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Hôtel de Glace
Valcartier, Quebec, Canada
Every winter this hotel is built again from nothing. Snow is blown over steel forms, the forms are pulled once it sets, and ice is cut and fitted for walls, furniture, and glazing. By spring the whole structure has melted back into the ground it stood on.
The plan changes year to year, but the elements hold: vaulted corridors, themed suites carved by a rotating group of sculptors, a chapel, a bar where the glasses are ice, and a slide cut into the snow. Interior temperature stays just below freezing regardless of the weather outside.
Guests sleep in Arctic-rated bags on ice bases with insulating layers, after a briefing on how to do it properly. Heated pavilions nearby hold the showers, lockers, and outdoor spas. Day visits run alongside overnight stays for anyone who wants the architecture without the night.