Experience The Ice Hotel Quebec Canada On Your Next Vacation
December 1st, 2008

Tired of the same vacation trips? Would you like to try a different and adventuresome vacation? Why not try the Ice Hotel in Quebec? It's modeled after the Ice Hotel made famous in Sweden. If you have an adventurous spirit and are wanting something unusual in your vacation this might be the vacation of a lifetime for you.

Not only is this a popular hotel but is also an increasingly popular tourist attraction. Some come just to see what the fuss is all about. In the Ice Hotel, you will be sleeping in a structure made of the purest of materials, ice and snow. Each year the hotel is unique and different as talented artists create intriguing designs, ice sculptures and paintings. The Ice Hotel will be open from January to April 2006. It hosts corporate activities, parties, and even weddings. The wedding chapel gives a fairy tale feel for an unusual and different wedding. Guided tours are available in both French and English alternating every half hour. The tour relates interesting facts and information about the Ice Hotel and takes about 30 minutes. The tours cost but after you finish, you can have the run of the Hotel until 8PM, and then it is strictly overnight guests only.

The Ice Hotel is made from ice and snow with some ceilings as high as 18 feet high and with walls covered with original artwork. It covers roughly 30000 square feet and it takes five weeks to build. It uses 12,000 tons of snow, and 400 tons of ice. It includes two art galleries, a relaxation area with hot tubs and saunas, and the famous ABSOLUT Ice Bar. In the Ice Bar, you can drink out of glasses made of ice. The Ice Hotel is a popular attraction for both day visitors and overnight guests. Reservations are taken at least a year in advance for overnight visits, special events and public tours.

The temperature outside can be minus 18 degrees Fahrenheit but on the inside, it stays at a temperature of 25 degrees. Construction starts in mid-December and reservations are taken through the first week of April. That is providing Nature keeps the climate just right.

The Ice Hotel offers both indoor and outdoor activities that include riding snowmobiles, ice fishing, dog sledding, cross-country skiing, and skating. Indoors the hotel offers a movie theater, bar, indoor skating rink, spa, Jacuzzis, two art galleries, and a wedding chapel. Note for those of us that are cold blooded, they do have regular toilet facilities that are warm!

It's interesting how the Ice Hotel is built. Stainless steel molds are used and then wooden walls set at certain distances between these molds. Snow is blown between the molds and the wooden walls, completely covering them. After the snow has frozen into place, the metal frames are removed. Ice blocks are used for furniture, sculptures, the bar counter and columns. The walls are about four feet thick at the base and about two feet thick at the ceiling. It takes about 20 workers to actually make the hotel and another 10 - 15 to do all the final changes involving the statutes and ice sculptures. They will be polishing and carving and making sure, they are complete and intact when guests begin to arrive.

Ice beds are covered with animal skins and special sleeping bags. Thinking of sleeping in subzero temperatures on an ice bed with just sleeping bags and animal skins make me shudder. I would probably be hiding in the heated bathroom facilities the whole time!

Recently they have added an additional attraction called the N'ice Club and it will feature special programming, dance nights, and comedy shows.

Where is the Ice Hotel found and how do you get there? It is found 20 minutes west of Quebec City in Duchesnay. Take Highway 40 west to exit 295 at Ste-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, and then take 367 going north until you see the hotel.

For more information or to inquire about reservations call toll-free 1-877-505-4522. You may receive more information by going to their website at:

www.icehotel-canada.com/en/index.en.php.

Enjoy your visit to the Ice Hotel, you'll find me at the beach

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