Editing Exactly what it s really like to sleep in a snowfall hotel
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via Smarter Travel<br>No one goes to a snow hotel for eight hours of sleep. For some, the draw is simply the novelty. For others, it's a badge of honor to make it through the night. (Usually a couple of people end up bailing, but there's always a warm place provided to retreat to). For almost everyone, once is more than enough for a lifetime. <br>I've spent the night within three different snow hotels, 2 in Canadand one in Norway. After the first time I did it within Quebec City, I had the mindset of, "Okay, checked that off the travel bucket list, " but when a new one popped in Montreal a few years later, just six hrs by car from my house in Boston, I thought, "Well, really want to see what that one's such as. " Then, when a stay on the Kirkenes SnowHotel in Norway had been an optional excursion after a Hurtigruten Northern Lights cruise this winter season, I just couldn't resist. <br>My friends think this is a pretty weird activity for me. I mostly don't like winter, and sometimes I don't leave the house for days on end when the temperature scoops below 20. But , for me, staying in a snow hotel is an idealized version of winter: Everything will be pristine and beautiful. <br>RELATED: World's Best Ice Hotels and Igloo Villages<br>There are things common for all snow hotels. Ice sculptures beautify the hallways and bedrooms present walls of snow graced along with carvings that only last for some months at best. There's the essential ice bar where drinks are served in ice cups. Furs cover chairs made of snow. And almost always, there's the profound stop late at night when everyone is snug in their sleeping bags. <br>And below is the thing no one expects: Once if you're tucked into your bag rated to get arctic expeditions, you're warm as toast. The problem comes when you have to obtain out of your bag to visit the bathroom, which I invariably becomes a necessity. That's how I know about the silence at night, by the way. But that's just a minor annoyance. <br>Essentials<br>Yuriko Nakao<br>Everyone wonders about exactly what is needed to stay at a snow resort and the answer may surprise a person. Not much. The hotels give you everything you need for a comfortable night's sleep. With Kirkenes, that included clean wool socks, a head sock, the sheet sack, and of course a resting bag rated for minus-30 levels Celsius. <br>The beds at Kirkenes have normal mattresses with an additional thermal insulation layer. Ice obstructs placed around the beds make it appear like you're sleeping on ice, but you are not. The illusion only needs to proceed so far. The temperature inside the snowfall hotel is a constant minus-4 levels Celsius, so you do need your usual winter gear for roaming around. <br>Bathrooms, showers, a spa, restaurant and lounge are in a heated lodge, open all night and easily accessed from the snow resort. Word to the wise, if you think you will have to visit the facilities in the night, attempt to book a room as close as it can be. <br>RELATED: Zaniest Winter Festivals in the World<br>Mathieu Belanger/Reuters<br>You usually get a guide on how to get in and out of your handbag and what to wear. The key? Less much more. If you wear too many layers, you receive too hot. When you get too hot, you sweat, and then a person unzip the bag, which causes you to definitely get chilled and then it's very hard to get warm again. <br>In Quebec, canada ,, the tour guide suggested sleeping nude and keeping your clothing tucked into your bag so they would certainly stay warm. In Norway, they will suggested wearing just undergarments plus socks. Regardless of what you wear, there will be a moment when you're wriggling into your clothing and trying to stay in your bag, when if anyone was watching they would think you might be having some sort of a seizure-but the upside is you won't be chilly that long. <br>Extras and Excursions<br>Gary Mirielle. Prior/Getty<br>Since sleeping, in the end, is a relatively short part of the experience of staying at a snow hotel, most offer a variety of fun winter activities, from snowmobiling to dogsledding, and anything else you can think of relating to winter. <br>I visited Norway in March, when the Northern Lights are supposed to be spectacular, yet I hadn't really seen them on the cruise; Kirkenes gave me an additional chance to catch the elusive lights. Late at night, stalling my bed time, I was finally rewarded with a sighting. It felt almost poetic. <br>RELATED: 8 Places to See the Northern Lights<br>But hands down, my one of my favorite actions at any snow hotel I've been in order to was the option to go arctic california king crab fishing on the frozen fjord of Kirkenes. Those who signed up had been outfitted with full snowsuits, bundled onto sledges pulled by snowmobiles, and taken over the fjord in order to saw a hole in the snow and pull up the giant creatures. After we got what appeared like an enormous catch, we were taken to a farmhouse where the guide prepared the crabs over an outdoor fire and then served them up inside. Now i'm pretty sure I've never had a more delicious meal, and it made lots of lobsters I've had pale when compared. <br>The hotel had a few resident reindeer which were fun to visit, as well as kick sledges free to use, which a friend and I enjoyed while race each other. Which brings me to another highlight of sleeping in a snow hotel. There's a camaraderie you build with all the other overnight guests. <br>Come morning, over coffee and morning meal in the warm dining room, you trade stories with your fellow overnighters, collect your standard certificate declaring a person made it through the night, and wonder if you'd probably ever do it again. <br>In my situation, I know the answer is yes. <br>More from SmarterTravel: <br><br>10 Perfect Mountain Towns to See in Winter <br><br>10 National Recreational areas That Are Better in Winter <br><br>10 Relaxing Major resorts Where You Can Escape Winter <br>Read the original story: What It's Really Want to Sleep in a Snow Hotel simply by Kim Foley MacKinnon, who is the contributor to SmarterTravel. <br>Read the initial article on SmarterTravel. Copyright 2015. <br>More from SmarterTravel: <br><br>The 11 Most Egregious Travel-Consumer Issues <br><br>European Passport-Free Take a trip May Be on Its Way Out <br><br>Product Review: Genius Package Extensive Wheeled Upright <br><br>Lonely Planet Goes Digital with Guides App for 37 Cities <br><br>Product Review: Teva Northwater Sandals
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