Spend a night in these Ice Hotels in Sweden and receive a glowing certificate from the hotel

Jukkasjärvi in the Swedish Laplands is around 200 kms away from the Arctic Circle and here, on the banks of the Torne River is Ice Hotel 365 and Ice Hotel 30. From 1989 till 2016, a winter hotel was built each year with around 2000 ice blocks harvested from the Torne River. Come summer, the hotel was allowed to melt and return to the river. But the demand for a permanent ice hotel was strong and so in 2016, Ice Hotel 365 was created. This, today is the world's first permanent ice and snow hotel open all year round. In keeping with the tradition of having a winter hotel, right opposite Ice Hotel 365, is a new property, named Ice Hotel 30.

Cold Calling

Yngve Bergqvist, entrepreneur and founder of Ice Hotel, arrived in Jukkasjärvi in the 70s. As an entrepreneur he saw several opportunities to develop the tourism potential of the region, particularly during the summer time and around the Torne River. It was when the winters dawned, and things turned dark, cold and icy, that these opportunities naturally closed. He wanted to do something about that.

During a trip to Japan, he happened to meet ice sculptors and realised that they were working with just the material that the Torne River has in plenty during the winter—ice. He invited two Japanese sculptors to Jukkasjärvi for a workshop and a 2,690-square-feet igloo called the Artic Hall was built. It was an art gallery made of ice. One evening, with all warm cabins in the area booked, a group of travellers thought it would be a great idea to spend the night in the Artic Hall, with warm sleeping bags. This gave Bergqvist the idea of building an Ice Hotel and the first one launched in 1989.

Chill Design

Ice Hotel 365 and the Ice Hotel 30 focus intensely on art. The rooms in both hotels are located on either side of a single corridor. In both, there are Art Suites to the left and the Deluxe Suites (that feature en-suite bathrooms, washrooms and saunas) to the right. The interiors of each suite are done by designers who were selected via an international competition. Only 10 per cent of designs are chosen by an expert panel. “The core value has always been focus on art and design and, it was all left to the designers,” explains Luca Roncoroni, Architect and Creative Director, Ice Hotel. “Any form of ice and snow can be part of the design, as long as it makes room for a bed. It is after all, a hotel. The use of colour is through filters. We did not use pigments simply because we wanted to showcase the beauty of ice and snow in their original form. An exception to this is one room in Ice Hotel 30 that has golden glitter embedded in the ice”.

A Crisp, New Property

In both hotels, each suite has a theme and is created by artists. Walking into each room is like walking into a museum of thematic ice sculptures, only here, you get to spend the night in the room. The surreal Dancers in the Dark by Tjåsa Gusfors and Patrick Dallard have life-like sculptures. The sculpture of a deer in the Oh Deer by Ulrika Tallving and Carl Wellander will have you stop a while to gaze. Twitter by Lena Kriström places the focus on a set of sculptures that are placed on one side of the room. Each one of the 11 Art Suites and 9 Deluxe Suites have a story to tell.

A Cold Drink

Ice Hotel 365 saw a new project being added to it in October 2019. French designers Karl-Johan Ekeroth and Christian Strömqvist, who have worked on earlier Ice Hotel projects were invited to create the Ice Bar. “The idea [of a bar] was initially for Hotel 30 but we upscaled the design and thought it would be a fun element to add to 365,” explains Luca. At the Ice Bar, drinks are offered in ice glasses made from the same blocks that were used to construct the hotel.

Frozen Art

The sculptures and rooms at the Ice Hotel 365 were made by artists. Each project done here lasts a minimum of two years, whereas work done in Ice Hotel 30 is just for 4 months. Ice Hotel 30 invited 31 artists from 16 countries across the world to work on a range of 17 projects. Rooms like Golden Ice by Nicolas Triboulot and Jean-Marie Guitera have, for the first time, infused gold glitter into ice blocks [as mentioned earlier]. The sculptures in Spring Dream by Lei Zhao & Yong Zhao come to life with lighting. And while you are in A Night at the Theatre by Jonathan Paul Green and Marnie Green, you will find yourself waiting for the curtains to lift and the show to begin.

Glacial Work

All ice and snow for both hotels is harvested from the Torne River. “The construction was done with a mix of onsite cold construction techniques and digital milling techniques that allow for the sculpting and carving of specific designs,” explains Roncoroni.

The foundation and bones of the hotel are in iron and all through the walls are a serpentine series of pipes that have a liquid cooling system—the temperature indoors is maintained at a steady -4 to -5 degrees Celsius with some humidity. During summer, sunlight is converted by solar panels into cooling energy to maintain indoor temperature. The structure, from inside out has 10 cms of snow/ice followed by a metal structure and, then 1.5 metres of snow/ice. All lighting is LED which does not emit heat. Luca has a team of 8-9 electricians and light designers who work on the lighting design. “You have to keep in mind how you want a design to be lit, because every joint stops a significant amount of light. Each time light hits a joint, only 30 per cent of it goes through. We either had to use bigger blocks or place lights at certain angles,” explains Luca.

Ice & Fire

Much like any ordinary building, all the cabling is laid inside the walls. But at the ice hotels, snow walls are first built and a channel is then carved into the wall with a chainsaw. Cables are pushed into these and the channel is packed with snow. A visit to the Ice Hotel should be for 2-3 nights, where one or two can be spent in a cold room and the rest in a warm room. Good thing is, you don't necessarily need to check in to the hotel to see it—visitors are allows to see the rooms during day time and the same space is handed over to guests in the evening, who stay overnight. Those who stay here are given a glowing certificate for successfully completing a night in the Ice Hotel!

Ice Hotel 365 is open all through the year. Ice Hotel 30 is open for booking between December and April

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