Hôtel de Glace

Built every winter since 2001, the Hôtel de Glace is the oldest ice hotel in North America and is constructed from around thirty thousand tonnes of snow and five hundred tonnes of ice over about six weeks, opening in early January and melting in spring. Rooms and themed suites are carved fresh each year to a new design, with ice beds covered in wooden bases, mattresses and arctic sleeping bags; inside temperature holds around minus three to minus five whatever the weather outside. There is a chapel used for weddings and a bar serving drinks in ice glasses. Guests spend the evening in a heated pavilion before sleeping.

History

The Ice Hotel opened on New Year's Day 2001, the first in North America, in Montmorency Falls Park on the outskirts of Quebec City, with 11 double beds. It moved to the Duchesnay resort in 2002, where it stayed until 2010, to Charlesbourg in Quebec City in 2011, and in 2017 to its present home at the Valcartier Vacation Village; each December 50 workers spend about a month and a half building it from 30,000 tons of snow and 500 tons of ice, with walls up to four feet thick, and it now has 51 double beds (Wikipedia, Ice Hotel - Quebec).

What to look for

• The carved suites - rooms sculpted fresh to a new theme each winter.
• The ice bar - drinks served in glasses cut from ice.
• The ice chapel - a wedding venue rebuilt each year.
• The annual rebuild - a structure that exists for about three months.

When to go

Early January to late March only; the exact dates depend on the winter and it melts entirely afterwards. Day visits are cheaper than staying. Booking is required in both cases.

Before you go

It exists for about three months a year and nothing remains otherwise. Sleeping there is genuinely cold and many guests find one night enough. Day tickets are timed and sell out on weekends.

Nearby

Quebec City lies south; Wendake is between them.

Key facts