The Ice Hotel

Source: Speak Up

Standard: American accent

Language Level: Basic

Speaker: Chuck Rolando

THE ICE HOTEL

Would you like to sleep on a bed of ice? How about a drink at a bar made entirely of snow and ice? Perhaps you’d prefer to sit in a hot tub while snowflakes fall from the open sky?

Canada’s extraordinary Ice Hotel, located 32 kilometres northwest of Quebec City, offers all this and more. Every year the hotel opens on January 5^th and closes around April 1^st, when spring brings warm weather and the snow begins to melt. Visitors enter the Ice Hotel’s magnificent lobby with its 5.4 metre-high ceiling and unique ice candelabra. They warm up with a drink at the Bar Absolut and then tour the hotel’s art galleries and exhibition rooms.

Evening entertainment is provided in the splendid banquet halls, the N’Ice Club, an enormous ballroom, and the Ice Lounge. The hotel’s Ice Chapel offers the perfect setting for memorable weddings.

DRESSING UP

What clothes must visitors wear? Outside temperatures can reach -30ºC, so clothing is very important, though the hotel’s 1.5 metre-thick walls ensure internal temperatures don’t drop below -5ºC. Three layers of clothing are recommended: an inner layer of thermal underwear, then a woolen shirt or fleece, and finally a ski jacket and trousers. Don’t forget your hat and gloves! Night clothes should be lighter, but wear a night cap and socks.

The original Ice Hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden inspired Canadian owner Jacques Desbois. As he says: “If they can do that in Sweden, we can do it here in Quebec, the snow capital of the world.”

Craftsmen take five weeks to build the hotel; they use 15.000 tons of snow and 500 tons of ice. This is now the hotel’s sixth year.

PLAN B

Visitors can book a night in one of the 34 rooms and theme suites, each of which is a work of art in itself. The beds do have a base formed of ice, but don’t worry as they also have special foam mattresses. Price starts at €470 a night, and include a reservation at the nearby Station Touristique Duchesnay Hotel.

If guests find the conditions impossible at any time during their stay, they can simply move into their heated rooms at the Station Hotel.

Near French-speaking Quebec City

The Ice Hotel is located at the Station Turistique Duchesnay on the shores of Lake St. Joseph. The nearest airport is Quebec International Airport, which is a short drive from the hotel The Station Touristique Duchesnay is the perfect location for a winter holiday. The station offers a variety of activities. Visitors can learn how to make an igloo or take a short course in dog sledging. Don’t expect a quiet ride: you will be in charge of your own sledge and a team of huskies.

Nearby Quebec City is well worth a visit for its narrow historic streets – it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is a French-speaking region, but most people are also fluent in English.

For more Info: http://www.icehotel-canada.com

E-mail: reservations@icehotel-canada.com

Telephone: (1) 418-875-4522