Ice Hotels: buildings that are rebuilt every winter.
Ice Hotels · 4 hotels
Four buildings made from snow and ice, rebuilt from nothing each winter and gone again by spring. That is the whole criterion: the structure itself must be frozen, and the guest must sleep inside it. Glass igloos, heated cabins with an ice bar and year-round hotels with one cold room are not counted here, although three of these four sites have warm buildings beside the frozen one.
10
Jukkasjarvi, Sweden
Icehotel
Rebuilt from river ice every winter since 1989, in a new shape each season
Icehotel: a room cut from Torne river ice.
ARRIVING
Jukkasjarvi is a small village on the Torne River, north of the Arctic Circle. The building appears as a long white ridge rather than as a hotel, with snow packed over ice blocks cut from the river itself. Inside the entrance the temperature drops and then stays there. Coats are not removed at any point of a stay.
THE EVENING
Artists design the ice rooms, and each winter the interiors are entirely different, so the corridors work as an exhibition. Light is set inside the ice, which spreads it evenly and without shadows. A separate warm building holds the restaurant and the reception. The move between the two is short and always noticeable.
THE NIGHT
Beds are ice blocks covered with reindeer hides, and an expedition sleeping bag is provided for each guest. The room stays a few degrees below freezing whatever happens outside, and breath is visible. Sound is absorbed completely, so it is quieter than most people expect. Heated rooms and bathrooms are in the building next door.
THE MORNING
Hot lingonberry drink is the standard way of ending a night in the ice. Guests move to the warm building for the sauna and for breakfast. Outside, the river is frozen flat, and midwinter light is blue rather than white. In spring the whole structure returns to the Torne as water.
Coming and goingKiruna airport is the nearest arrival point with a short road transfer, and the ice section exists only in winter, while a permanently frozen building runs through the year.
Read in August 2026
11
Kirkenes, Norway
Kirkenes Snowhotel
A snow hotel rebuilt each winter near the Barents Sea, running since 2006
Kirkenes Snowhotel: carved corridors, recut each winter.
ARRIVING
Kirkenes sits close to the Russian border, at the end of the Norwegian coast. The road out of town passes water and low birch, then reaches a cluster of buildings by a fjord. The snow hotel is one long white form among wooden cabins. Huskies are audible well before anything else is visible.
THE EVENING
Ice sculptures line the corridors, carved fresh for the season and lit from within. A restaurant in the warm building serves king crab taken from the same coast. Outside, in clear weather, people stand in the dark and watch for the aurora. That is the reason many of them came this far north.
THE NIGHT
Sleeping bags rated for deep cold sit on beds of snow and ice, under reindeer hides. The interior holds a steady sub-zero temperature. There is no plumbing in the snow section, and the facilities are in a heated building a short walk away. Silence is nearly complete here, apart from the dogs.
THE MORNING
Warm drinks and a heated breakfast room end the night quickly. Dog sledding, snowmobiles and king crab trips run from the same site, and the fjord is the starting point for all of them. Midwinter daylight is brief and low, and the snow keeps most of what there is.
Coming and goingKirkenes has an airport with domestic connections and is the northern end of the Hurtigruten coastal route; the site lies outside town, so a transfer or a car is needed.
Read in August 2026
12
Rovaniemi, Finland
Arctic SnowHotel
A snow hotel outside Rovaniemi that exists only between mid-December and the end of March
Arctic SnowHotel: the snow structure by the lake outside Rovaniemi.
ARRIVING
Rovaniemi stands on the Arctic Circle, and the site lies beyond it, by a lake in flat pine forest. A track leads in past glass igloos and wooden buildings. The snow hotel itself is low and rounded, half-buried in what has fallen on it. The door is heavy, insulated, and slow to close.
THE EVENING
Ice carvings mark each room, with coloured light set behind them. A warm restaurant and a smoke sauna operate in separate buildings, and the walk between them is part of the evening. Glass-roofed igloos stand nearby for people who want the aurora without the cold. The forest around the site is completely dark.
THE NIGHT
Guests sleep on ice beds under hides, in thermal sleeping bags issued on arrival. The interior stays a few degrees below zero regardless of the weather outside. Snow removes echo completely, so the room is silent in a way that ordinary buildings never are. Lockers and heated bathrooms are in the neighbouring building.
THE MORNING
Coffee in the warm building is the first thing most people want. The lake is frozen and used for snowshoeing, ice fishing and husky routes. Light returns slowly in midwinter and stays low across the pines. Everything built from snow will be gone by spring, and rebuilt from nothing next season.
Coming and goingRovaniemi airport and railway station are the arrival points, with a road transfer to the site, and the snow section runs roughly from mid-December to the end of March.
Read in August 2026
13
Gstaad, Switzerland
Iglu-Dorf
An igloo village built again each winter above Gstaad, at around two thousand metres
Iglu-Dorf: the village of domes above Gstaad.
ARRIVING
Access is by mountain lift and then on foot across the snow, since no road reaches the village. The domes appear as a group of white mounds on the slope. The Bernese Alps stand around them on every side. Bags are carried in by hand, and there is no lobby of any kind.
THE EVENING
Fondue is served inside a larger dome, which is the only communal room. Candles and low electric light make the walls glow, because snow carries light well. A whirlpool sits outside in the open air. Once the lifts stop the mountain empties, and the village has the slope entirely to itself.
THE NIGHT
Domes are carved by hand, some plainly and some with reliefs cut into the walls. Beds are insulated mats and expedition sleeping bags on a snow platform. The temperature inside holds near freezing whatever the wind does outside. There is no sound at all once the group settles for the night.
THE MORNING
Sunrise reaches the surrounding peaks before it reaches the village, which sits lower on the slope. Breakfast is inside the main dome. Skiers pass on the pistes as the lifts start again. By late spring the whole village will have melted into the mountain without leaving a trace.
Coming and goingGstaad is on the MOB railway line from Montreux and Zweisimmen, the village is reached by mountain lift and a short walk, and it operates in the winter season only.
Read in August 2026
A day here is a way of describing a hotel, not a schedule: we publish no opening hours and no times. Everything comes from published material, re-read by hand, with the month of that reading at the end of each entry.
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