It’s a carved winter wonderland.
Sweden’s Icehotel for 2022/2023 is officially open. Filled with amazing ice sculptures, the hotel has been built and rebuilt every year since 1989 in the village of Jukkasjarvi, 200km north of the Arctic Circle next to the banks of the Torne River.
In building this year’s Icehotel, the 33rd overall, 24 artists from around the world spent weeks meticulously designing 12 unique suites and one deluxe suite at Icehotel 365, the year-round version.
A glittering dome, video game-inspired sculptures, and oversized mushrooms are among the beautiful ice creations carved on the grounds.
Sweden’s Icehotel for 2022/2023 has officially opened in the village of Jukkasjarvi, 200km north of the Arctic Circle
24 artists from around the world spent weeks carefully designing 12 unique suites for the Icehotel 33. Above is The Mushroom suite
Pictured is the ‘Enclosed Space’ suite ‘where one can enjoy the protection of an igloo within another igloo’
Check into the “High Score” suite, an area dedicated to video game marathons, and you’ll find a “gaming room to immerse yourself in the nostalgia of a simpler era.”
In addition, there is a new design for the hotel’s ceremonial hall for “intimate celebrations”, complete with a “stylized flower” in the heart, designed by Wouter Biegelaar and Viktor Tsarski.
The construction process began in the spring when blocks of ice were harvested from the Torne River and stored in an ice storage facility in Jukkasjarvi.
Later, when construction began, the artists sculpted their creations from a whopping 500 tons of ice and the “snice” of 10 Olympic-size swimming pools – a mixture of snow and ice. The hotel’s construction team and creative director Luca Roncoroni offered to help with the construction.
There’s a new Ceremony Hall design for “Intimate Celebrations,” complete with a “stylized flower” in the heart (above).
Natsuki Saito and Shingo Saito’s “Garden” suite is decorated with a huge flower motif
The artists sculpted their creations from a whopping 500 tons of ice and the “snice” of 10 Olympic-size swimming pools – a mix of snow and ice. Shown is the Home Nature suite.
The hotel’s construction team and creative director Luca Roncoroni offered to help with the construction. Above is the What Is To Come suite
The Celtic legend of the ‘Selkie’, half woman and half seal, inspired the ice sculptures in the ‘Maighdeann-roin’ suite.
According to the designers, “Secrets and messages are hidden everywhere” in the “Maighdeann-roin” suite.
Temperatures inside the hotel are kept at minus five degrees Celsius (23 Fahrenheit) to keep the sparkling suites in tip-top condition.
The Ice Dome is located in the Enclosed Space suite, “where you can enjoy the protection of an igloo within another igloo,” according to designers Rob Harding and Timsam Harding.
Natsuki Saito and Shingo Saito’s “Garden” suite, on the other hand, is decorated with a huge flower motif.
Above this is the “Bauh-ice” suite, a room inspired by the Bauhaus design movement of the 1920s and 30s
The “Bauh Eis” suite invites guests to “travel back in time and experience geometric shapes, rounded furniture, lines and stripes”.
The Mushroom suite aims to create a mushroom-filled forest that appears like a “jungle of Jurassic proportions.”
The “Garden” suite. The winter hotel is open until April 2023
Inspired by the Bauhaus design movement of the 1920s and ’30s, the “Bauh-ice” suite by Luc Voisin and Mathieu Brison invites guests to “travel back in time and experience geometric shapes, rounded furniture, lines and stripes”.
Check into the “High Score” suite, an area themed around video game marathons, and you’ll find a “game room to immerse yourself in the nostalgia of a simpler era.” Sonia Chow and Huschang Pourian were the masterminds behind this space.
The Celtic legend of the half-woman, half-seal “Selkie” inspired the ice sculptures in the “Maighdeann-roin” suite, designed by Emilie Steele and Sara Steele. “Secrets and messages are hidden throughout in a mix of snow sculptures, glittering ice, music and a bittersweet story that unfolds the moment you step inside,” say the designers.
Pictured are Wouter Biegelaar and Viktor Tsarski, who designed the ceremonial hall
Sonia Chow and Huschang Pourian brought their love of video games to the “High Score” suite
The Enclosed Space suite is the work of artists Rob Harding and Timsam (above)
Emilie Steele and Sara Steele (above) have dreamed up the eye-catching Maighdeann-roin suite
Edmund Chan and TaiTien Tan (pictured) collaborated to create the Dreams of Pencils suite
Chris Pancoe and Peter Hargraves are the brains behind The Mushroom suite
Pictured is Lukas Petko, the designer of the stunning Hidden Milan suite
The artists pictured, Ilka Raupach and Line Jastram, created the “What is to Come” suite.
A BLIZZARD OF FACTS ABOUT THE ICEHOTEL 2023
- 24 artists (from 13 countries) designed the new art suites in Icehotel 33
- 500 tons of ice were used to build Ice Hotel 33
- Ten Olympic size Snice swimming pools, a mixture of snow and ice, were used to build the hotel
- Two hundred handcrafted ice crystals were used to create a crystal chandelier
- The temperature inside the Icehotel 33 is minus five degrees Celsius
- Icehotel 33 took six weeks to build from start to finish
- About 60 to 70 people worked on the project
- 102 artists submitted entries to help build this year’s edition of Icehotel
Chris Pancoe and Peter Hargraves are the minds behind The Mushroom suite, which appears like an ice-carved, mushroom-filled forest “of Jurassic proportions.”
After guests have explored their unique sleeping quarters, the hotel offers private snowmobile rides, ice fishing, dog sledding, horseback riding and Northern Lights excursions.
Luca Roncoroni, Creative Director of Icehotel, says: “Each year I am amazed at what this incredible team can achieve; Talented international artists flanked by a team of ice professionals really can create magic. Welcome to Ice Hotel 33!’
The winter hotel is open until April 2023. To book a trip to the Ice Hotel for this year or next, visit Discover the World.
Activities offered by the hotel include private snowmobile rides, dog sled rides and Northern Lights tours