18 Dec 2019
The 30th Icehotel opens its frosty doors in Sweden
BY Stu Robarts
Sweden's iconic Icehotel is in its 30th year and the first pictures of the special anniversary creation have been released, showing glowing walls, glittering chandeliers and snowy sculptures.
The Icehotel – or some form of it – has been created every year since 1989, when founder Yngve Bergqvist ran an ice sculpting workshop on the edge of the Torne River in the village of Jukkasjärvi.
Nowadays, the Icehotel is constructed from 2,500 ice blocks harvested from the river with a total volume of 30,000m cu (1,060,000ft cu).
Despite its location 200km (124mi) north of the Arctic Circle, it attracts 70,000 visitors a year between December and mid-April.
Planning for this year's hotel began in Jukkasjärvi's early spring when the ice was harvested and the Icehotel jury decided which art suite proposals would become a reality, with designs released in September.
Construction took place over the course of two weeks, with 33 artists from 16 countries around the world working on the hotel.
The hotel houses 15 Art Suites and 20 Ice Suites, with an additional 9 Deluxe Suites and 11 Art Suites in the adjacent Icehotel 365, which was opened in 2016 to provide additional, year-round accommodation.
This year's creation also features an observation deck with views of the river, the Kaamos light and the Northern Lights, as well as a grand, 75m (246ft)-long Main Hall and a 4m (13ft)-tall Brutalist sculpture tower outside that guests can climb.
Malin Franck, CEO of Icehotel, said: "This year's anniversary hotel is really something special and we are happy to finally be able to welcome the guests into this glittering world."
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