VilaWeb - Diari escola: Ice Hotels

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diumenge, 20 d'octubre de 2024

> Iglú-Hotel Grandvalira: unique in southern Europe

> The Icehotel and the Torne River

> Hotels that always stay brand new

dimarts, 10 de març de 2009

Igloos are huts made of ice and are associated with the Inuit people, who are indigenous to the cold Arctic regions covering Greenland and the most northern parts of North America.

Dome-shaped and made of compacted, rectangular ice blocks (measuring 60-120 cm in length by 20 cm thick), igloos have been used by the Inuit as temporary dwellings, particularly during hunting expeditions.

This traditional construction has inspired so-called 'ice hotels', destinations for tourists in search of unusual experiences, even if it's below zero!

As they are made of snow and ice, this type of hotel is naturally located in very cold or, freezing rather, places. For example the Kirkenes SnowHotel and the Alta Igloo Hotel can be found in Lapland, (home to the Sami people), part of Norwegian territory; and in Quebec, half an hour from Quebec City, is the Hôtel de Glace, covering 3,000 square metres, with a room temperature of between -3 °C and -5 °C.

There's even one in the Catalan Countries: the Iglú-Hotel Grandvalira, in Andorra, which opened its doors for the first time this winter.

Iglú-Hotel Grandvalira: unique in southern Europe

+ The Iglú-Hotel comprises nine igloo-rooms.

Located at 2,300 m above sea level in the Grandvalira ski resort, the Iglú-Hotel Grandvalira is the only ice hotel in southern Europe. It comprises nine igloo-rooms, all decorated by snow and ice artists and sculptors, with space for 32 guests. The beds have insulating bed covers made of lambs wool, and feather sleeping bags designed to withstand temperatures as low as -40 °C. The hotel boasts a tea room made entirely of ice, the same as the restaurant, which has room for 65 diners.

The Icehotel and the Torne River

+ Icehotel main entrance.

The world's most famous ice hotel is, perhaps, the Icehotel at Jukkasjärvi, 200 km north of the Arctic Circle, in Swedish Lapland. Blocks of ice taken from the Torne River, which is more than 500 km long, are used to build the hotel. Besides a restaurant, the hotel also has a church where couples can pledge eternal love in an ephemeral building...

Hotels that always stay brand new

+ Ice hotels melt with the arrival of warm weather.

We say these hotels are always brand new because they are constructions that melt with the arrival of warm weather. Year after year they need to be rebuilt from top to bottom, not at all an easy task. Builders, architects, designers and artists from all over the world take part in the construction of the Icehotel, for example, all gathered together in Jukkasjärvi at the beginning of winter. Huge care is taken over the design of the hotel, which, two years ago, was included in the list of the Seven Wonders of Sweden.

MATERIALS

Iglú-Hotel Grandvalira
Format:Web
Informació d'aquest hotel de glaç andorrà, estrenat pels volts de Nadal.
Icehotel
Format:Web
El primer hotel de glaç del món, bastit per primera vegada el 1990.
Ice hotel
Format:Web
Wikipedia.
Hôtel de Glace
Format:Web
Situat prop de la ciutat de Quebec. Informació en francès, anglès i espanyol.
The Ice Hotels in Scandinavia
Format:Web
Una llista d'hotels de glaç escandinaus.

QUE HO SABIES?

Three thousand tonnes of snow were needed to build the Iglú-Hotel Grandvalira.
The hotel has two igloos with Jacuzzis (baths with devices that move the water around). Both are open to the outside.
An Inuit with experience in making igloos can make one in one or two hours.