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A few years ago, two of my best college buds, James and Mike, called me up and asked if I felt like taking a road trip to Qu茅bec City that weekend.聽 Did they even have to ask? 馃槈
One of the highlights of our trip was visiting the Qu茅bec Ice Hotel — L’H么tel de Glace.聽 The hotel is located in the town of Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, a 30-minute drive from Qu茅bec.聽 For a small price of admission, you can tour the hotel, including all bedrooms.
The Ice Hotel is built from scratch every winter and the season runs from early January through late March.
The level of detail is incredible!聽 These builders are truly artists.
James learns the hard way not to sit on an ice chair without a reindeer pelt.
I learn the hard way that fake fires don’t make you any warmer.
If you’re brave, you can spend the night at the Ice Hotel.聽 It’s pricey but definitely a unique experience!聽 (And don’t worry — they give you winter-grade sleeping bags, warm hats and plenty of reindeer pelts.)
If the cold gets to be too much, there’s a hot tub on the premises!
Here are some of the bed options:
IGLOO!
And yes — the Ice Hotel has an ice bar.聽 With ice cocktails.
Image: James Nguyen
Image: James Nguyen
Mike learns the hard way that you should wear gloves while handling an ice cocktail.
You can even get married in the ice chapel!
All in all, the Qu茅bec Ice Hotel makes a great afternoon excursion from Qu茅bec City.
If you do visit the Ice Hotel, be sure to wear warm shoes and warm socks.聽 And don’t put your camera on an ice table!聽 Sadly, my camera broke when it slid right off the bar.
And if you’re brave enough to stay overnight, you are far more courageous than the three of us!
I love it!!! I want to go!!!
It was such an unforgettable trip; the scenery was astonishing to experience first-hand, but the trip wouldn’t have been glorious if it weren’t for the great companions that were by my side! 馃檪
It’s totally and utterly gorgeous– and yet I think you’d have to pay ME to sleep there… COLD!!!
Amazing adventure and pics, but, being from a tropical country (Brazil), I started freezing just looking at the photos. 馃槈
I wonder whether they have any profit, as the hotel is built from scratch every winter. That must be expensive.
Of all the travels I’ve had the pleasure of exploring, Canada was the greatest surprise. It was more beautiful and more interesting than I ever could have imagined. THIS adventure of an entire building – and furniture would fall into that new found category as well! The kids would absolutely love it.
We travel with the kids and love giving them the opportunity to have a global education and experience. Showing them something unusual like this hotel made of ice really gets them thinking outside the box and that is a great skill for the future!
Another thing that often goes overlooked when people think about traveling and kids is teaching perseverance. This ice hotel? Built from scratch – every single year. Builders and architects spend many hours perfecting the design and putting effort into something…temporary. Even though this is not a permanent outlet for their work, it still has a major impact. Kids can learn a lot about watching the effort and persistence of others.
Would SO love to see this hotel! It is most definitely on my list of things I’m dying to see now!
Hey! I’m going on my first solo trip over Halloween to Quebec. Any other details/tips you can share outside of the ice hotel would be appreciated. 馃檪