar, but food
is offered in the more cosy surroundings of the hotel’s two restaurants,
which serve wholesome warming dishes including local specialities such as
reindeer and elk.
Throughout the day the Icehotel welcomes visitors on tours, but at night
guests have the hotel to themselves. The first ten bedrooms, which opened
last week, are Art Suites, designed and created by artists from around the
world. Each was chosen on the merits of their design but few have worked
with ice before – their talents include sculpting, illustrating, filmmaking
and woodwork.
The results are varied and spectacular – suite designs range from smooth waves
of snow and ice curling around a double bed, to crystal clear ice blocks in
geometric patterns that support double bed.
The artists responsible for the design of the first ten rooms, some of which
are featured in the video above, are Laura and Lele Trabb, Sakai Hiroyoshi,
Maurizio Perron, Kestutis Musteikis, Oppen, Natsuki Manakata and Shingo
Saito, James Drew and Ben Rousseau and Patrik Dallard.
Need to know
Discover the World offers
three and four night trips between December and April to the Icehotel.
Breaks cost from £754 per person including direct flights from the UK to
Kiruna, one night in an ice bedroom, and the remainder of the stay in a warm
room, transfers from the airport and breakfast. Excursions, other meals,
drinks and insurance cost extra. Direct flights depart on specific dates
between December 18 and March 25 - see www.discoverlapland.co.uk
for more details.
Excursions at the Icehotel cost from £123 for 90 minutes husky sledding
including a campfire stop for coffee and cake, or £72 for 90 minutes
snowmobiling.
For more information about Swedish Lapland go to Visitsweden.com
Happy Holidays
gary Ventimiglia, loa Angeles, ca