Overview
Since 1989, Sweden's Icehotel has given travellers a decidedly cool place to stay each winter. December hits, and the site reveals its new super-chilled rooms — the kind that are carved out of ice and only around for a short time, as they'll melt once the weather gets warmer. They're not just any old slabs of ice and snow in the village of Jukkasjärvi, 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, however. As part of its annual tradition, the accommodation provider calls for designers and artists to unleash their chilly ideas — then unveils their wondrous creations to travellers.
In the 2019–20 crop? A pride of lions chiselled out of cold substances, an icy depiction of Santorini, a frozen cabin in the woods and a space that resembles a grand theatre. Or, perhaps you'd like to climb into a cat's lair, sleep in a room filled with giant ice bones, stare at a frosty version of a kaleidoscope, be watched over by huge hands or curl up in a book in a more literal sense than usual. The 'Golden Ice' room certainly stands out among the new additions, too — it shimmers with its titular hue.
ICEHOTEL 30 | Art Suite The 6th Feeling | Design Ekaterina Barsukova and Vladimir Barsukov | Photo Asaf Kliger | © ICEHOTEL
Now open until April 2019, the fresh blend of ice and creativity features 35 one-of-a-kind rooms in total, as crafted by 33 artists from 16 different countries. They're made from more than 30,000 cubic metres of snice — that's a mix of snow and ice — from the local Torne River. As well as places to sleep, the new iteration also includes an ice bar, a 75-metre-long ice ceremony hall, a four-metre-tall outdoor ice sculpture that people can enter and an icy observation deck with views of the northern lights.
ICEHOTEL 30 | Icebar by Icehotel Torneland | Design Mathieu Brison & Luc Voisin | Photo Asaf Kliger | © ICEHOTEL
If you're a fan of the kind of coldness that the southern hemisphere doesn't see at this time of the year (especially at the moment), but you can't make it to Icehotel's cold climes during the northern winter, don't worry — in addition to its annual slate of artistic suites, Icehotel is open all year round. It includes 20 permanent suites, an ice bar, plus private saunas and spas for an added touch of warmth in such cold surroundings.
Icehotel 30 runs until April 14, 2020. For further information, visit www.icehotel.com.
Images: Asaf Kliger.