Icehotel

by Mel Nov 5, 2021 | 0 Votes | 75 Recommend | 0 Reviews

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Hotels The world's first ice hotel, Icehotel is a hotel rebuilt each year with snow and ice in the village of Jukkasjärvi, in northern Sweden. Located in the midst of the Arctic Circle, it is also known to be the biggest hotel of ice and snow in the world and has been listed as one of the Seven Wonders of Sweden. Book Now Similar Reviews Recommend Post a Review

Where is it?

Icehotel is located at Marknadsvagen 63, Jukkasjarvi, Kiruna 981 91 Sweden. As Sweden’s northernmost city and Swedish Lapland’s main tourist hub, Kiruna is 1,230 kilometers away from Stockholm but is easily accessible via air and train.

The cheapest, most comfortable and probably most interesting option is to take the direct night train which leaves Stockholm’s central station at about 6:00 pm and arrives in Kiruna at around 9:30 am the following morning. Tickets can be bought online and start at around 465 SEK (USD $55) for a non-changeable, non-refundable seat, or around 845 SEK (USD $98) for a fold-down bunk in a six-seater cabin.

The quickest—though more expensive—route to Kiruna is by plane, serviced by both SAS and Norwegian. It’s a 90-minute flight from Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport to Kiruna Airport, some 10km outside the city proper. A roughly 14-minute Taxi Kiruna ride straight to Icehotel will generally cost around 345 SEK (USD $40).

Alternatively, for optimum convenience and cost savings, you can pre-book a Kiruna Airport to Icehotel bus service that departs from Kiruna Stamgatan and takes you straight to Icehotel. Operated by Länstrafiken Norrbotten, the bus typically runs five services weekly (although weekend and holiday schedules can vary so check in advance).

Rooms and Services

When it comes to accommodations, think of your Icehotel room as merely a sleeping area with regular bathrooms, saunas, and changing facilities located in a different part of the hotel complex (called the Riverside Lobby).

You are given access to your cold room at 6 pm, but the heated service building is staffed and open 24 hours a day. This section of the hotel is where you store your belongings, collect your sleeping bag, and use the bathroom, shower, and sauna. To minimize confusion about the process, there is a tutorial for guests before they check in.

The bed you sleep on has a thick mattress that rests on a slatted wooden base on top of a block of ice. The bed is covered with reindeer hides and you sleep in an expedition-style thermal sleeping bag tested for extreme temperatures. Pillows are also provided.

Rooms are available in Double, Triple or Quadruple bed and includes: Breakfast; free entry to sauna in the Riverside Lobby; loan of snowsuit & boots; WiFi; storage locker (private cubicle for Art Suite guests) for your belongings. Non-smoking only. There are no electric sockets to charge your phone inside the cold rooms, so be sure to charge your phone before going to bed.

Icehotel Winter which is open between December and April, offers two different types of rooms:

Ice Room (15 – 20 Rooms)
A standard room with ice décor, the ice room has a classic design and holds a temperature of -5 to -8 degrees Celsius. Instead of doors, the rooms have curtains that you draw to give you and your company privacy.

Art Suite (12 Suites)
The 27 sq. meter Art Suites are the hotel’s individually designed and sculpted thematic suites by artists who have been picked from over 200 applicants with a wide range of disciplines. Each suite is unique and has never been created before. Unlike the Ice Room, Art Suites feature doors and locks instead of just curtains to give you and your company complete privacy.

If you plan on staying a couple of days in Jukkasjärvi to explore the area and join their various wilderness excursions, Icehotel recommends booking your first or last night in an Ice Room or Art Suite and the remaining nights in their warm cabins or hotel rooms (provided by Icehotel’s warm accommodation wing called Icehotel 365). This is so you can immediately have a warm private room and bathroom to return to in the evening after your winter activities.

Icehotel 365 is open all year long and offers two types of suites, namely:

Art Suite 365 (9 Suites)
The Art Suites in Icehotel 365 are uniquely designed and built entirely of ice and snow according to the same concept as the classic, Icehotel Winter but are available all year round inside a specially designed building run on solar power in the summer months. The exterior in winter has the same shape and look as the adjacent winter structure, and in summer, the arched roof is covered in grass.

Rooms are 27 sq. meters and are available in Double and Triple bed. Includes: Breakfast; free entry to sauna in the Riverside Lobby; loan of snowsuit & boots; WiFi; storage locker (private cubicle for Art Suite guests) for your belongings; doors with locks for your privacy. Non-smoking only. There are no electric sockets to charge your phone inside the cold rooms, so be sure to charge your phone before going to bed.

Deluxe Suite 365 with En-suite Bathroom (9 Suites)
The Deluxe Suite 365 is Icehotel 365’s most exclusive room type. Each suite, exclusively designed and made of snow and ice, holds its own private bathroom in warm room temperature, and always includes a shower and a toilet (Johka) while Hilla also includes a sauna and Jaúvre both sauna and bathtub. The design of the bathroom and relaxation area is a combination of local culture and history in the building material and details.

Rooms are 40 sq. meters and are available in Double bed configuration. Includes: Private warm bathroom with shower, bathtub, sauna; breakfast; free entry to sauna in the Riverside Lobby; Organic Arctic spa products Care of Gerd; doors with locks for your privacy; loan of snowsuit & boots; WiFi; changing and storage in suite; Non-smoking only. There are no electric sockets to charge your phone inside the cold rooms, so be sure to charge your phone before going to bed.

Meanwhile, for those guests who prefer to snuggle under a regular warm bed and duvet in between thrilling activities at Icehotel, they can opt to stay at their traditional year-round Hotel Rooms and Chalets.

Kaamos offers 44 Standard and Superior 28 sq. meter rooms with Double or 2 Twin beds; TV; WiFi; hairdryer; Private bathroom w shower; iron & board; tea & coffee; non-smoking; breakfast; loan of snowsuit & boots; entrance to Icehotel.

Arctic Chalet offers 14 traditional Scandinavian- styled 33 sq. meter two-bedroom apartments with natural materials and colors. Rustic, simple and comfortable, the Arctic Chalet is decorated in natural materials and organic shades of dark blue, white and brown. Includes: 2 bedrooms; three beds; lounge and kitchenette; bathroom w/ shower; TV; WiFi; hairdryer; iron & board; tea & coffee; non-smoking; breakfast; loan of snowsuit & boots; entrance to Icehotel.

Nordic Chalet is ideal for family or friends sharing and offers 14 calm and classic Scandinavian- styled 33 sq. meter two-bedroom apartments with white-washed wooden panel walls, birch wood details, heated tiled floors and shades of natural shades of grey, white and brown. Includes: 2 bedrooms; four beds; lounge and kitchenette; bathroom w/ shower; TV; WiFi; hairdryer; iron & board; tea & coffee; non-smoking; breakfast; loan of snowsuit & boots; entrance to Icehotel.

Regardless of what room/suite you end up staying in, make sure to walk around and check out all the suites in both hotels - they are open to the public for tours for a few hours each day.

Amenities and extras

Guests of the Ice Rooms and Art Suites will find their rooms will not feature any plumbing or changing facilities. To change your clothes, store your personal belongings, and use the shower and toilet, you will have to walk a few steps over to the Riverside, which is the warm lobby next to the hotel where you will find communal changing rooms, storage lockers, private cubicles, showers, toilets, and saunas for women and men. In the morning, hot lingonberry juice will be served for all guests staying in ice rooms and Deluxe 365 suites – then a sauna session and hot shower awaits before breakfast.

Other facilities on the Icehotel premises include their famous Icebar where you can sip on a delicious cocktail or have a glass of Champagne poured into glasses made entirely out of Torne River ice. Then, mingle late into the night with visitors from near and far and bust out your cool moves on the bar’s dance floor made of snow! Open year round.

The Icehotel Lounge, on the other hand, is located behind the Riverside lobby, and is open December to April, serving light snacks, hot drinks, cocktails and beers. Bring your book, a deck of cards or make some new friends between excursions or while your room is ready for check-in.

The dining room in Icehotel Restaurant is warm and traditional – an escape from the sub-zero degrees, but still letting the ice and surroundings take center stage. Ranked the top restaurant in Kiruna and top three in Swedish Lapland in White Guide (Scandinavia’s most comprehensible restaurant guide) you can choose from the a’la carte menu of local delicacies such as reindeer, moose, Arctic char, and bramble berries; or try their specially curated “Ice Menu'' with wine package where some selected dishes will be served on plates made of ice from Torne River.

And for an extra special culinary extravaganza to top off your Ice Room or Art Suite experience, consider booking an exclusive Chef’s Table with eight-course menu and wine package at Veranda. The hotel’s most exclusive food experience, you are invited to sit down at the huge wooden lark table with the rest of the guests. Two chefs from head chef Camila Bianco's brigade cook then serve an eight-course menu with accompanying alcoholic or non-alcohol beverages in front of you. While you enjoy the food, the chefs talk about the local ingredients used. (Requires a minimum of 4 booked persons to be served).

If you’re looking for a unique, winter wedding venue (with an admittedly Frozen vibe), then Icehotel’s gorgeous Ice Ceremony Hall is a wonderful option. This is an intimate venue, accommodating around 35-40 people, with walls and ceiling made of snow and the altar details and benches made of pristine natural ice. It is truly a fantastic venue for those considering to take their vows or conduct a solemn blessing ceremony.

Furthermore, if you want to venture out of the hotel’s premises to sample the local Jukkasjärvi and rural Laplandic fare and community, there is also a popular local restaurant/museum called Old Homestead which is just a ten minute walk away (reservations can be made through Icehotel).

As a final note, remember that because Sweden has largely done away with cash as a mode of payment, you will find no cash points/ATMs anywhere on the hotel premises or in the town proper; therefore, you will have to pay for all bookings and purchases via credit and debit cards as well as digital payment methods.

What do guests say?

A destination hotel like no other, tourists to Jukkasjärvi, Sweden almost always travel there precisely to stay in one of Icehotel’s famed Ice Rooms or Art Suites. Guests unanimously praise it as being “magical” and a definite once-in-a-lifetime bucket list experience. And if travelers went into the Icehotel simply to experience a night sleeping on ice, most of them leave having engaged in a variety of Lapland/Sami adventures as well such as dog sledding, ice fishing, ski-mobiling, reindeer feeding, and Northern Lights/aurora borealis viewing if you’re lucky to visit when the evening is clear and cloudless.

Is Icehotel worth the special trip? Let one fan sum up the Icehotel experience in her own words, “Sleeping at the Ice Hotel truly is an amazing experience. Prepare for the cold, venture out and do as many of their excursions as you can, appreciate the artistry and you will have fantastic memories to cherish for the rest of your life!”

New Review Added: Icehotel

by Mel Nov 5, 2021

The world's first ice hotel, Icehotel is a hotel rebuilt each year with snow and ice in the village of Jukkasjärvi, in northern Sweden. Located in the midst of the Arctic Circle, it is also known to be the biggest hotel of ice and snow in the world and has been listed as one of the Seven Wonders of Sweden.

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