Situated above a few of the world’s most posh ski resorts including Davos-Klosters and St Moritz, the igloo village of Iglu-Dorf is one of seven locations that offers its customers hot tubs, ice bars and fully functioning restaurants though there’s a catch, the hotel is made entirely out of ice! Literally every surface in the hotel is fashioned out of ice including some of the shot glasses in the bar. To ensure that users don’t have to suffer an embarrassment like a part of their shower melting off from the hot water, the hotel does not offer that service though they can get a decent soak in some of the hotel’s hot tubs.
Rebuilt every season, the igloos are a huge hit at European ski destinations spread across Austria, Switzerland and the Principality of Andorra. The daring concept was first conceived by Adrian Gunter, an extreme snowboarder, in the year 1995 when he found the daily task of climbing up a peak every morning to catch the best snow is too tiring and built an igloo to spend the night near the peak.
After positive feedback from friends, Gunter started investigating the possibility of expanding the temporary shelter to allow it to house guests. Gunter’s first igloo was made from blocks of ice and he only had an expedition sleeping bag to spend the night in. Fifteen years on, guests are provided warm sleeping bags and cozy rugs and they are even offered a selection of champagnes. Gunter’s igloo hotels can now be found at over seven locations today though his first chain of igloo hotels came up above Motta Naluns, Switzerland.
An area of over 600 square meters is used to set up an entire igloo village. A balloon sprayed with water is used to create individual ice structures, which ensure that each igloo gets the perfect spherical shape. Once the sprayed water is rigid enough to be lived in, decorators come in and manually sculpt the interior of the buildings that have around eight feet of headspace inside. Compared to the sub-zero temperature at these locations, the temperature inside the igloos remains at around zero degree Celsius that keeps the icy hotels from melting but also cozy enough for people around well wrapped in their winter wear.
A night in the icy hotels can set you back anywhere between $99 and $299, which isn’t much when you consider that you probably have the best view of the night sky.
Via: Daily Mail