ICEHOTEL 2016
Every year, when Torne River turns to ice, a new ICEHOTEL is created in the small village of Jukkasjärvi in the north of Sweden.
200 kilometer north of the Arctic Circle, the nature is untouched with about 6000 lakes and six grand rivers. One of the rivers is the Torne River, that every year supply ICEHOTEL with ice enough ice to build an entire hotel. The truth is that ten seconds water flow in Torne River is equivalent of 4000 tons of ice, ice enough to build four ice hotels.
ICEHOTEL is alive all year round, during the summer the accommodation is in cabins instead of rooms made of ice and snow, and it is the combination of stillness and adventure that brings the guests to Jukkasjärvi. Mountainbiking, river rafting and fishing are some of the activities you can do while the sun gazes, day and night. When the fall becomes winter an unique ICEHOTEL opens and activities such as skiing, husky sledding, northern light tours and ice sculpting are on the agenda as well as sleeping in the unique hotel and art project totally made of ice and snow – the ICEHOTEL.
When arriving to Jukkasjärvi and ICEHOTEL, guests are checked in at a separate desk in a building adjacent to ICEHOTEL. This building is exclusive for guests staying in the cold accommodation and works as a convenience hub – there is no storage or plumbing inside ICEHOTEL except for in the deluxe suites, so all these facilities are housed in here. There is also a sauna and a relaxation area with a roaring and hot lingonberry juice on tap. This area is staffed and outer clothing and shows the guests around the building. An ICEHOTEL guide holds a ”survival course” in the evening, for guests staying the night in the hotel. The introduction includes the guide informing guests on how to dress appropriately and how to make the bed with the Arctic sleeping bags. The sleeping bags are made for temperatures as low as -25° C (-13° F), but the temperature inside the hotel never drops below -5° C (23° F) so they are more than sufficient to keep guests warm. There are no doors to the art suites, snow and ice rooms, so in the morning, a member of staff draws the curtain that covers the doorway and wakes the guests up with hot lingonberry juice in bed. When checking out or moving into warm accommodation, guests are given a diploma stating the date and temperature inside and outside ICEHOTEL on the night that they stayed there.
ICEHOTEL is built by pure ice and snow, a generous loan from Mother Nature. When it melts in the spring, our loan is returned to the Torne River and every part of ICEHOTEL is gone. Since 2008, the company has implemented energy- saving schemes across the hotel facilities in colla- boration with energy partner Gävle Energi, including electricity, heating and water usage by staff and guests. ICEHOTEL monitors its energy consumption and environmental impact carefully and strive to encourage sub-suppliers to meet the same environ- mental standards in the products and services that ICEHOTEL uses.
