Icehotel sits in Jukkasjarvi in Swedish Lapland, 200 km north of the Arctic Circle, the original hotel built each winter from ice harvested from the frozen Torne River, and running since 1989. Accommodation comes in cold and warm forms, from ice rooms and hand-carved art suites in the winter build to the year-round, solar-cooled art suites and deluxe suites of Icehotel 365, alongside warm Arctic cabins and Kaamos hotel rooms, with the resort suggesting a night in the cold followed by nights in the warm.
Dining runs from the warm Icehotel Restaurant, working with reindeer, arctic char and cloudberries, to the Ice Menu served on plates of Torne River ice, the chef’s-table Veranda built on the eight Sami seasons, and the Icebar with drinks in glasses of ice. Wellness centres on a wood-fired sauna and a sauna ritual.
Both a hotel and an ever-changing ice-art exhibition, it offers northern-lights safaris, dog sledding, snowmobiling and ice-sculpting in winter and river and midnight-sun experiences in summer. It suits bucket-list Arctic travellers, couples and families who want to sleep in a room of ice and chase the aurora.