2.05 · A Hotel Made of Ice

A Hotel Made of Ice

Every winter, in Jukkasjärvi, a small village in the far north of Sweden, a team of builders and artists makes a winter hotel out of ice. In spring, this winter hotel melts, and the water flows back into the river it came from. By the next winter, a new hotel stands in its place.

The idea began in 1989. A local man, Yngve Bergqvist, built an art gallery of ice and snow next to the frozen Torne River. One night, every cabin in the village was fully booked, so Bergqvist suggested that some visitors sleep inside it. They loved the experience, and the Icehotel was born.

Every spring, before the river ice melts, workers cut huge blocks from it. Each block can weigh up to two tons. The blocks are kept cold all summer, and when the cold returns in November, construction begins. It takes about six weeks. Artists from different countries design the rooms, so the hotel never looks the same two winters in a row.

Inside, the temperature stays at around −5 °C. Guests sleep on mattresses covered with reindeer hides, inside warm sleeping bags. They leave their luggage and take a shower in a warm building nearby. The hotel suggests spending one night in an ice room and the rest of the stay in a warm one.