The sixth and final episode of BBC Two's Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby series to be broadcast on Monday 8th May features the famous ICEHOTEL in Swedish Lapland. Constructed from scratch every year for the winter season, this year for the first time, the hotel will be open outside of the winter months with the launch of ICEHOTEL 365 making it the first all year-round ice accommodation in the world.
Located 200 km north of the Arctic Circle, this ever-evolving hotel – with rooms built entirely of ice - is the original ICEHOTEL in Sweden and one of the most unique places to stay in the world. Rooms are harvested from blocks of snow and ice from the River Torne at Jukkasjärvi in the far north of Sweden, and crafted by artists, architects, sculptors and ice experts. A night spent at the ICEHOTEL is like no other. The rooms and suites are made entirely from ice and a thick mattress and thermal sleeping bag are vital with the temperature a somewhat distracting -5°outside of the warm cosy sleeping bag.
The newly opened ICEHOTEL 365 is a permanent structure offering the experience of sleeping on ice year-round. Unlike the seasonal ICEHOTEL which melts in spring, ICEHOTEL 365 uses solar technology under its domed roof which is covered in grass and wild flowers. Maintained at sub-zero temperatures by solar power, the interior of ICEHOTEL 365 is just like the winter one, complete with icebar, art gallery and 20 suites, some of which have warm en-suite bathrooms (by way of a clever airlock corridor between the room and suite). The unique experience in summer offering a night in an ice room even when it is warm outside can be combined with the tranquility of nature and activities such as cycling, river rafting, stand up paddle boarding, ice sculpting and fishing under the sun, which does not set for 50 consecutive days during summer.
