Ice hotel
An ice hotel is a hotel that will be built in the fall of snow and ice and is used during the winter as a tourist attraction. Locations can be found in Scandinavia (Finland, Sweden, Norway) and North America (Alaska, Canada) and Austria.
The following article deals with an example of the oldest plant in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, approximately 200 km north of the Arctic Circle.
History
To make the place more interesting for tourists, was established in 1989 by an exhibition of ice sculptures by Japanese artists to life through the initiative of the local tourism association. 1990 was shown in a cylindrical igloo called Arctic Hall on the ice of the Torne älv an art exhibition of Jannot Derid. Some guests stayed then spontaneously in the hall - with warm sleeping bags on reindeer skins. 1991 buildings were built of snow and ice as a hotel for the first time. The facility included a foyer, a bar and bedrooms. It has been steadily increasing over the years and expanded by a church and a cinema. In 2003, the Ice Hotel has been extended to a ice theater: The replica of the Globe Theatre classic plays are listed.
The Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi, in addition to ice bar and lobby around 60 rooms, where 140 people can stay. For the construction of 30,000 tons of snow and 4,000 tons of ice will be clear. Each season booked 14,000 nights - additional 45,000 days guests visit the facility.
Construction
Each year begins in late October, the construction of the hotel. With wheel loaders and snow cannons Snow is applied to steel formwork, which can be removed after two days. With this construction, a plurality of adjacent tunnel-like ribbed vault to be built. The largest is 5 meters high and 6 meters wide, it is additionally supported by columns of Eisquadern. In it, the entrance hall and the bar is housed. Other smaller tunnels are built for the bedrooms and corridors. The spatial boundaries within the tunnel will be substantiated with snow blocks, the windows are made of clear Eisquadern.
All interiors are decorated with illuminated sculptures and objects made of ice. This is each won in spring from the Tornefluss. The clear water, taken together with the strong current especially clear ice, which is cut by tractors with special saws from the river. The thus obtained 4,000 tons of ice (in 2 -ton blocks ) are stored over the summer in a cold store. The building is called Icehotel Art Center and next to the ice storage also includes an exhibition with some sculptures from ice hotel last season.
Night
The hotel can be stayed from mid-December to mid-April. The internal temperature is about -5 ° C, with ambient temperatures around -30 ° C. Guests usually spend only one night in the Ice Hotel, and the remaining nights in nearby cabins. The evening is spent at the bar vodka from ice glasses. Against the cold protect quilted snowmobile overalls. You will sleep in sleeping bags on reindeer skins that are not on blocks of ice. This is often incorrectly assumed, but the hotel offers its guests a normal mattress on. During the day, the rooms at the Ice Hotel open to all visitors, but there are from the 2013/14 season the opportunity to book private suites. These can now be completed and cost increases accordingly.
Ice Hotel
The concept of the Ice Hotel was taken over for other hotels.
- Alpeniglu village Hochbrixen, Brixen im Thale (Tyrol, Austria )
- Aurora Ice Cold Hotel (Alaska, USA)
- Ice Hotel in Lillehammer (Norway )
- Ice Hotel Quebec City (Canada)
- Ice Camp ( Austria, Kitzsteinhorn )
- Iglu -Dorf ( Switzerland, Germany, Andorra )
- Igloo Village Kakslauttanen (Finland )
- Hotel of Ice Balea Lac (Romania )
- Snow Castle of Kemi ( Finland)
- Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel, Alta ( Norway)
- Kirkenes Snow Hotel (Norway )