ICEHOTEL - Jukkasjarvi, Swedia

I've been to 35 countries and the trip to the Ice Hotel is one of the most memorable.

The ICE hotel was amazing! One of my best experiences. Positives: The hotel has a shuttle from Kiruna airport though for a fee of 165 Swedish Krona. Most of the staff is polite and very helpful. Wi-Fi is free and excellent. They provide warm clothing and boots not just for the cold room, but for your entire stay there. They also have tours (very expensive though) to help you maximize your stay in Jukkasjarvi. Restaurant is right across from the hotel and they serve an excellent, varied breakfast. There were two mounds of snow atop which to view the northern lights.... Which I saw on my two nights there! It was a wonderful trip. I definitely recommend this ICE hotel. Warm rooms aren't just rooms but have a kitchenette, ironing board etc. ice bar was really nice Negatives; my only problem was the bathroom in the warm room which was small. Meals at the restaurant are expensive as well as the items in the souvenir shop.

The entire stay at the Icehotel was a very positive experience. The staff was friendly and informative. Upon arrival we were shown all the facilities and told how to use them. Later on we had another briefing how to dress for the night, where and when to collect the sleeping bags and bed linens and we were informed about hours of operations and special events.There is even a concert that night - an added bonus we did not expect. The reason why I gave a room comfort only 3 stars was not because of the cold. The sleeping bags were quite warm and comfortable. But the mattresses were very hard and the pillows very thin and did not offer any support.If those two items were a bit more comfortable, I would have given in a 5 all the way. We were very happy with our stay at the Icehotel and will have stories to tell for a long time to come.

Overall I enjoyed my experience during my one night stay in a cold room. The warm area provides a communal area for lockers and showers with adequate supplies. There is even access to a nice hot sauna after the cold night! The staff are very kind, helpful and accommodating. I was even lucky enough to see the northern lights over the hotel which is isolated an dark enough to see them clearly. The hotel is fairly isolated and therefore dinner can be tricky as you can only eat at their restaurant or a sister restaurant up the road. You are essentially forced to use their hotel restaurant which is pricey. With the prices you would expect good service but it took me 40minutes before someone came to my table to take my order. I ordered my meal and tap water but the water didn't come for another 20minutes so I had to get up and go ask for water to be brought to me. The service was possibly the worst I've received in any restaurant. Overall great experience but I'm glad I will never be eating that restaurant again.

We booked the Icehotel for April because the prices fall dramatically for the last few weeks. We were a bit worried that it might be a false economy if it was getting a bit tired and tatty at the end of the season. We needn't have worried. Condition was excellent. Temperatures still -5C inside but pleasantly mild outside. (About 0C by day and -10C at night). The saving allowed us to upgrade to an Art Suite which was just brilliant. Did one night in the cold room and one in a warm cabin which was spacious and spotlessly clean with two bedrooms, a large living room and even a small kitchen. Tours are quite expensive (even by Swedish standards) from the hotel but can be booked for around half the price from local companies in Kiruna. They all pick up at the Icehotel. Kiruna itself is worth a couple of hours (but not much more)! The local bus into Kiruna stops right outside the hotel. It takes about half an hour and is an enjoyable ride. We saw reindeer and others saw moose from the bus.