What to expect at Sweden's Icehotel for 2019

Each year, Icehotel is created anew for guests ... then melts away. Helen Coffey sees how cool it is
Helen Coffey14 January 2019

It’s minus five but I’m dripping with sweat as I chip, chip, chip away at my clear block — a cube that is (hopefully) looking more and more like a bird as time ticks by. I never expected to enjoy ice sculpting — it seemed a bit too much like the “organised craft” activities associated with hen-dos — but it turns out to be immersive, pulling me into a vortex of concentration in which I manage to work unbroken for several hours. Time melts and my busy brain quiets to silence — the epitome of mindfulness.

My hard graft results in something definitely reminiscent of a majestic owl head but hits home the sheer difficulty of creating a recognisable object. And it gives me a new appreciation for those who’ve used snow and ice to fashion not just sculptures but entire hotel rooms.

I’m staying at Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, Swedish Lapland — in fact, the venue’s 29th incarnation. The whole thing is made anew each year, with rooms constructed from scratch in just two weeks before they melt back into the Torne river come spring.

This season there are 15 temporary “art suites” created by teams from all over the world, each unique and only available to stay in until March. Making a room is a prestigious CV credit so it’s a competitive business — designs were selected out of about 140 entries.

“It was amazing to get the news that we’d been selected,” says Jonathan Paul Green who, with daughter Marnie, came up with one of 2019’s winning designs.

The London pair entered after watching a documentary about the making of the hotel. A TV set designer and art student respectively, Jonathan, 53, and Marnie, 19, had never worked with ice before — something you’d never suspect when looking around their underwater-themed suite, The Living Ocean, which features ethereal, glowing fish, a grinning shark and undulating coral sculptures. It’s one of my favourites, along with Lollipop, a candy-shop theme complete with giant ice sweets, and Spruce Woods, which features a VW campervan fashioned from compacted snow.

“We were pretty much thrown in after a bit of health and safety training and chainsaw lessons — you just have to dive in,” says Jonathan. “It was a really special place to be. There’s this family, collaborative atmosphere. Everyone wants everyone to be the best they can be, so they give advice and moral support.”

15 rooms have been created at Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi

The pair worked every second they could, sometimes not finishing until 3am, to create their vision in just a fortnight. “Two weeks is a very short time, it was pretty intense,” Jonathan adds. “It’s only when the hotel opens to the public and you start seeing people’s reactions that you realise what you’ve accomplished. You spend two weeks putting your heart and soul into something. It’s only when you stand back that you can take stock and think, ‘We created this from nothing.’”

Strolling around what feels at times more like a gallery than a hotel, I struggle to get my head around the fact that, come June, this will all be water. “The sad bit is walking out of the room and thinking, ‘I’ll never see this again,’” Jonathan admits. “But that’s all part of it. You go into the experience knowing it’s a temporary piece.” And maybe that’s what gives the place its ephemeral, unparalleled beauty. All good things must come to an end, after all.

Details

Discover the World (discover-the-world.com) offers a three-night Classic Icehotel Break from £1,073pp based on two sharing, B&B, including return flights from Heathrow to Kiruna.

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