Ice Hotels — 4

Icehotel is a hotel in Jukkasjärvi built from ice and snow, with cold rooms carved by invited artists. Warm rooms and a year-round ice section stand beside it on the same site.

The hotel has been built each winter since 1989 from ice cut out of the Torne river. It is designed again every year, so the rooms, the corridors and the bar are new work, and the structure melts back into the river in spring.

It stands on the river bank at Jukkasjärvi, a village east of Kiruna in Swedish Lapland, well north of the Arctic Circle. Forest and frozen water surround the site on every side.

The seasonal building stands from December to April, which is when the cold rooms can be used. Midwinter brings long darkness and the aurora, while March adds daylight and steadier temperatures.

Cold rooms are kept below freezing, and guests sleep on ice inside a sleeping bag. Toilets and showers are in a heated building nearby, and luggage stays there for the night.

Hôtel de Glace is a hotel of snow and ice near Québec City, with themed rooms, a chapel and a bar cut from ice. Heated buildings on the site hold the washing rooms.

It has been built each winter since 2001 and is drawn again from scratch every year, so the plan, the vaults and the carvings change. Snow is sprayed over forms to make the walls, and the whole structure comes down when it thaws.

It stands at Valcartier, north-west of Québec City, on a site with a resort and outdoor activities around it. The old city and the river are around half an hour away by road.

The building opens from early January until late March. February is the coldest and most reliable month, while the end of the season brings longer daylight, softer snow and warmer afternoons.

Nights are spent in a sleeping bag at a temperature close to minus five. Guests change and wash in the heated building, and a short briefing on the cold is part of arrival.

Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel is an ice hotel at Alta in northern Norway, with carved rooms, an ice bar and a chapel. A separate lodge nearby holds heated rooms and the restaurant.

It has been built every year since 1999 from snow and ice, with new carvings and a new plan each season. The walls are formed over frames and then cut back by hand, and the building is left to melt when the season ends.

It stands beside the Alta river, a short drive from the town of Alta, in a valley of forest and open snow. The coast and the Finnmark plateau lie close in either direction.

The ice building stands from January to early April. The dark weeks around midwinter suit the aurora, while March brings daylight, dog sledging and firmer conditions on the river and on the roads across the plateau.

Rooms hold a temperature a few degrees below freezing, and guests sleep in expedition sleeping bags. Washing rooms are in the heated building, and outer clothing is left outside the sleeping rooms.

SnowVillage is a built area of snow and ice at Kittilä in Finnish Lapland, with sleeping rooms, a bar, a chapel and carved corridors. Heated cabins beside it hold the services.

It is rebuilt every winter with a different size, layout and theme, so the sculpture and the rooms are new work each year. Snow is packed over moulds to form the vaults, and clear ice is kept for the bar and the carvings.

It stands near Levi in the municipality of Kittilä, north of the Arctic Circle, among low fells and forest. Kittilä airport and the slopes at Levi are a short drive away.

The village stands from December to April. Midwinter gives the darkness that the lighting is designed for, while the late season adds long daylight and easier travel across the fells.

Sleeping rooms stay below freezing and are used with a sleeping bag on a bed of ice. Showers, toilets and luggage storage are in the heated building a short walk outside.