Four hotels built from snow and ice, and taken back by the spring.
Ice Hotels — 4
Four hotels in this section are built from snow and ice, and none of them lasts a full year. Two are rebuilt to a new design every winter, and all four hold their rooms a few degrees below zero whatever the weather does outside. Sleeping arrangements are shared with a heated building next door, where the showers, the lockers and the breakfast are.
11
Jukkasjarvi, Sweden
Icehotel
Icehotel, Jukkasjarvi — cut from the Torne River and rebuilt to a new design each winter.
A · The Place
Icehotel stands at Jukkasjarvi, a village on the Torne River in Swedish Lapland, some two hundred kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. Kiruna is the nearest town, seventeen kilometres away. The river supplies the ice, and the land around is flat forest and frozen water. In winter the daylight is short and blue; in summer it barely ends, and a part of the hotel stays open through those months.
ASeasonCold rooms run from December to spring; a chilled section opens year round.
AGetting thereFly to Kiruna, then about twenty minutes by road to the village.
B · The Building
The hotel has been built every winter since 1989, from ice cut out of the Torne River and from snice, a mixture of snow and ice sprayed over steel frames. It is designed again each year, and the art suites are carved by different artists, so neither the plan nor the rooms repeat. A separate year-round section is held below freezing by solar-powered cooling right through the Lapland summer.
BThe FabricRiver ice, snice sprayed onto steel frames, reindeer hides over the beds.
C · The Night
In the cold rooms the bed is a block of ice with a mattress, reindeer hides and a sleeping bag rated for the temperature, which stays near minus five whatever the weather does outside. There are no doors, only curtains. Guests keep their luggage in a warm building, shower there in the morning, and can move into a heated room if the night turns out to be longer than expected. Staff run through the routine before anyone goes in.
CAsk at check-inAsk where luggage is stored and which building holds the warm showers.
Last read: April 2026
12
Quebec City, Canada
Hotel de Glace
Hotel de Glace, Quebec — snow blown onto moulds for the vaults, ice cut for the columns.
A · The Place
Hotel de Glace is built each winter near Quebec City, at Valcartier, about half an hour from the old town. The site sits in forest beside a holiday village, and the ground around it stays under snow for months. The city itself, with its walls and the river below them, is close enough for an afternoon. Everything arranged outdoors here works on the assumption that the ground remains frozen.
ASeasonThe building stands from early January until it melts in March.
AGetting thereAbout thirty minutes by road north-west of Quebec City.
B · The Building
It has been rebuilt every year since 2001, and it is the only ice hotel of its kind in North America. Snow is blown onto moulds to form the vaulted walls, and ice blocks are cut for columns, furniture and sculpture. Each year brings a new plan and a new theme, so returning guests do not find the building they left. Construction takes several weeks, and the whole thing melts in spring.
BThe FabricSnow blown onto moulds for the vaults, cut ice for columns and beds.
C · The Night
Guests sleep in sleeping bags on ice beds with insulating pads, at a temperature that holds a few degrees below zero. Some rooms have a fireplace, which changes the look of the room more than its temperature. Bathrooms, showers and lockers are in a heated pavilion next door, and outdoor spas and saunas are used before bed. Most people book one night here and spend the rest in a warm room.
CAsk at check-inAsk which locker you get and when the heated pavilion is staffed.
Last read: April 2026
13
Kirkenes, Norway
Kirkenes Snowhotel
Kirkenes Snowhotel — rebuilt from snow and ice each winter beside the fjord.
A · The Place
Kirkenes sits in the far north-east of Norway, close to the Russian border and near the Barents Sea. The Snowhotel is a few kilometres outside the town, on the shore of a fjord, and reindeer and huskies are kept on the same ground. Winter here is dark for weeks at a time, which is a large part of why people come; the northern lights are the other reason the place exists at this latitude.
ASeasonSnow rooms run from December to April; the cabins stay open year round.
AGetting thereFly to Kirkenes, then a short transfer along the fjord road.
B · The Building
The snow hotel has been built each winter since 2006, raised again from December onwards, with snow and ice worked into corridors and rooms. Ice sculptures line the passages and every room is carved differently. Alongside it stand wooden Gamme cabins, which are heated and used through the whole year, so the site keeps working in summer as well as in the frozen months when the hotel itself exists.
BThe FabricPacked snow walls, carved ice, reindeer hides, and timber in the Gamme cabins.
C · The Night
In the snow rooms the temperature holds at about minus four, and guests sleep in expedition sleeping bags on beds of ice covered with hides. There are no doors and no plumbing in the rooms; washrooms, showers and a sauna are in the service building a short walk away. A hot drink before bed is part of the routine. The restaurant serves king crab, caught locally, through the season.
CAsk at check-inAsk about the sauna time and where the sleeping bags are collected.
Last read: May 2026
14
Rovaniemi, Finland
Arctic SnowHotel
Arctic SnowHotel, Rovaniemi — snow rooms beside a lake, with heated cabins alongside.
A · The Place
Arctic SnowHotel is at Lehtojarvi, about twenty-five kilometres from Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland, beside a lake and surrounded by forest. Rovaniemi stands on the Arctic Circle and is the main way into the region. Away from the town the sky is dark enough for the aurora on clear nights. The site is quiet, and walking through snow between the buildings is part of the arrangement rather than an inconvenience.
ASeasonThe season runs from about 15 December to 31 March.
AGetting thereTwenty-five kilometres from Rovaniemi; transfers run from the town and airport.
B · The Building
The snow hotel is built for the winter season, roughly from the middle of December to the end of March, and it melts afterwards. Corridors and rooms are shaped from packed snow, and ice is used for sculpture, for the bar and for parts of the furniture. Glass igloos and log cabins stand nearby and are heated. The sauna and the ice restaurant are within a short walk of the snow rooms.
BThe FabricPacked snow walls, ice furniture, hides on the beds, timber in the cabins.
C · The Night
Snow rooms hold a steady temperature just below zero whatever the weather does, and guests sleep in thermal sleeping bags on hide-covered beds. Showers, toilets and lockers are in the heated service building, which stays open through the night. Many guests take a sauna before going to the snow room, because it is easier to fall asleep warm. Breakfast is served indoors in the morning, in the warm building.
CAsk at check-inAsk about sauna times and which locker holds your luggage overnight.
Last read: April 2026
Notes in the margin are practical, not critical. Everything here comes from published material and is re-read by hand; the month of the last reading sits at the end of each entry. Tell us when something has moved on.
