What It’s Like To Stay In Sweden’s Frozen ‘Ice Hotel’

“Experiencing the Magic of Sweden’s Iconic Ice Hotel”

The Ice Man Sleeps

Clad in nothing but boots and a base layer, with a heavy-duty sleeping bag draped over my shoulder, I pushed open a reindeer pelt door adorned with an antler handle, marked “Night Entrance,” and embarked on a silent journey through Sweden’s legendary Ice Hotel to my “Art Suite.” The tranquility that enveloped me was unlike any other, as the snow-covered walls seemed to absorb every sound, leaving only the faint crunch of my boots and the rhythm of my breath. It felt as though I had stepped into a surreal, frozen landscape—akin to the icy expanses of The Empire Strikes Back or the mystical “Wall” from Game of Thrones.

The Reborning Beauty

This year marks the 35th anniversary of Sweden’s iconic Ice Hotel, a masterpiece that is reborn each winter and vanishes with the spring thaw. As the ice of the adjacent River Torne reaches its thickest point, colossal slabs of perfectly clear, blue-tinted ice—reminiscent of something straight from a fantasy film or an extravagant cocktail—are carefully harvested. These blocks are stored in a massive freezer until the following winter, when the hotel is painstakingly reconstructed. The hotel even has its own unique building code, with one key stipulation: the walls must be thicker than the roof, ensuring it melts safely and gracefully without collapsing. This breathtaking fusion of engineering precision and artistic vision is nothing short of a marvel, transporting visitors into a dreamlike world of frozen beauty.