If you’ve ever complained of your hotel room being too cold, these lodgings may come as a shock to the system – there again, with luxury to trump most five-star offerings and an exclusive time frame that opens to guests for just three months of the year – if luxury’s what you’re after it might just be worth donning those thermals for a truly unique hotel experience.
Inception
For as long as he can remember, Jacques Desbois, now CEO of the Hotel de Glace has been passionate about winter and the snow. In 1996, he established La Piste Desbois, and eco-tourism company specialising in the design of interactive igloo villages. Nicknamed Mr Igle, Mr Desbois has worked hard to ensure the reputation of his company. Unique in Canada, La Piste Desbois has been involved in numerous festival, cities and organisations over the years such the Quebec Winter Carnival, the Fete des Neiges de Montreal and the Musee de la civilisation of Quebec, which all thrived under the expertise of La Piste Desbois.
Inspired by an article covering an ice hotel in Sweden in 1996, Desbois is quoted to have said “if they can do it in Sweden, we can do it here in Quebec, the snow capital of the world”. Having met the creators of the project in Sweden, Desbois carried out a number of feasibility studies and was subsequently joined Michel Mordet in Quebec, who joined the team as a special advisor after working for the Transat group in Europe.
The imagination and devotion that the group brought the project helped it through a number of hurdles in those early years, not least the tenacity to bring this technical feat of engineering to completion.
And so after four years of hard work it was in 201 that the world recognised this incredible attraction when it was first established at Montmorency falls. For the next nine years the curiosity of visitors would mean the project flourished at its site at the Station Touristique Duchesnay before moving in 2011 to the old site of Quebec Zoo. This year the hotel has been completely redesigned and will open just a stone’s throw away from Quebec from January 6 until March 26.
Construction
Initial building work on the hotel begins in mid-December, when the temperatures reach below zero. At this time a team of around 50 people, a mixture of construction specialists, sculptors and designers, work day and night until construction is painstakingly completed. Although other materials are used as part of the construction process, snow forms the fundamental building blocks of the project, 15,000 tons of it in fact. It is made on site by blowers to ensure optimum humidity before a 3,000sq m deck that is two feet think is build to support the structure.
Next the rooms and arches of the hotel are formed using giant metal moulds, where the snow is compacted and left for three days to ensure solidity. After this time the moulds are painstakingly removed to reveal the elegant structures of the hotel. Once the bare bones of the structure are formed and the moulds have been successfully removed, ice blocks weighing up to 500 tons are used to create interior features such as furniture, bars, sculptures and ice glasses. Huge ice walls also feature at the end of some corridors to create magical light effects.
A night in the ice
Although a beautiful and inspiring experience, guests to the Hotel de Glace must come prepared for a night of sub-zero temperatures of between -25oC to 5oC during the winter in Quebec. Guests are advised to adopt the three-layer technique consisting of a breathable interior layer, a middle layer to isolate and control humidity, and an extra layer to shield wind. Other essentials include hats, gloves, scarves and a good pair of boots.
Even if the hotel and its furniture are entirely made of ice and snow, you will of course be getting a very comfortable bed. Blocks of ice make the base, followed by a solid wood base and comfortable mattress. A cosy sleeping bag, isolated bed sheet and pillow are also delivered to guests’ rooms shortly before they retire. No matter what the weather outside, room temperatures remain remarkably constant at around -3oC. But if this preparation seems a bit daunting, never fear, guides will be on hand to show you the ropes with a quick yet comprehensive training session so you won’t ever be distracted from all that icy luxury.
And speaking of luxury, you’ll be immersed in a magical world created by some the finest ice artisans around, where everything from the glasses you drink from to the chairs you sit on has been created from snow and carved ice. The team at Hotel de Glace is internationally recognised is the specialist production of ice structures, even catering for bespoke requests and corporate functions in the magnificent ice bar, such as carved corporate logos, imaginative décor and – or pretty much anything you can think of.
The Hotel de Glace also has an interior court where the ‘Nordic Area’, with its spas and sauna is located under the stars. These are available to guests between 8am until 8pm and it comes highly recommended that guests use the facilities to warm themselves and dry off before going to bed.
After reclining against the vast ice sheets and magnificent snow domes, there remains little more to do than marvel at the incredible surroundings, grab a cocktail at the ice bar, or engage in one of the guided tours or cultural events that take place in the hotel. Truly a unique experience from year to year, it seems a shame that like a snowman this beautiful architecture will eventually melt away. Still, this just adds to the feeling that you’re a part of something really special.
