There’s a lot we can do with ice, make snow cones, cool drinks…close pores, create haute couture hotel suites, wait what! Did I just…oh yes, I did! And that might have something to do with the renowned Ice Hotel Sweden. Located in the village of Jukkasjärvi, about 17 km from Kiruna, Sweden, it was the world’s first ice hotel. And now it has added one more exemplary feather in its record cap, the BYOS. Build Your Own Suite, what else!
From February 1st, the hotel has been offering bespoke suites tailor-made to suit the wishes and tastes of individual clients. How it has been doing so is by giving them the artistic opportunity to co-create their suite with one of the hotel’s in-house designers. Not only is this chance the haute couture of travel experiences, it is also a great show of commitment to art itself.
“Every year, we gather designers (and) artists from around the world to build the hotel, which in itself also becomes an art project and exhibition.” Ravishing results can be seen in these images from previous years. The hotel, existing each year between December and April is based 200 km north of the Arctic Circle. How coolly exclusive! But exclusive is rarely ever inexpensive. Take the tailor-made suite for instance, which costs a cool 139,000 GBP ($ 227,000) a night. And no, I doubt you get a builders’ discount!