Passion for Québec and Elsewhere

A few years ago, I visited the Ice Hotel in Quebec City. I found it fascinating to spend a few hours in an ephemeral building made of snow and ice. The first edition on North American soil took place in 2001 in the Parc de la Chute-Montmorency in Quebec City and had 11 rooms.

Since 2016, the Valcartier Holiday Village (Village Vacances Valcartier) has been the place where this icy construction has been forging a renewed image every year. The prime contractors start work on the first days of December and finish about 6 weeks later for the official opening of the winter season. All snow is made on site in large steel bins to control quality and humidity. They produce an average of 30,000 tonnes of snow to build the various pavilions. The blocks are assembled to create several spaces with common areas and private spaces for the rooms. For the decoration, it will take 500 tons of ice blocks that will be worked and sculpted to make furniture as well as real works of art that will decorate various places of this extraordinary hotel.

The common areas planned during the construction are: the large hall, the chapel, the bar and the slide. A spa and outdoor sauna are also available. The bathrooms are in a separate heated building. Each room and suite has an ice bed with a mattress, a sheet, a pillow per person and an individual sleeping bag for each person. The decoration of every single suite is unique. There is a fireplace in each room, but it serves only as ambient lighting, it will not heat up your room or suite.

When you book a night at the Ice Hotel, you have a second room reserved for you inside the traditional Village Vacances Valcartier hotel where you can leave your belongings at the end of the afternoon upon arrival. If the experience in your snow and ice room is not conclusive, know that you have a warm bed in a normal room waiting for you as well as an ensuite bathroom.

The Ice Hotel’s website provides you with all the information you need to plan your stay, suggesting the clothes you need for all phases of your evening and your night. In addition, many other activities are offered on the premises including the winter playground with its tube slides, snow rafting and skating. The Bora Park, an indoor water park with slides, a river, a swimming pool, a surf wave. You prefer to relax, so the Aroma Spa offers treatments and a balneotherapy experience with Finnish sauna, steam bath, hot tub, cold pool, indoor and outdoor pools.

For an exceptional wedding, the chapel of the Ice Hotel is the perfect venue. Many weddings take place every year during the winter season in an enchanting setting. Many packages are offered as well as for couples wishing to renew their matrimonial vows.

Just like me, you don’t have to book a room at the Ice Hotel to sample the experience. Daily visits are organized during the day and in the evening. However, during the day, it will be possible to visit a room or a suite, but not in the evening, since they are assigned to the guests. Once the tour is over, you can quench your thirst at the ice bar by ordering a specialty or your favourite drink that will be served in an ice-cut glass.

April sounds the end of the winter season. The demolition team will start its work and about five hours later, there will remain only a heap of ice and snow on the site that have charmed several thousand people for three months.

Ice Hotel at Village Vacances Valcartier
2280 Valcartier Boulevard
Valcartier, Quebec 
G0A4S0

Telephone: +1 (418) 844-2200
Toll free: +1 (888) 384-5524