Ice Hotel, Ice hotel in Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, Canada.
The Ice Hotel in Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier is rebuilt each December from about 30,000 tons of snow and 500 tons of ice, with walls up to 1.2 m thick. Its rooms sit under arches about 5 m high, and larger halls, a chapel, a bar and a grand ice slide vary from season to season. The entrance is a pointed arch of stacked ice blocks with dark wooden doors; inside, a corridor of nested arches leads to chambers such as one with a red-covered bed on clear ice blocks and a carved ice headboard.
The hotel opened in 2001 as North America's first facility built entirely from frozen water. Its opening marked a new type of seasonal accommodation in the region.
The hotel has a chapel where weddings are held; by the end of the 2016 season more than 200 had taken place there, and the Irish Independent listed it among "10 dream wedding locations". The ice bar serves cocktails in glasses made of ice, and guided tours run daily in French and English.
The Ice Hotel is rebuilt each December and open from early January until it is dismantled in April. Only the bathrooms, in a separate insulated building, are heated; guests sleep in a sleeping bag, an insulating sheet and a pillow provided on arrival. Guided tours run daily in French and English, and the site also has indoor heated washrooms and outdoor hot tubs.
The hotel is rebuilt each December on metal frames that are removed once the snow hardens, using 30,000 tons of snow and 500 tons of ice. It makes its own snow with a special mixture that adjusts humidity, and walls reach up to 1.2 m thick.
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