Would You Sleep In A Hotel Made of Ice?
What do Captain America, Brendan Fraser, and Scrat the saber-toothed squirrel have in common?
No idea?
They were all frozen in ice and re-animated years later.
Far be it from me to argue with the writers of Captain America, Encino Man, and Ice Age, but even though it would mean prolonging my life, the idea doesn’t appeal to me. An ice hotel, on the other hand, where I can sleep for a night rather than for years…kind of does.
Ice hotels are what the name suggests. Each year, they’re built fresh, the best using nothing but ice and snow for support. Because they depend on sub-zero temperatures to survive, the season could be over with an early thaw.
Who Decided Sleeping on Ice Was A Good Idea?
The first ice hotel, aptly named Icehotel, started as an art exhibit in the village of Jukkasjärvi, Sweden. In 1990, a French artist displayed his ice art in an igloo there. One evening, the village didn’t have enough rooms to house all the visitors overnight, so the overflow stayed in the exhibition igloo in sleeping bags laid on top of reindeer skins. The first ice hotel was born.
The Icehotel expanded until it became not only the first but also the biggest ice hotel in the world. It covers 64,600 sq ft., which is larger than a U.S. football field, and houses 100 guests. The inside of the Icehotel remains at a relatively constant 23 °F (−5 °C).
When you check in, you leave your luggage in a nearby warm house (where the washrooms are also located), and slip into the warm winter clothes, gloves, and shoes provided by the Icehotel so that you look like a giant blue marshmallow. Once you’re checked in, you can visit the Icebar, where you’ll be surrounded by original ice sculptures and blue lights to reflect off the snow as your lips melt your glass of ice.
Outside, the Aurora Borealis treats you to one of the world’s most spectacular shows of yellow, green, blue, and red streaks of colors in the sky. Their name comes from Aurora, Roman goddess of dawn, and Boreas, what the Greek’s called the north wind. The lights play across the horizon exactly as if the wind stole the colors of the dawn and now taunts her in a game of keep-away.
Like the first Icehotel guests, when you finally return to your room to sleep, you’re sleeping in an art exhibit. Each room is designed by an artist, and the honor of creating an Icehotel room draws creatives from all over the world. Staff wakes you in the morning with a hot cup of lingonberry juice, like a sweeter cranberry juice, served to you in bed.
Can’t Travel to Sweden? No Problem
The coolest (no pun intended…well, maybe a little) thing about ice hotels is that you don’t even have to leave North America to visit one. Hôtel de Glace is located 10 minutes outside of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was the first ice hotel in the world to make a bed entirely out of ice.
What do you think? Would you spend a night in a hotel made entirely of ice?
This has been the first in a new regular “unbelievable real life” feature where I’ll be showcasing weird creatures and offbeat places on our planet that seem like they should belong in a fantasy. Be sure to sign up below so that you’ll receive free updates and won’t miss the next edition.
Image Credits (in order): Tom Corser (Creative Commons), Jacopo Werther (Creative Commons), and Skeezix1000 (Creative Commons).
Nov 30, 2012 @ 12:17:33
I could not stand to sleep in an ice hotel because I am not a fan of the cold. I might try one of those ice bars where they dress you up in ski clothes, or a fur coat in the fancy ones. But, even that would probably only last a minute. I just can’t stand being cold. I did visit a hotel made of salt in Bolivia. I don’t think I could have stayed there either. It was just too much like those caves in the Superman movies I watched as a kid. I like a hotel to me warm and comfy. If not, I might as well stay at home. 🙂
Nov 30, 2012 @ 13:27:19
My husband can’t stand cold either. He got teased mercilessly by his mom when he was moving north because of his intolerance for cold. He’d built up a little resistance now. When we went down to Virginia, when other people were bundled up in coats and scarves, he was wearing a light sweatshirt. Now, sleeping in the cold would probably be an entirely different story 🙂
Nov 30, 2012 @ 13:32:37
I sure hope I can! I have a room booked in one for one night in February. What I’m interested to see is how we use the jacuzzi in our room. Once you get in, how do you get out without freezing to death? We’ll see how it goes 🙂
Nov 30, 2012 @ 14:15:30
You’ll have to come back and tell us how it goes!
Nov 30, 2012 @ 14:04:39
I’d like to see it, but I don’t like the cold either. You’ll have to share your experience Renee, a jacuzzi?
Nov 30, 2012 @ 14:13:34
Yes, I’m still fascinated by how that’s possible.
They do tours of the ice hotels so even if you don’t think you could sleep there, you could still check it out.
Nov 30, 2012 @ 14:17:18
I think my husband and I will end up disagreeing about whether we should just tour it or whether we should stay the night. My vote is to stay 🙂
Nov 30, 2012 @ 14:07:18
I’ve wanted to stay in one since I first saw them on tv (maybe it was in a Bond movie?). They’re gorgeous and I think it would be an amazing experience. I love sleeping in the cold, so it would be perfect.
Nov 30, 2012 @ 14:16:37
I don’t think I’d want to stay there more than one night, but I definitely want to stay for a night. Like you, I’ve wanted to go ever since I saw them on TV (for me I think it was the discovery channel).
Nov 30, 2012 @ 14:43:41
I lived in Thunder Bay for 8 years – ice hotels hold no appeal for me at all. I don’t need to sleep on a block of ice to see the northern lights. I could see them from the comfort of my living room – and typically they only come out on the coldest of nights. When the snowbanks on each side of the sidewalk are taller than your head the cold stuff loses its allure.
Nov 30, 2012 @ 14:48:48
Where’s your sense of adventure, Lee? 😉
Nov 30, 2012 @ 17:36:50
I love to look at it, beautiful. Sleep in it? Never. I get a headache just thinking about it, like eating ice-cream too fast and getting a brain freeze.
Lol,Lisa, on ‘sleeping in a block of ice.’ Yeah, no appeal in that.
Nov 30, 2012 @ 17:41:18
Oi, this made me laugh! I absolutely love the simile “like eating ice cream too fast and getting a brain freeze.”
Nov 30, 2012 @ 20:37:13
I saw this on TV several years ago and have been fascinated with it ever since! Yes, I’d like to stay in it, even though I have my doubts as to how pleasant that would be! Then again, good excuse to drink several shots of chilled Sambuca. 🙂 I think there might be an ice hotel in Alaska, too, although I’m not sure if that one’s 100% ice.
Dec 02, 2012 @ 05:13:10
having survived many winters in Calgary, I can’t imagine sleeping in an ice hotel. Yuck. Different strokes I guess.
Dec 02, 2012 @ 23:33:30
Don’t know if I’d sleep there, but it’d sure be cool to visit. I like my heat in the winter.
Dec 02, 2012 @ 23:53:05
Cool, so to speak. That would be as close as I can probably get to the fantasy I used to have as a kid of staying the night in the dinosaur part of the Universe of Energy ride at Disney World, with mist being sprayed on me and audio-animatronic brontosaurs roaring.
Dec 03, 2012 @ 01:37:42
I’ve always wondered about this hotel. I think it would be fun to visit, but I’m not a cold-loving person at all. Here in North Texas, the Gaylord Resort has a huge exhibit called ICE! where the entire place is carved ice. They make you wear special coats over your own because it is so flipping cold. It’s completely worth seeing the amazing sculptures and scenes, but I wouldn’t want to sleep in it. 😉
Dec 03, 2012 @ 10:13:33
Ooh, great new feature. I can’t wait to see the next unbelievable real life post.
Ice hotels are really beautiful and it would be a real experience to sleep in one. We have one in Northern Finland too. Living in a place that gets real winter, the cold wouldn’t be an issue. Ice bar would be fun to try too.