Construction of 23rd ICEHOTEL Underway in Swedish Lapland

Nov. 23, 2012 - PRLog -- 23rd November 2012 - With temperatures now dipping below freezing, construction of this season’s new ICEHOTEL in Swedish Lapland has begun in the picturesque village of Jukkasjärvi. Completion is set to coincide with the start of Discover the World’s direct flights from Heathrow to Kiruna Airport from 15 December 2012.

The building process involves spraying layers of “snice” (a unique mixture of snow and ice) over arch-shaped metal frames.  Snice has the insulating effect of snow, but is lighter than ice and stronger than snow. The moulds are covered in about eight batches of snice and left to set for a few days until they are solid enough to stand alone and the moulds are pulled out.

New Northern Lights Suites at ICEHOTEL
To celebrate the Aurora Borealis reaching its peak in the 11-year cycle, ICEHOTEL is creating ten new Northern Lights Suites. The rooms will feature a ‘swipe’ of ice with spectacular LED lighting themed to capture the magic of the Aurora Borealis, so guests can enjoy their own northern lights show from the comfort of an illuminated ice bed.

Describing the new suites, Arne Bergh, Artistic Director of ICEHOTEL said, “This year we wanted to highlight the Aurora Borealis and the idea we came up with was to create our very own Northern Lights Suites. The suites will be an artistic celebration of the Solar Max and will be interpreted through the use of frozen water from the Torne River and LED lights.”

A three night break at the ICEHOTEL including one night in a Northern Lights Suite is priced from £1,152 per person, based on two sharing and includes direct flights from London to Kiruna with Discover the World.

Exclusive Northern Lights flights to coincide with spring equinox – WIN 2 FREE SEATS
For the second year, ICEHOTEL guests will have the opportunity to take to the skies for the best possible chance of viewing the Northern Lights above the clouds. Discover the World is the only UK tour operator with access to this unique flight and has an allocation of seats exclusively for Discover the World guests.

The flights run by Spaceport Sweden in collaboration with the Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna, take groups of up to 12 passengers, each with their own window. Passengers are given a pre-flight presentation at ICEHOTEL, before the group is transferred to Spaceport Sweden for the hour-long flight.  

Two scheduled flights are available –both coinciding with Discover the World’s 16 March ICEHOTEL Break departure.  March is also the time of the spring equinox or Vernal, another optimal time for aurora viewing (together with the autumnal equinox in September). This is when geomagnetic storms are strongest and these storms are usually the cause of the aurora.

Discover the World’s Northern Lights Flight excursions are scheduled for 17 and 18 March 2013 and cost from approximately £630 per person.  All passengers travelling on Discover the World’s direct flight from Heathrow to Kiruna departing 16 March will be entered into a prize draw for 2 free seats on this excursion.

www.discover-the-world.co.uk/en/excursions/sweden/northern-lights-flight/

ICEHOTEL spring break – perfect for Northern Lights viewing
Last March 2012, during the spring equinox, the northern lights made an appearance every night, all night!  What’s more, March is a lovely time to travel as it offers the longest hours of polar light of the season and has the mildest temperatures.  
In March 2013, departures are available 9 and 16 March.  Prices from £1,099 per person (based on two adults sharing accommodation) and include direct flights from Heathrow to Kiruna with an in-flight meal and drinks, transfers, one night in a Snow Room and two nights in a warm Kaamos Room, morning sauna and breakfast.  

www.discover-the-world.co.uk/en/holidays/sweden/icehotel-break/

For all bookings and information go to www.discover-the-world.co.uk or call 01737 214 291.

Social Media links:
www.twitter.com/DTW_Holidays
www.facebook.com/DiscovertheWorldUK  


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For further information please contact
Fiona Reece or Steffi Thomas at Fiona Reece PR,
01242 211192 / / 07702 684 682/ 07725 167665
fiona@fionareece.com/ steffi@fionareece.com


About ICEHOTEL

ICEHOTEL is the world’s first hotel built entirely of ice and snow. It is also the world’s largest: 5,500 square meters large and built of 21,500 tons of snice (a mixture of snow and Torne River ice) and 900 tons of ice. ICEHOTEL is designed by artists, which means that the creations are unique and this differentiates ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi from others that have appeared in various places around the world.

To be able to create ICEHOTEL, the construction is done in several phases. As one section is completed, it opens to visitors and overnight guests, while the other sections are still under construction.  The first part of the hotel opens in the beginning of December, and from then, new rooms opens each week for ICEHOTEL to be fully completed by the beginning of January.

Adjacent to ICEHOTEL are the warm buildings where there are dressing rooms, saunas, luggage storage, relaxing areas, restaurants, warm accommodation and much more. This part of the hotel is open year around and trips are available for guests to watch the construction of ICEHOTEL rooms.

ICEBAR by ICEHOTEL opens in mid-December. The main hall and Ice Chapel are ready to open in time for Christmas.

Notes to editors

Generic images of ICEHOTEL are available now.