Six hotels sit here, in two groups. All of them are built from snow and ice and lost again in spring. The first group is made of buildings that stand alone and start from nothing each winter; the second of snow buildings that belong to something larger, a fort, a village or a camp. Cold rooms in permanent walls are not in this section.
05
REBUILT FROM NOTHING EVERY WINTER
What they share
Nothing here lasts the year: the building is raised again each winter from snow and ice, and the spring takes it back.
Where they differ
They differ in how long the practice has run, how much of the site stays open in summer, and how far north they stand.
3 hotels in this group
Hotel 15
Jukkasjärvi · Sweden
Icehotel
The first of them, rebuilt each winter beside the Torne River in Swedish Lapland
Icehotel, Jukkasjärvi · a corridor cut for one winter
The picture
The winter building is raised from snow and river ice at Jukkasjärvi, on the bank of the Torne in Swedish Lapland, well above the Arctic Circle. Corridors are cut wide and low, the walls hold the light, and each art suite is carved by a different pair of hands, so the plan changes from one winter to the next. A section built beside it is kept cold by machine and stays open all year.
Shared with the group
It has been raised and lost every year since 1989, and the ice comes from the river next to it. Each spring the walls return to that river, and nothing of the winter's design survives except drawings and photographs.
Its own
It is the only one of the three with a section that runs all year, cooled artificially through the summer, so the site does not close when the seasonal building has gone. Two buildings share one name and one river bank.
Getting there
Fly to Kiruna and take the short transfer to Jukkasjärvi; the ice building keeps to the winter months.
Checked · February 2026
Hotel 16
Québec · Canada
Hôtel de Glace
The only ice hotel in North America, raised again for each winter near Québec City
Hôtel de Glace, Québec · a vault packed against forms
The picture
The hotel is built from snow and ice each winter on a site outside Québec City, in the woods at Valcartier. Vaults are packed against forms and then cut back, and the rooms are finished with carved walls and ice furniture. A chapel and a bar in ice belong to the plan, and the theme is drawn again for every season. Around it stand the resort's year-round buildings and the spruce forest.
Shared with the group
Every winter it is built once and taken down once. The snow is sprayed and packed on site, and by late spring the ground where it stood is forest floor and grass again, with no trace of the plan.
Its own
It is the only one of the three on its continent, and it stands well south of the other two, in forest outside a large city rather than in Lapland or Finnmark. The forest closes over the site by summer.
Getting there
The site is about half an hour by road from Québec City; a car or a shuttle is needed, and the season is short.
Checked · February 2026
Hotel 17
Alta · Norway
Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel
An ice hotel raised each winter on the bank of the Alta River in northern Norway
Sorrisniva, Alta · arched snow above the river valley
The picture
The winter building stands at Sorrisniva, upriver from Alta in Finnmark, in a valley of birch and snow. Snow is packed over arched forms and ice is cut into walls, seats and beds; the corridors are narrow and the light is carried inside the material itself. A permanent lodge stands on the same ground and stays open around the year. The Alta River, known for its salmon, runs below the site.
Shared with the group
The hotel exists only while the cold holds. It is raised from snow and river ice each winter and taken back by the thaw, and no part of the ice building is meant to last into the summer.
Its own
It stands on a river valley floor well inside Finnmark, and the site keeps a separate lodge in ordinary building materials that carries the address through the rest of the year. One address, two buildings, two seasons.
Getting there
Alta has an airport with connections through Oslo or Tromsø; the site is a short drive from town, and the season is winter only.
Checked · February 2026
06
SNOW WITH SOMETHING AROUND IT
What they share
In each of these the snow building is one part of something larger: a fort, a village or a camp set on a mountain.
Where they differ
The larger thing is different in each case, and so is the ground: a sea shore, a Lapland forest, and a glacier plateau.
3 hotels in this group
Hotel 18
Kemi · Finland
SnowCastle of Kemi
A snow fort on the Gulf of Bothnia holding a hotel, a restaurant and a chapel
SnowCastle of Kemi · walls raised on the frozen shore
The picture
The castle is built each winter on the shore at Kemi, on the Gulf of Bothnia, where the sea itself freezes over. Walls, towers and gateways are packed from snow, and inside them stand a hotel wing, a restaurant with ice tables, and a chapel. The outline is drawn again from year to year, so the plan is never repeated. A year-round snow building stands beside it at the harbour.
Shared with the group
The bedrooms are one part of a fort. Walls, a courtyard, a restaurant and a chapel are built along with them, so a guest walks through a small town of snow before reaching the room.
Its own
It is the only one here that stands on a sea shore, on ground where the water freezes hard enough to walk on, and the icebreaker traffic at Kemi belongs to the same harbour. The sea is the ground it stands on.
Getting there
Kemi is on the main line between Oulu and Rovaniemi; trains stop in the town and the shore site is a short taxi ride away.
Checked · January 2026
Hotel 19
Kittilä / Lainio · Finland
SnowVillage
A snow village in Lapland carved to a new theme each winter, with an ice bar
SnowVillage, Lainio · carving cut for one season
The picture
The village is built in the Lainio valley in Kittilä, in Finnish Lapland, as a group of connected snow halls rather than one block. Sculptors cut the walls of every corridor and room, and a theme is chosen for each season, so the carving is different from one winter to the next. An ice bar and a restaurant sit among the sleeping rooms. Forest and snowmobile track surround the whole site.
Shared with the group
A room here is one part of a village. Halls, a bar, a restaurant and carved corridors are laid out together, and the sleeping rooms open off them rather than standing on their own. The village is entered and read as a whole.
Its own
It is the one where the carving follows a declared theme each season, chosen before building starts, so the interior of the whole village changes subject from one winter to the next. Nothing of the last winter is repeated.
Getting there
The Lainio valley lies near Levi in Kittilä; fly to Kittilä and drive or take a transfer, and the season runs through deep winter.
Checked · January 2026
Hotel 20
Zermatt · Switzerland
Iglu-Dorf
A village of snow domes rebuilt each winter high above Zermatt, facing the Matterhorn
Iglu-Dorf, Zermatt · domes on the slope above the village
The picture
The village is a cluster of packed snow domes on a high shoulder above Zermatt, at around 2,700 metres, reached by lift and a short walk. The domes are linked by tunnels; some hold beds, others a bar or a hot tub set out on the snow. The Matterhorn stands across the valley. Around the site there is little but the slope, the piste and the ridge line, and the whole thing is rebuilt from the ground each winter.
Shared with the group
The domes are one piece of a small mountain camp. Tunnels, a bar and an outdoor terrace are built together with them, and the camp sits inside a working ski area rather than standing alone.
Its own
It is the only one of the three set high on a mountain, so guests arrive by lift instead of by road, and the ground beneath the domes is a ski slope rather than a shore or a forest floor.
Getting there
Zermatt is car-free and reached by train from Visp; from the village a lift and a marked walk lead to the site in winter.
Checked · February 2026
Groups are our own reading, not an official classification: no hotel belongs to one by any rule but ours. Everything else comes from published material, re-read by hand, with the month of that reading at the end of each entry.
