There are just over three months to go until the 26th ICEHOTEL in Swedish Lapland opens its doors to the public (11 December 2015).And to celebrate, structural plans and unique designs for the hotel have been revealed, by Discover the World, the leading ICEHOTEL experts.
From a life-sized ice elephant and a Russian imperial-inspired theatre set, to a room full of flying sheep and a 1970’s love capsule, 19 uniquely crafted suites will be built. The amount of snow taken to create its 55 rooms, as well as its church and bar, is enough to make a staggering 700 million snowballs (with its frozen chandeliers using over 1000 hand cut ice crystals) taking an astonishing 48,000 hours of labour.
Designers from around the world will be involved in the hotel’s distinctive designs including a team from the UK – architect Matt Chan and dancer/choreographer Annie Hanauer. They are all set to create a Cairn Forest suite; a woodland scene featuring piles of ice cairns which collectively make up towers and arches.
Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, childhood beach-holiday joy has been brought to life by the Zand Hotel. The project is the brainchild of event organisers at Global PowWow, who spent four weeks building rooms — of which there are 60 in total — as part of a sand sculpture festival in the towns of Sneek and Oss in the Netherlands. Thankfully, not all the furniture is made of sand — as we’re not sure how comfortable a bed made out of sand would be.
The hotel is fully booked for this year, but good news for those adults wanting to relive childhood memories of days out at the beach — the organisers plan on repeating the feat again next year and building similar structures in Germany and right here in the UK.
