The Vacation Day

Ever heard of the Ice Hotel in Sweden? Well, there’s an Ice Hotel in Canada too. It is modeled after the more famous Swedish original. So if you are tired of the same vacation trips you will like this rather different and adventuresome vacation

Not only is this hotel popular but it is also increasingly popular as a tourist attraction. Some people come just to see what the noise is all about. Inside the Ice Hotel, you will be sleeping in a structure made from the purest of materials… ice and snow. Each year the hotel changes its unique and different look as talented artists create intriguing designs, ice sculptures and paintings. The Ice Hotel remains open from January to April 2006. It is the venue for major corporate activities, parties, and even weddings. The wedding chapel seems like fairyland and is ideal for an unusual and different wedding. Guided tours in both French and English are available every alternate half hour. The tour will tell you interesting facts and information about the Ice Hotel and lasts for about 30 minutes. After you finish, you can run around the Hotel until 8PM, then it is strictly overnight guests only.

The Ice Hotel is made using ice and snow has some ceilings as high as 18 feet high and walls covered with original artwork. It spans roughly 30,000 square feet and takes five weeks to build. 12,000 tons of snow, and 400 tons of ice are used to build this structure. It houses two art galleries, an area for relaxation with hot tubs and saunas, and also the famous ABSOLUT Ice Bar. At the Ice Bar, you get to drink out of glasses made of ice. The Ice Hotel is a popular tourist attraction for both day visitors and overnight guests. Reservations have to be made at least a year in advance for overnight visits, special events and public tours.

The temperature outside the hotel can be minus 18 degrees Fahrenheit but inside, it stays at 25 degrees. Construction starts around the middle of December and reservations are taken through the first week of April. That is subject to Nature keeping the climate just right.

At the Ice Hotel you can indulge in both indoor and outdoor activities including riding snowmobiles, ice fishing, dog sledding, cross-country skiing, and skating. Indoors, the hotel offers a movie theater, bar, indoor skating rink, spa, Jacuzzis, two art galleries, and a wedding chapel. For those of us that are warm blooded and freeze easily, they do have regular toilet facilities that are warm!

It’s interesting to know how the Ice Hotel is built. Stainless steel molds are set up and then wooden walls are erected at certain distances between these molds. Snow is then blown between the molds and the wooden walls till they are completely covered. Once the snow has frozen into place, the metal frames are removed. Ice blocks are used for furniture, sculptures, the bar counter and columns. The walls are approximately four feet thick at the base and two feet thick at the ceiling. It takes at least 20 workers to actually make the hotel and another 10 – 15 to make all the final changes involving the statutes and ice sculptures. There will then be polishing and carving and making sure, they are complete and intact when guests begin to arrive.

Ice beds are laid with animal skins and special sleeping bags. Thinking of sleeping in subzero temperatures on an ice bed with just sleeping bags and animal skins seems like a nightmare. Some would probably be hiding in the heated bathroom facilities the whole time!

Recently there has been an addition called the N’ice Club and it features special programming, dance nights, and comedy shows.

Where is the Ice Hotel located and how do you reach it? It is built 20 minutes west of Quebec City in Duchesnay. You’ll have to take Highway 40 west to exit 295 at Ste-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, and then take 367 going north until you see the hotel.

For more information or to make reservations call toll-free 1-877-505-4522. You can even receive more information by going to their website at:
www.icehotel-canada.com/en/index.en.php.