Based 200 km north of the Arctic Circle in Sweden, this year the original ice hotel is offering guests the chance to design their own hotel suites built out of ice which can be tailor-made to suit the wishes and tastes of individual clients. Like a haute couture of travel experience, ICEHOTEL is planning to create an opportunity which is totally unique for winter 2014/2015.
An artistic endeavor just as much as a feat of construction, the team will work directly with clients to create whatever their imagination desires, and the result will be your own personal ICEHOTEL suite for the winter season, from December 2014 until April 2015, available at your convenience for the entire period.
Photographer: Paulina Holmgren
Artist/s: Dorjsuren Lkhagvadorj & Bazarsad Bayarsaikhan
Suite: Dragon Residence
The hotel itself is a feat of engineering: every year it rises from the ground in Jukkasjärvi, a small village in Northern Sweden built entirely 1,000 tonnes of Torne River ice (which has brilliant, unpolluted purity and clarity) and 30,000 tons of ‘snice’, a mixture of snow and ice that strengthens the structure.
Creative Director Arne Bergh says he is looking forward to seeing what challenges clients are going to come up with; an artist himself he says he finds one of the most extraordinary things about the idea is that your room is only in existence for a limited period of time: ‘It comes from the river and it goes back to the river’. He also thinks the hotel would suit someone looking to do something for a special occasion because of the personal nature of the creation – and it would certainly be a wonderful surprise for someone who enjoys nature, and has always wanted to explore the Arctic, one of Europe’s last wildernesses.
Photographer: Christopher Hauser
Artist/s: Luc Voisin, Mathieu Brison
Suite: Up There
Those who decide to commission a suite will have meetings with the hotel’s expert designers and artists, to see how best to realise their ideas and they can be as involved or not as they like with the construction. Once the suite has melted in April 2015, clients will be given a bottle containing some of the meltwater, along with the sketches and blueprints for the design, and photographs of the suite.
The price tag is SEK1 485 000 (US$ 231 000), making it one of the most expensive hotel rooms in the world. Part of the proceeds will be donated to environmental initiatives in the Baltic Sea, where the river Torne runs into the ocean. In addition, the package includes a face-to-face consultation in the home town of the client, as well as a complimentary stay at ICEHOTEL and chance to participate in the creation of the suite, which can take up to two weeks.
Find out more at: www.icehotel.com or email arne@icehotel.com.
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