Ice Hotel Canada

Description

The movie 'Winter Castle' was filmed in Quebec at Hotel de Glace, roughly 30 minutes north of Quebec City. Every winter this hotel is rebuilt, once spring arrives it melts and returns to the river. It's made from 500 tons of ice and 30,000 tons of snow, which is man-made so it's extra dense. Construction usually starts as soon as temperatures are consistently below freezing for a week. It takes about six weeks to build the hotel, which is 32,000-square-feet and has 44 rooms. The walls are four-feet thick. A curtain is used instead of a door.

The hotel opens early January thru March, with a new theme each year. Inside is around 26 to 28 degrees no matter what the weather is like outdoors. Sleeping bags are provided to keep guests warm and toasty.

There are no facilities in the rooms but there is a spa with heated restrooms, showers and hair dryers in the courtyard. Guests are encouraged to plan so they don't have to get up in the middle of the night for a nature call.

There’s one working fireplace that is insulated, the other fireplaces are purely decorative. The beds, furniture and serving glasses are all made of ice. There is a chapel where weddings can take place, it’s one of the top ’10 dream wedding locations’ around the globe. And there is the Grand Hall, a room filled with many ice sculptures and even an ice chandelier. Every sculpture, structure, doorway, and pillar is 100% solid ice.

According to a review in Feb 2021, the suite was worth the extra price because it had ice carvings. The room had a couch but no table and a desk with only one chair. The cost for one night was $700.

The chamber rooms, the size of prison cells, are plain and simple with a bed for the price of $300 to $400 a night.
Overnight guests can also stay at the nearby Valcartier resort, where their luggage is stored.

There are tours during the day, I didn’t see a cost. They run from 10 am to 8 pm so ones with ice hotel rooms need to vacate during those hours.

We enjoyed watching the movie and learning of this hotel but to visit and stay the night? No thank you!