The Ice Hotel is rebuilt from scratch every year, so every visit is a once in a lifetime experience
The Ice Hotel Quebec (or as it is known there, Hotel de Glace) is an absolute must see for any tourist that is fascinated by unusual hotels, and really, anyone considering canadian tourist attractions that is considering a winter vacation that they will always remember. (See the itinerary from the trip we took!)
This ice hotel, just outside Quebec city is rebuilt every year, opening on Jan 1st, and remains open through April. Photographs cannot do the Hotel de Glace justice. I can only imagine it being what the inside of the Ice Queen’s palace in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe must be like. Every surface shines and shimmers. Sculptures, furniture, every structure in the entire hotel is carved from ice!
Is it cold in the Quebec Ice hotel? For sure, and the hotel’s website has a orientation sheet that outlines what sort of clothes you need to bring with you so that you can enjoy the experience. Don’t forget gloves so that you can enjoy your drink at the ice bar, because yes, the glasses are even made of ice! Don’t worry about sleeping though. Although the bed frames are carved from ice, they have wooden box springs and a foam mattress and you will be supplied with arctic sleeping bags to keep you warm! Some of the rooms even have their own fireplaces!
You’ll be able to really enjoy the Ice Hotel Quebec from the outside as well! The arctic spa has several outdoor hot tubs that are the perfect place to sit outside, watch the snow fall and maybe even see the northern lights! The Aurora is a natural phenomenon that you can only really see in the winter. What better opportunity to sit outside for hours while watching the sky, than while soaking in an outdoor hot tub at the Quebec Ice hotel?
The Ice Hotel Quebec is part of the Duchesnay Touristic Centre and offers many outdoor activities such as dogsledding, ice fishing and cross country skiing. A mere 30 miles from Quebec City, you can easily use the Hotel de Glace as a jumping off point (or the amazing finale) to a longer visit in North America’s most European city.
Lastly, do not miss the ice church that is built every year alongside the ice hotel. With special wedding packages available, the gothic ice architecture is, without question, one of the most stunning locations for a winter wedding.
When you are planning your Quebec Ice Hotel visit, be sure to look at the special promotions that are available (especially in September). Prices are not much higher than a high-end hotel in a major city, and there is no experience like it, except perhaps at one of the other two ice hotels in the world in Sweden and Finland. There used to be one in Alaska, but it closed and is now a museum, making the Ice Hotel Quebec the only ice hotel in North America!
Lastly, if the Ice Hotel Quebec fascinates you, but you just can’t see yourself lasting a whole night there, you can still go and visit to just have a drink at the Absolut Ice Bar or take a tour. You can stay at the Duchesnay hotel, or incorporate a day visit as part of a longer visit to Quebec City or Montreal.
José has been traveling longer than he can quite remember, and is always on the lookout for another opportunity to hit the road, hop on the plane or grab a train to someplace new. When not traipsing the world, he enjoys studying foreign languages, 
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