The Hotel de Glace is a unique ice hotel located in Québec, northern Canada.  The hotel, with all the rooms and furniture built from snow and ice, only exists in winter and melts away when spring comes.  Every year the hotel is rebuilt with a different theme, and it is open for business for only three months.

This year, the 11th season of the Hotel de Glace opens to the public on a brand new site located only 10 minutes from downtown Québec City, running from January 7th to March 27th.  The construction of the hotel started in December last year, using 15,000 metric tons of snow and 500 metric tons of ice at a total cost of approximately $750,000 U.S. dollars.  Inside the hotel, you will discover 36 guest rooms and Theme Suites, beautiful exhibit halls, the Ice Café, the Ice Bar, and a magnificent ice chapel!  In addition, you can admire works of art sculpted in snow and ice throughout the hotel.

Though the outdoor average temperature of Québec goes below minus 20 degrees Celsius in winter, it is relatively comfortable inside the hotel.  This can be attributed to the thick exterior walls made of snow and ice, which is effective in blocking wind and snow and providing thermal insulation, evidenced by the construction of the Nuit people in Canada's arctic region and Greenland.

The theme of the Hotel de Glace changes from year to year.  This year, the design team developed a new theme "The Biodiversity In All Its Forms", showing the public a harmonious natural picture of this fascinating ice and snow world.

Source:
http://travel.huanqiu.com/news/2011-02/1494550.html
http://www.7676u.com/Books_News.aspx?gjid=2478&uid=2478
http://www.efu.com.cn/data/2011/2011-02-10/354825.shtml
http://www.icehotel-canada.com/