ICEHOTEL is the world’s first snow and ice hotel, open to visitor since 1989. It is restored every year and according to CNN, for the 2021-2022 winter season it has unveiled a brand new suite designed by Prince Carl Philip Bernadotte, or Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, and his business partner Oscar Kylberg. Philip Bernadotte is the son of Sweden’s King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia. In 2012, he founded design agency Bernadotte & Kylberg with his friend, designer Kylberg.
ICEHOTEL is located in the village Jukkasjärvi 200km from the Arctic Circle. When Jukkasjärvi is dyed white, artists from all over the world come to transform this village into a snow art exhibition and surround the hotel with art. Every year more than 40 artists are part of this exhibition, working hard for weeks so you can see their works of art.
Bernadotte and Kylberg told CNN that they wanted to create a moment that captured the mood of the Midsummer celebration of the summer solstice, which is one of the most important holidays in Sweden. “For us Swedes, midsummer, and especially midsummer’s night, is filled with myth and legend,” the business partners said in a statement.
Ice plays a huge part in our cultural upbringing and has a bearing on who we are as Nordic people as Scandinavians.
Bernadotte & Kylberg
Within the Cold Room category there are 4 types of rooms:
- Art Suite 365 : Each of these suites has a different theme and has been sculpted by artists from around the world using different techniques. In the Suite the temperature is -5ºC to -8ºC. There is a comfortable bed, reindeer skins and a sleeping bag.
- Art Suite: Like the previous one, these suites are also unique and designed by artists from around the world. With a temperature of -5ºC to -8ºC, you will sleep in a thermal sleeping bag. This type of Suite contains curtains for privacy.
- Deluxe Suite 365: The largest suite in the hotel contains a relaxation area with chairs, tables and ice glasses. This suite is new this year thanks to its solar powered design. It’s the only room with its own bathroom. And it also has a lock so you have privacy.
- Ice Room: The hotel’s standard room features ice decor and a bed made of ice. You will live a unique experience, the mattress has a wooden base. And the room has curtains for privacy.
If you want to see this wonderful hotel but don’t want to stay in it, don’t worry. Guided tours are conducted daily and have a duration of 30 minutes where they will explain the history of the hotel. Visitors can see the common areas and much more.
The hotel has 2 restaurants, a lounge and the restaurants, which have a warm atmosphere so you can dine and taste the typical Swedish cuisine, in the lounge you can have a coffee while you warm up by the fireplace. The ICEBAR has an ideal design where you can have a cocktail in your glass of ice.
Depending on the time of the year you stay at the hotel you will have the opportunity to see the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis (in winter) when there are very few hours of sunshine, or in summer when it doesn’t get dark. Other activities include learning how to carve ice, going on a snowmobile safari while watching the Aurora Borealis, watching the midnight sun in summer, fishing or cross-country skiing.
