Category
Rebuilt each winter from snow and river ice, these hotels exist for a season and then melt. Construction is an annual act rather than a one-time one, which means the floor plan, the carved rooms and the artists involved change from year to year. Each property below also keeps warm accommodation on the same site.
Jukkasjärvi, Sweden
The original, built each December from ice harvested out of the Torne River and rebuilt with a different set of artists every winter, so no two seasons share the same rooms. Alongside the seasonal building, a year-round section kept cold by solar-assisted cooling stays open through the summer. Warm accommodation, a restaurant and the ice church sit on the same riverside site in a village well inside the Arctic Circle.
Quebec City, Canada
North America's ice hotel, reconstructed each winter near Quebec City and open for a few months before it melts. Snow vaults form the corridors and suites, several of which include ice fireplaces, and an ice chapel is used for ceremonies through the season. Guests are briefed on sleeping in an arctic bag at sub-zero temperatures, and heated buildings alongside hold the bathrooms, lockers and a warm hotel for those who prefer it.
Kirkenes, Norway
Built each winter on a fjordside site in the far north-east of Norway, close to the Russian border. Carved rooms are held around minus four degrees and dressed with ice sculpture; timber gamme cabins on the same property provide heated rooms with fjord views. The kennels and reindeer enclosure on site make it as much a working arctic operation as a hotel, and the location is far enough north for reliable winter darkness.
Rovaniemi, Finland
A short drive from Rovaniemi, this property pairs a rebuilt snow hotel — carved rooms, an ice restaurant, an ice bar — with glass-roofed igloos heated year-round and angled for watching the sky from bed. A snow sauna is among the more unusual facilities, as is the practice of keeping both cold and warm accommodation available on one site so a stay can be split between the two.