This section covers four addresses built from snow and ice. Structures of this kind stand for a single winter and are raised again from the ground the following year, so their layout, their rooms and their carvings are new each season. Exact opening dates depend on the cold and are set by each operator.
SnowCastle of Kemi stands beside the harbour of Kemi, on the northern shore of the Bay of Bothnia in Finnish Lapland. The structure is built from snow and ice, and it lasts one winter only. When the walls melt in spring, a new castle is raised the following winter to a fresh layout. The operator also runs accommodation on the same site that stays open beyond the cold months.
Rooms inside the snow structure are cut from packed snow, with ice furniture and beds dressed for cold sleeping. A restaurant and a chapel are built from snow as well, and their shape changes from one winter to the next. The neighbouring Seaside GlassVilla accommodation is heated and built from conventional materials, so the two kinds of night are not the same thing.
Write ahead about the dates of the winter season, since the opening and closing days move with the weather and are set each year. It is also worth asking what bedding is provided in the snow rooms, whether a heated room is available on the same site, and where luggage is kept overnight.
Category — Ice hotel
Location — Kemi, Finland
Saariselkä · Finland · Ice Hotels
Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort
Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort lies in forest near Saariselkä, in the far north of Finland. Two very different kinds of shelter stand on the same ground, and the difference matters. Snow igloos are cut from snow and last a single winter, then are built again the next year. Glass igloos are heated buildings with glazed roofs, and they are not made of snow or ice at all.
The resort ground also holds log accommodation, a smoke sauna and restaurants, all built from timber and open outside the cold months. Paths between the shelters are cleared through the forest. Published material describes cold-weather sleeping bags in the snow igloos and ordinary beds in the heated buildings, which is the plainest way to tell the two apart.
Ask in writing which kind of shelter a booking refers to, since the words used for them are close. The dates of the winter season are set by the resort each year and are worth confirming, along with what is provided for a night in a snow igloo.
Category — Ice hotel
Location — Saariselkä, Finland
Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier · Canada · Ice Hotels
Hôtel de Glace
Hôtel de Glace is built at Village Vacances Valcartier in Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, north of Québec City. The whole building is made of snow and ice, it stands for one winter, and it is taken down when it melts. A new one is raised the following winter on the same ground, so the plan, the carvings and the number of rooms differ from year to year.
Inside there are ice-carved rooms and suites, a chapel and a hall with ice seating. The surrounding site of the operator works through all twelve months and holds heated accommodation, a water park and restaurants built from conventional materials. Sleeping in the ice building is described in published material as cold-weather sleeping on an ice base.
Confirm the dates of the winter season directly, as the opening depends on the cold and shifts each year. It is also sensible to ask which parts of the ice building can be visited by day, and what heated accommodation stands nearby on the same ground.
Tromsø Ice Domes are raised in Tamokdalen, a valley inland from Tromsø in northern Norway. The domes are built from snow and ice, they last the winter, and the site is cleared when they melt. Each winter the operator builds again from the ground up, so the internal layout and the carvings are new. The ground is separate from the town and is reached by road through the valley.
The domes hold sleeping rooms, a hall and a bar cut from ice, along with a heated service building on the same ground where guests change and store belongings. Published material describes cold-weather sleeping bags on ice beds, and a heated tent used for meals. There is no permanent structure of stone or timber inside the domes themselves.
Access depends on the weather in the valley, and the operator is the right source on whether the road is open on a given day. Ask about the dates of the winter season, what warm clothing is lent on site, and how arrival is arranged from town.
Category — Ice hotel
Location — Tamokdalen, Norway
Zunoas is an independent reference and is not connected to any hotel named here. Entries are written from published sources, and those sources change. Structures of snow and ice work in the winter season only and are rebuilt every year, so nothing described here survives from one season to the next. Confirm dates and conditions with the hotel.
