For close to 25 years, the famous Ice Hotel is carved from the snow and ice in Jukkasjärvi, a small village in Northern Sweden. More than just unique accommodations, the Ice Hotel is an ephemeral art project recreated each year; 50 artists are recruited to devise works from ice blocks harvested from the Torne River in one of Europe’s last wilderness areas (over 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle).
Buzzworthy for winter 2014: Guests will have the opportunity to design their own custom suites, which will be available starting in December. These bespoke accommodations will be some of the most expensive digs in the world (starting from SEK 1,485,000, over $230,000). Guests will work closely with the artists on the design process. Arne Bergh, Creative Director of Ice Hotel, said: "We want to create a forum in which guests can express their own design ideas and experiment with ice as an art material. The beauty of ice is that it only exists briefly and then goes away, it unleashes an incredible creativity in people."
Proceeds will be donated to environmental groups that sponsor initiatives in the Baltic Sea. When the suite melts in the spring after the client’s check-out, water from the melted ice will be collected, bottled, and given to the client, along with the design blueprints and photographs. For more information, visit www.icehotel.com
