Ice Hotels
Four ice hotels, and the ground each of them was laid out against.
4 hotels
Numbers 05–08
Coordinates B1–B4
Ice hotels are rebuilt from snow and ice every winter, which means the direction of each one is decided again each season by the people who lay it out. They are grouped here for that reason. A hotel with an ice bar or one ice-themed room does not belong in this group; the sleeping structure itself has to be made of ice.
No. 05
Ice Hotels
Icehotel
Jukkasjärvi, Sweden
The long body of the building runs beside the Torne, with its entrance on the river side
Built each winter from ice and snow taken out of the Torne, the hotel is laid out as a long low body parallel to the water in Jukkasjärvi. Its entrance and public rooms sit on the river side; the sleeping halls run away from that line.
On the river side there is the Torne itself, frozen and flat for much of the season, with open ground between the building and the bank. Beyond the far shore the land is low and wooded. In winter the river surface is used as a route rather than a barrier.
Behind the building is the village of Jukkasjärvi: the road in, the warm accommodation used outside the ice season, workshops and storage for the ice harvested in spring. That side is working ground rather than something arranged to be seen.
Warm outer clothing is lent on site, but bring thin gloves and a spare base layer of your own.
Sheet dated: September 2027
No. 06
Ice Hotels
SnowVillage
Kittilä / Lainio, Finland
A cluster of snow structures on open ground, with forest closing one edge of the site
Rather than one block, this is a village: separate snow and ice structures rebuilt each winter on a cleared site at Lainio in Kittilä. The main entrance faces the open part of the clearing, and the built forms are arranged around it rather than towards a single view.
On the open side is flat cleared ground, tracks packed by snowmobiles and machines, and sky that stays low and grey for much of the season. Lapland weather arrives across that space without much to slow it, which is part of why the site was chosen.
Behind the structures the forest begins almost at once: spruce and pine holding snow on their branches, a service track and the buildings where guests warm up and eat. The trees act as a wall on that edge of the village.
Winter daylight is short here, so agree your arrival time and the transfer from Kittilä well in advance.
Sheet dated: September 2027
No. 07
Ice Hotels
Kirkenes Snowhotel
Kirkenes, Norway
The building is turned to the fjord, with the road and the settlement kept at its back
Snow and ice are rebuilt each season into a single low body set close to the shore near Kirkenes. Its front is the fjord side, where the entrance and the outdoor ground face the water. The sleeping corridors run back from that line into the depth of the building.
On the fjord side there is water that does not freeze over in the way inland lakes do, a stony shore, and low hills on the far bank. Dog kennels and outdoor equipment stand between the building and the waterline, on ground that is used all winter.
Behind it are the access road, parking, warm cabins and the scattered buildings of the area outside Kirkenes. The land rises gently there and carries the traffic that brings guests in, so the back of the site is a working approach.
Ask ahead about the transfer from Kirkenes and about where luggage stays while you are in the snow rooms.
Sheet dated: September 2027
No. 08
Ice Hotels
Arctic SnowHotel
Rovaniemi, Finland
A snow building and glass igloos placed to open on the wide sky above a clearing
Two kinds of structure share the site at Sinettä near Rovaniemi: a snow building that stays low and closed, and glass igloos whose roofs are the part that faces outward. The igloos are set on the open side of the clearing, spaced apart and pointed away from each other.
On that side there is a clearing, then sky. Snow covers the ground for a long season and the darkness of midwinter is what the glass is there for. Around the clearing stands ordinary Lapland forest, thin and even, with a track running through it to the main buildings.
Behind the igloos are the warm buildings of the site: reception, restaurant, sauna and the rooms used when the snow structures are closed for the year. Service tracks link them, and that side is arranged for work rather than for looking at.
Decide before booking whether you want the snow building or a glass igloo, since the two are used in different seasons.
Sheet dated: September 2027
Direction here is read off maps, plans and published photographs, never measured by us, and never given in degrees. It says how a building is turned, not which side is worth asking for. The date in the last cell of an entry is when those sources were opened.