Hôtel de Glace
Quebec, Canada
Hôtel de Glace is rebuilt from scratch every winter near Quebec City, which means no two editions are the same building. Crews begin work in the autumn, spraying snow over temporary forms and carving ice once the structures cure; the hotel opens in early January and is gone by spring.
Inside, the temperature holds at a few degrees below zero regardless of the weather outside. Rooms are vaulted snow chambers with ice-block walls, carved reliefs that change with each season's theme, and beds raised on ice plinths and dressed with insulating mattresses and Arctic-rated sleeping bags. There is a chapel, a bar where the glasses are cut from ice, and a set of ice slides.
Guests keep their luggage in a heated pavilion and use heated washrooms there, which is the practical arrangement that makes an overnight stay workable. Most people book one night — it is an experience with a defined shape, and the staff brief you carefully on how to sleep warm before you try it.