This ain’t your typical igloo. Sweden’s 55-room “Ice Hotel” in the tiny village of Jukkasjärvi is a pop-up palace that has been around for 26 years. Elle Decor reports its cool history: Because it is hand carved each year out of 4,000 tons of ice and snow harvested from the nearby River Torn — this year in just two months — it sports a unique design yearly.
If you are guessing a stay will cost you lots of cold, hard cash, you are getting warm. Prices range from price $300 and $1,000 per night for a deluxe suite with a heated bathroom and sauna. While room temps dip below zero degrees and walls and bed frames are made of ice, let your fears melt away; the rooms offer traditional mattresses and expedition-style sleeping bags along with loaner outerwear to let guests cozily chill.
Nineteen rooms are elaborate suites created by various artists (unfortunately not Ice Cube or Vanilla Ice), each with a different theme.
Noteworthy examples include:
-a suite inspired by the 1920 cult horror film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, designed by Petros Dermatas and Ellie Souti
– an almost 10-foot-tall African elephant in “The Elephant Room” designed by Anna Sofia Maag
– an elaborate peacock in Tjåsa Gusfors and David Andrén’s “Show Me What You Got” suite