My state has had plenty of winter so far, and there’s still plenty of winter to go.
But if plenty of winter still isn’t enough, there’s a way to level up: by staying at an ice hotel.
The most famous ice hotel in North America is Hôtel de Glace in Quebec City, which is appropriately named.
The structure is made entirely from more than 40,000 tons of ice and snow.
It takes around 50 people and six weeks of work to put the hotel together each year.
Most of them handle the construction of the 30 room building, while others focus on the ice sculptures and wall ice carvings that give each year’s hotel a unique character.
Each year has a theme: for one year full of fantastic scenes, they had chandeliers that look like jellyfish.
Another year had a hockey theme (appropriate given where they live).
They do use wooden forms to give the ice shape and strength, but eventually those are removed and the ice supports itself.
Plus, anything that can be made of ice inside is made of ice, from the glasses used to serve drinks to the beds.
(They do offer sleeping bags to guests, as well as a required training so that every guest is prepared to sleep in the unusual setting.)
Hôtel de Glace was inspired by the ice hotels in Scandanavia, many of which are still in operation.
The aptly named IceHotel in Sweden, north of the Arctic Circle, says it’s hosted 70,000 guests and 80 weddings over the years.
Some hotels offer fiberglass igloos with see-through tops, in case you want to look for the Northern Lights during your stay.
And a few offer old-school igloos made of snow.
Some of these ice hotels also offer hot tubs, saunas and even fireplaces.
But all of them advise travelers to dress for the weather.
When you’re staying at an ice hotel, you’re probably not going to sleep in just a t-shirt and pajama pants.
They say timing is everything, and a Reddit user can agree to that.
According to their post, they were reading through an illustrated guide to birds when they came to the page of the Australian King Parrot.
Just then, an actual live Australian King Parrot flew over and landed on top of the book, right above the drawings.
Canada’s Ice Hotel Is an Incredible Winter Wonderland — and Now You Can Explore It From Home (Travel + Leisure)
8 Ice and Igloo Hotels to Visit This Winter (UrbanDaddy)
Australian Parrot Lands on Redditor’s Bird Book at Exact Moment It’s Open to Its Page (My Modern Met)
