mammoth pastures, icy chandeliers and snow-carved balloons
Icehotel 32 has opened for the winter and combines works by 27 artists and more than 1,300 blocks of ice harvested from the Torne River.
Located 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden, the icy hotel suites are open for overnight stays for the next five months, until the ice melts and flows back into the river.
More than 600 tons of ice and more than 25,000 cubic meters – or 10 Olympic-sized swimming pools – of snow and ice mix were used to create this year’s hotel.
Mother Nature was good for the creative teams during the past year, where the region noted record low temperatures of minus 38ÂșC – perfect conditions for ice artists and designers.
Icehotel 32 is packed with stunning art suites and sculptures made entirely of ice and snow, and is the result of the work of more than 70 people including artists, production teams, builders and lighting designers.
An additional 150 employees will ensure that the rooms, corridors and corridors remain in perfect condition throughout the season, and that they are on hand to welcome guests checking in for stays.
“After 32 years, still when I enter this type of room with the columns and the light, I’m speechless,” said Luca Roncoroni, Icehotel’s creative director, as he previewed the hotel on Instagram.
“The best reward is to see people’s smiles and wonder as we open the doors.”
The hotel has 12 seasonal art suites and 24 ice rooms available all year round. There is also a spa, sauna below zero, ice bar, cinema and a grand ceremony hall where weddings are held all winter.
The newly designed art suites have never been created before and will not exist again when spring comes and the ice returns to its origins.
A chandelier of 600 kilos and a sauna below zero
Guests checking in at Icehotel 32 will sleep in frozen beds on top of reindeer skins, in suites where temperatures drop well below freezing.
While part of the hotel is open all year round, thanks to a solar-powered cooling system, the big revelation takes place every December when the pop-up winter hotel comes to life in a frosty incarnation.
This year, the rooms have been designed by international artists from 19 different countries, giving the hotel a more international atmosphere than last year, when the suites were only designed by artists from Sweden due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
In keeping with tradition, a dazzling icicle-filled chandelier welcomes guests in the lobby. This year’s sparkling design was created from more than 200 handmade ice crystals and weighs more than 600 kilos.
Lie down between the mammoth baits or sleep with the chickens
Outstanding seasonal suites this year include the Great Gatsby Art Deco style, another room filled with snow-roasted chickens and the nature-run Ginnungagap, which has snow cut in frozen rivers, lakes and mountains.
There is also a family bed upstairs between a couple of huge pastures shaped by snow inside Sacred Giant suite, designed by four Swedish artists.
Guests sleeping on Dickensian Street suite by father-daughter duo Johnathan and Marnie Green from the UK will be able to travel back in time with a visit to London’s old alleys, complete with lanterns, a cheese shop and a traditional inn, all carved in snow.
Weddings take place in the hotel’s ceremonial hall, which this year has a fantastic balloon-themed design by artists Marjolein Vonk and Maurizio Perron. Named On Air, the picturesque hall is designed to evoke joy and happiness with icy “floating” balloons, glass-like pillars and ice block benches.
The impressive results took the production teams more than six weeks of sculpting, shaving and chiseling snow and ice to try to replicate each artist’s vision. The groundwork did not begin until March 2021, when the teams harvested thousands of kilograms of ice from the river, using special machines to extract each of the blocks.
For anyone who wants to book a stay at the Icehotel, we recommend that you only spend one night on ice, usually at the beginning or end of your trip. The rest of the time there are cozy hotel rooms or cottages in Scandinavian style to sleep in.
Ice housing starts from 6,295 Swedish kronor (691 USD) per night for two people including breakfast; icehotel.com
Updated: December 14, 2021, 05:55