martinzoo

I’m so excited by this Sunday’s fantasy travel! This morning I went to Jukkasjarvi, Sweden to check out their Ice Hotel! It is so sweet! It is an unbelievable palace with guest rooms, a cinema, a 45 foot vodka bar (which I have no interest in, but they love it), a church, and a reception hall with ice chandeliers lit by fiber optics. It has been built every November since 1990 out of 4000 tons of densely packed snow and ice. The hotel disappears each Spring when it melts into the River Torne. Honestly, I hate to be cold, but this would be something I would HAVE to see and experience!

This is one of the deluxe suites

This is their Ice Church, where many couples come from all over the world to get married! Brrrrr!

Here is the story of the creation of the Ice Hotel, it’s pretty cool.

It started off as a summer destination. The company Jukkas (present day ICEHOTEL) has been a tourist operator in the region since the 1970s. For many years the company focus was on the summer season and the magnificent outdoor experiences offered by the land of the midnight sun. During the dark winter the river was frozen and the people of the small village of Jukkasjärvi went into hibernation. By the end of the 1980s it was decided to turn things around. Instead of viewing the dark and cold winter as a disadvantage, the unique elements of the arctic were to be regarded an asset. Inspired by the work of visiting Japanese ice artists, in 1990 the French artist Jannot Derit was invited to have the opening of his exhibition in a specially built igloo on the frozen Torne River. The 60 square metre building named Artic Hall attracted many curious visitors to the area. One night a group of foreign guests, equipped with reindeer hides and sleeping bags, decided it would be a good idea to use the cylindrical shaped igloo as accommodation. The following morning the brave group raved about the unique sensation of sleeping in an igloo. Hence, the concept of ICEHOTEL was born.

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Prices for a double deluxe room run about $160. (after krona conversion) per person, and the airfare runs $737. each. Just for fun, I thought I’d check to see what first class tickets cost. I’ve never checked that before….. whew!! … $5116. EACH! Guess we’ll never get to do that…