8 ice hotels around the world to stay in this winter
Sleep under giant ice sculptures, eat from frozen plates and relax in a sauna made from ice. Whichever hotel you choose, be sure to brace yourself for the cold…
When booking a stay in a winter destination, you probably picture a cosy log cabin. If your priority is seeing the northern lights, maybe an igloo with a glass roof.
But if you’re really adventurous? Then it has to be an ice hotel – and we’ve rounded up eight top options around the globe for you to book this winter.
1. ICEHOTEL, Sweden
The original, biggest and probably coolest of them all, ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi has been encouraging visitors to embrace the cold for more than 30 years.
Each year, the hotel melts and is rebuilt by ice sculptors from all over the world, opening its doors between December and April. No two designs are the same in the suites, where you can drift off to sleep on a bed made entirely of ice. But don’t worry about getting frostbite: there are cosy thermal sleeping bags and reindeer hides to keep you warm.
During your stay you can also enjoy outdoor activities, drinks in Ice Bar, and a look around fantastic art exhibitions. The ICEHOTEL is also within easy reach of Abisko – one of the best places in the world to see the northern lights.
More information: icehotel.com
2. Hotel of Ice, Romania
Take a cable car deep into the Fagaras Mountains to reach this secret ice-built retreat, and choose between a double room for two people or an igloo. Both are made with ice from the largest glacial lake in the mountains, decorated with hand-sculpted furniture and come with animal fur, blankets and pillows.
Even the plates in the restaurant are made from ice, and there is also a church for couples who want to tie the knot. The nearby medieval towns of Brasov and Sibiu are worth exploring, with their beautiful cobbled streets and resplendent architecture.
More information: hotelofice.ro
Read next: 20 of the world’s top winter experiences
3. Ice Hotel, Japan
Between mid-December and mid-March each year, visitors to the Hoshino Resorts Tomamu in Hokkaido may be lucky enough to spend a night in the Ice Hotel. The sub-zero dome is just eight metres wide and four metres high, so there’s only space for one room. Guests are given a shruff (sleeping bag) to keep cosy at night, and a bowl of soup for breakfast.
But staying here is by no means a remote experience. The hotel is part of a larger winter world – the ice village. Here you can watch weddings in the ice church, eat cheese fondue in the frozen café, whizz down the ice-carved slide, skate on the ice rink and curl up by the fire in the library.
More information: snowtomamu.jp
Read next: A wild winter in Hokkaido, Japan
4. Iglu-Dorf, Switzerland
Set up by an extreme snowboarder who wanted to be the first person to ride the soft powder in the morning, Iglu-Dorf now has igloo villages in several locations, most of which are in Switzerland. At the Zermatt village you can lie in a whirlpool and gaze at the Matterhorn, while at Zugspitze you can look down on Germany, Austria and Switzerland from one viewpoint. The freshest one of the lot is in Innsbruck, Austria, which can be reached on skis and snowboards. At over 2,600 metres above sea level, there is even a ‘thrill walk’ to the igloo restaurant.
The igloo villages are rebuilt every year, and decorated by international artists, creating magical new worlds made of snow and ice.
More information: iglu-dorf.com
Did you know? In 2016, Iglu-Dorf achieved the world record for the largest ever igloo to be built. The igloo dome in Zermatt had a diameter of 12.9m and a height of over 10 metres. It took 18 people, three weeks, and around 1,400 blocks of ice to build.
5. Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel, Norway
The northernmost igloo hotel in the world, Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel, has come a long way since it opened with just six rooms more than 20 years ago. The frozen spectacle in the mountainous pine-covered Sorrisniva now comprises more than 20 bedrooms and suites, a chapel and an ice bar – all lavishly decorated with hand-sculpted art.
Every year is a new theme for the hotel, and in the past the ice walls have been carefully carved away to reveal Vikings, mythical creatures, Nordic legends and arctic wildlife. Step outside and you may be lucky enough to see mother nature’s best art display too, as the hotel is in a prime location for viewing the northern lights.
More information: sorrisniva.no
Read next: 7 magical things to do in Norway this winter
6. Lapland Hotels SnowVillage, Finland
Around 20 million kilos of snow and 300,000 kilos of ice are re-designed every year to create the ever-changing Snow Village in Finland. In previous years, the snow suites, chapel, ice restaurant and bar have been decorated with a Game of Thrones-inspired characters and sculptures.
The impressive snow suites drop to lows of minus five degrees Celsius to prevent the gigantic sculptures from melting. If you fancy something a little warmer, opt for a cosy cabin. There are plenty of outdoor activities to get your blood pumping too, such as dog-sledding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, northern light trips and ice-sculpting classes.
More information: laplandhotels.com
Read next: 6 reasons to explore the winter landscapes of Levi, Finland
7. Snowhotel Kirkenes, Norway
The sparkling Snowhotel Kirkenes is a hotel that is open 365 days a year. So whatever season, you can escape a real-life winter wonderland. The 14 spectacular rooms remain at a constant temperature of minus four degrees Celsius, and are carved by master ice sculptors from around the world, with a Nordic touch of fairytale and folklore. Despite the freezing temperatures, guests can sleep pretty well inside cosy thermal sleeping bags.
Warm up in the restaurant at dinner, then cool off again in the Icebar with a special Arctic beverage. The Icebar is the star of the hotel, rebuilt every year with a different, unique theme, always dazzling.
More information: snowresortkirkenes.com/snow-hotel
8. Arctic SnowHotel, Finland
Not only is Rovaniemi home to Santa, but winter is made all the more magical by the Arctic SnowHotel that pops up here every year. The cave-like entrance leads to various snow-lined tunnels covered in ice carvings; the bedrooms hold solid, see-through ice beds draped in reindeer furs; the candle-lit restaurant serves traditional Finnish food such as roasted elk; and the outdoor Jacuzzi is a great place to relax in nature. For a real treat, relax on a warm wooden bench in a sauna made from ice, then stay in one of the suites: you will feel like you’re in your own frozen palace.
There’s plenty to keep you busy outside the hotel – such as snowshoe hikes, snowmobile safaris, snow sculpting, ice fishing, and visits to local homes to learn more about life in Finnish Lapland. You can also request an ‘aurora alarm’ to make sure you don’t miss an appearance of the northern lights.
