Ice Hotels

An ice hotel is a temporary hotel made up of snow , sculpted blocks of ice , and some steel framing .They are promoted by their sponsors and have special features for travelers who are interested in novelties and unusual environments, and thus are in the class of destination hotels. Their lobbies are often filled with ice sculptures , and food and beverages are specially chosen for the circumstances.

 All of the ice hotels are reconstructed every year, and are dependent upon constant sub-freezing temperatures during construction and operation. The walls, fixtures, and fittings are made entirely of ice, and are held together using a substance known as snice , which takes the place of mortar in a traditional brick-built hotel.

• Sweden

Existing each year between December and April, the Icehotel in the village of Jukkasjärvi , about 17 km from Kiruna , Sweden was the world's first ice hotel. In 1989, Japanese ice artists visited the area and created an exhibition of ice art. In Spring 1990, French artist Jannot Derid held an exhibition in a cylinder-shaped igloo in the area. One night there were no rooms available in the town, so some of the visitors asked for permission to spend the night in the exhibition hall. They slept in sleeping bags on top of reindeer skin - the first guests of the "hotel".
The entire hotel is made out of snow and ice blocks taken from the Torne River - even the glasses in the bar are made of ice. Each spring, around March, Icehotel harvests tons of ice from the frozen Torne River and stores it in a nearby production hall with room for over 10,000 tons of ice and 30,000 tons of snow. The ice is used for creating Icebar designs and ice glasses, for ice sculpting classes, events and product launches all over the world while the snow is used for building a strong structure for the building. About 1,000 tons of what is left is used in the construction of the next Icehotel.
Website:http://www.icehotel.com/

• Norway

Kirkenes Snow Hotel

Kirkenes Snow Hotel is situated in the east most town of Norway, close to the Norwegian-Russian border.The hotel had its first season during winter 2006/2007, the hotel had 20 rooms and the largest snow dome in Norway (8 meters high and 12 meters in diameter). All the rooms were individually decorated by the ice artists from Finland and Japan. The west Snow Hall was decorated by a local sculptor Arild Wara. A night in the snow hotel is combined with a special dinner prepared on an open fire; the visitors can also get a sauna before or after staying at the hotel. There is also a reindeer park and a husky farm in the hotel area.

 Website:http://www.kirkenessnowhotel.com/

Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel, Alta

Sorrisniva Igloo hotel, Alta has been rebuilt yearly since 2000. It is Europe 's northernmost ice hotel, as it is located in the Finnmark region and is approximately 250 km from North Cape. The 2000 square meter hotel has 30 rooms, including 2 suites and it is decorated with numerous ice sculptures and ice furnishings, including lighting systems which enhance the different types of crystalline formations. Besides the bedrooms the hotel also contains an ice chapel, ice gallery and ice bar where drinks are served in glasses made of ice. The Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel in Alta has a changing theme every year. In 2004, it was a Viking theme, in 2005, Norwegian fairytales, and in 2006, the theme was wild animals of the region.. The guests use sleeping bags that sit on top of reindeer hides.

Website: http://www.sorrisniva.no/