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Ice Hotel (Québec)
Encyclopedia
The Ice Hotel near Quebec City
, Quebec
, Canada
is the first ice hotel
in North America
.
in 2001. For its first year it was located in Montmorency Falls
Park, which is on the outskirts of Quebec City
, with plans right from the beginning to move to the nearby Duchesnay resort for its next year, where it has been built ever since.
The hotel is located 5 km north of Quebec City
, on the first slopes of the Laurentian mountains, in the Charlesbourg borough. It is the first ice hotel in North America
and is built each December for an opening date in early January. The hotel has a four-month lifespan each year before being brought down in April. It had 22 beds when it first opened in 2000. In its last iteration it had 85 beds, all made of ice but lined with deer
furs and covered with mattresses and Arctic sleeping bags. Only the bathrooms are heated and located in a separate insulated structure.
It takes about a month and a half to build with 60 workers. The Hotel makes its own snow using a special mixture to adjust the humidity. It is built with metal frames, it is allowed to harden for a few days, and then the cranes are removed. The hotel is made of 15,000 tons of snow and 500,000 tons of ice and the walls are up to four feet thick.
The hotel is usually made (the architecture
and size may vary from season to season) in arches over rooms with 16 foot (5 m) and larger and higher spaces for one art galleries
a club dubbed the N'Ice Club, an "Ice Café" and a 60-feet slide. The walls are over 4 feet (1.2 m) thick on average. All furniture is made of ice. In addition to using ice glasses as in the Kiruna ice hotel
, the bar (and room service) also serves cold cuts on ice plates.
Amenities include a nightclub, movie theater, indoor heated washrooms and outdoor hot tubs.
. For its first year, it costs $350,000 to build, including $125,000 from the Quebec government.
Tours are available in French or English, seven days a week, and the hotel is otherwise open to the public. After the fourth season, the official statistics reported 220,000 visitors and 10,500 overnight guests. In its fifth season, it hosted around 70,000 tourists.
where weddings are celebrated. The Ice Hotel has been described as one of the "10 dream wedding locations."
Eighteen weddings were conducted for the 2003 season, and the Ice Hotel had its first same-sex wedding in February 2005, after same-sex marriages became legal in Quebec
in April of the previous year.
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
is the first ice hotel
Ice hotel
An ice hotel is a temporary hotel made up of snow, sculpted blocks of ice, and some steel framing. They are promoted by their sponsors and have special features for travelers who are interested in novelties and unusual environments, and thus are in the class of destination hotels...
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
History
The Ice Hotel opened on New Year's DayNew Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
in 2001. For its first year it was located in Montmorency Falls
Montmorency Falls
The Montmorency Falls are a large waterfall on the Montmorency River in Quebec, Canada. The falls are located on the boundary between the borough of Beauport, Quebec City, and Boischatel, about 12 km from the heart of old Quebec City...
Park, which is on the outskirts of Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, with plans right from the beginning to move to the nearby Duchesnay resort for its next year, where it has been built ever since.
The hotel is located 5 km north of Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, on the first slopes of the Laurentian mountains, in the Charlesbourg borough. It is the first ice hotel in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and is built each December for an opening date in early January. The hotel has a four-month lifespan each year before being brought down in April. It had 22 beds when it first opened in 2000. In its last iteration it had 85 beds, all made of ice but lined with deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
furs and covered with mattresses and Arctic sleeping bags. Only the bathrooms are heated and located in a separate insulated structure.
It takes about a month and a half to build with 60 workers. The Hotel makes its own snow using a special mixture to adjust the humidity. It is built with metal frames, it is allowed to harden for a few days, and then the cranes are removed. The hotel is made of 15,000 tons of snow and 500,000 tons of ice and the walls are up to four feet thick.
Description
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
and size may vary from season to season) in arches over rooms with 16 foot (5 m) and larger and higher spaces for one art galleries
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
a club dubbed the N'Ice Club, an "Ice Café" and a 60-feet slide. The walls are over 4 feet (1.2 m) thick on average. All furniture is made of ice. In addition to using ice glasses as in the Kiruna ice hotel
Icehotel (Jukkasjärvi)
The Icehotel in the village of Jukkasjärvi, about 17 km from Kiruna, Sweden, was the world's first ice hotel. After its first opening in 1990, the hotel has been erected each year from December to April.-History:...
, the bar (and room service) also serves cold cuts on ice plates.
Amenities include a nightclub, movie theater, indoor heated washrooms and outdoor hot tubs.
Tourist site
The hotel has been described as a "tourist hotspot" and is backed by Quebec's tourism departmentMinistry of Tourism (Quebec)
The Minister of Tourism is responsible for promoting tourism to the province of Quebec.The current minister is Nicole Ménard.-External links:*...
. For its first year, it costs $350,000 to build, including $125,000 from the Quebec government.
Tours are available in French or English, seven days a week, and the hotel is otherwise open to the public. After the fourth season, the official statistics reported 220,000 visitors and 10,500 overnight guests. In its fifth season, it hosted around 70,000 tourists.
Weddings
There is a chapelChapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
where weddings are celebrated. The Ice Hotel has been described as one of the "10 dream wedding locations."
Eighteen weddings were conducted for the 2003 season, and the Ice Hotel had its first same-sex wedding in February 2005, after same-sex marriages became legal in Quebec
Same-sex marriage in Quebec
On March 19, 2004, the Quebec Court of Appeals ruled similarly to the Ontario and B.C. courts, upholding Hendricks and Leboeuf v. Quebec and ordering that it take effect immediately...
in April of the previous year.