Take a look at the first images of the 30th Icehotel as it opens to brave guests in Swedish Lapland for another season of frozen hospitality
The first pictures have been released as the original Icehotel opens for the winter season with spectacular new designs and features to celebrate its impressive 30th anniversary.
A stay to remember, highlights for 2019 include a West End theatre production, an ice-carved kaleidoscope, a knitted universe, a frozen feline lair, a bed surrounded by bones and an icy amusement park; all waiting to be discovered.
The iconic Icehotel in Swedish Lapland opened its doors over the weekend ready for another winter season, celebrating its 30th anniversary with new layouts, suite designs, activities and features including a special ice-carved observation deck built above the hotel.
Completely made out of natural ice from Torne River, It has been 30 years since Icehotel founder Yngve Bergqvist started a journey that would lead to the world’s first hotel made entirely out of winter elements. During this time over one million guest from all continents of the world have visited to experience this incredible work of art.
The newest incarnation of the hotel is now open until the ice melts in the spring and the water returns to the Thorne river.
Fascinating facts from this year’s icy escapade include:
• The amount of ice used to create the hotel equals 10 seconds of water flow from the Torne River.
• The chandeliers contain 1,000 ice crystals, each sculpted by hand.
• The building is created from 30,000 cubic meters of snice, the equivalent of 110 million ice creams.
• The hotel uses 1,000 blocks of ice, each weighing an impressive 2.5 tonnes
• The construction will see 30,000 litres of water used, the equivalent of over 700 million snowballs.
33 artists from 16 countries have spent an intense couple of weeks in the village of Jukkasjärvi, creating the hotel (made entirely out of ice and snow from the free-flowing Torne River) under the guidance of the hotel’s new Creative Director Luca Roncoroni.
To mark the 30th anniversary, the hotel has also built a special ice-carved observation deck, offering views of the surrounding frozen landscape across the Torne River from which the ice is harvested. Plus, the hotel has also built a new sculpture at the enterence to the winter hotel; a four-metre tall tower that guests can climb.
There’s even something for the gourmand; the Icehotel has even unveiled a fresh new restaurant team this season, led by the Food and Beverage Manager Henrik Lööv alongide talented chefs Samuel Jahn and Sebastian Olsson.
Take a seat to enjoy natural ingredients, local cooking methods and traditional Swedish flavours characterised by salt, sweet and smoke.
Yngve Bergqvist created one of Sweden’s most compelling reasons for traveling, the Icehotel, located in a place which had previously been a blank spot on the map.
He told The Wordrobe: “it has been a fantastic journey with a lot of pride and joy, and the reason for this is that we have had such great employees throughout the years who have really made an effort to give guests, coming from all around the world, life enriching moments during their stay.”
Make it happen
A three-night trip is priced from £1,061pp on a B&B basis including return flights. Find out more and make a booking here.
