 |
travel / adventure zone
| The Adventure Zone |
|
|
Quebec Ice Hotel
By Christopher Mason
With early winter temperatures hitting record highs across most
of Canada, ski resorts are closing hills, snowmobile enthusiasts
are waiting impatiently for their trails to be blanketed in white
and outdoor hockey players are coming to the realization their skates
will stay hung up a little longer than usual this year. But of all
people, the operators of Canada's only ice hotel are not worried
that balmy temperatures will see their season melt away.
"We have never had a problem opening the ice hotel on time,
and this year is no different," says Sylvain Auclair, spokesman
at the Ice Hotel Quebec-Canada.
Quebec's Ice Hotel, the world's second of its kind, will be opening
its chilly environs to visitors Jan. 5. The prospect of spending
a night in a giant ice palace has drawn thousands of visitors to
the hotel since it opened in 2000.
Besides January being the start of their season, which runs through
April 1, the hotel is also holdings its annual winter celebration
Jan. 25, featuring a fireworks show, several bands and a party at
the hotel's all-ice dance club.
Everything in the hotel is made of snow and ice—the walls,
the floor, the roof, the hotel bar, the drink glasses and even the
beds, though guests have a foam mattress and sleeping bag to help
bundle up against the chill. Auclair notes that many visitors connect
with the ice carvings that dot the hotel because that type of design
is about the most elaborate ice-based piece of work they have ever
seen until they lay eyes on a massive hotel made entirely of ice.
"They may have seen ice sculptures, maybe an igloo, but when
they walk into a 30,000 square foot ice castle their jaw drops," Auclair
says. "It's a unique experience and there is not much like
it in North America."
The hotel offers tours for visitors who want to see the facility,
as well as 36 rooms for overnight guests. It is about 30 minutes
west of Quebec City, or three hours northeast of Montreal. Guests
have access to dogsleds, cross-country skiing and skating among
other winter activities. A nearby facility offering snow golf is
also slated to open in January.
To learn more about the ice hotel, visit www.icehotel-canada.com
|
|
| ADVERTISEMENT |
|
|
|
|
