Exactly what it s really like to sleep in a snow hotel

through Smarter Travel<br>No one goes to a snow hotel for eight hrs of sleep. For some, the attract is simply the novelty. For others, from the 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 sufficient for a lifetime. <br>I've spent the night in three different snow hotels, two in Canadand one in Norway. After the first time I did it in Quebec City, I had the mindset of, "Okay, checked that from the travel bucket list, " but when a new one popped in Montreal a few years later, just six hours by car from my home in Boston, I thought, "Well, why don't you enjoy see what that one's like. " Then, when a stay in the Kirkenes SnowHotel in Norway has been an optional excursion after a Hurtigruten Northern Lights cruise this wintertime, I just couldn't resist. <br>My buddies think this is a pretty weird activity for me. I mostly don't like winter season, 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: Tour's Best Ice Hotels and Igloo Villages<br>There are things common to all snow hotels. Ice sculptures decorate the hallways and bedrooms present walls of snow graced along with carvings that only last for a few months at best. There's the essential ice bar where drinks are served in ice cups. Furs cover chairs made of snow. Many always, there's the profound quiet late at night when everyone is comfortable in their sleeping bags. <br>And below is the thing no one expects: Once occur to be tucked into your bag rated with regard to arctic expeditions, you're warm because toast. The problem comes when you have to get out of your bag to visit the bathroom, that i invariably becomes a necessity. That's the way i know about the silence at night, in addition. But that's just a minor annoyance. <br>Essentials<br>Yuriko Nakao<br>Everyone wonders about elaborate needed to stay at a snow hotel and the answer may surprise you. Not much. The hotels give you all you need for a comfortable night's sleep. From Kirkenes, that included clean wool socks, a head sock, a sheet sack, and of course a sleeping bag rated for minus-30 levels Celsius. <br>The beds at Kirkenes have normal mattresses with an extra thermal insulation layer. Ice prevents placed around the beds make it appear to be you're sleeping on ice, but you're not. The illusion only needs to move so far. The temperature inside the snow hotel is a constant minus-4 levels Celsius, so you do need your usual winter gear for roaming around. <br>Bathrooms, showers, a sauna, restaurant and lounge are in a heated lodge, open all night and easily accessed from the snow hotel. Word to the wise, if you think you will have to visit the facilities in the night, try to book a room as close as possible. <br>RELATED: Zaniest Winter Festivals in the World<br>Mathieu Belanger/Reuters<br>You usually get a tutorial on how to get in and out of your bag and what to wear. The key? Less much more. If you wear too many layers, you will get too hot. When you get as well 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 might stay warm. In Norway, they suggested wearing just undergarments plus socks. Regardless of what you wear, you will see a moment when you're wriggling into your clothing and trying to stay in your bag, when if anyone was watching they might think you might be having some sort of a seizure-but the upside is you won't be cool that long. <br>Extras and Excursions<br>Gary M. Prior/Getty<br>Since sleeping, in the end, is a fairly short part of the experience of staying at the snow hotel, most offer a slew of fun winter activities, from snowmobiling to dogsledding, and anything else you can think of relating to winter. <br>I went to Norway in March, when the North Lights are supposed to be spectacular, but I hadn't really seen them on the cruise; Kirkenes gave me another chance to catch the elusive lighting. Late at night, stalling my bedtime, 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 routines at any snow hotel I've been to was the option to go arctic ruler crab fishing on the frozen fjord of Kirkenes. Those who signed up had been outfitted with full snowsuits, included onto sledges pulled by snowmobiles, and taken over the fjord in order to saw a hole in the ice and pull up the giant animals. After we got what seemed like an enormous catch, we were taken to a farmhouse where the guide prepared the particular crabs over an outdoor fire and after that served them up inside. I am just pretty sure I've never had a more delicious meal, and it made plenty of lobsters I've had pale in contrast. <br>The hotel had a few resident reindeer which were fun to visit, along with kick sledges free to use, which usually a friend and I enjoyed while racing each other. Which brings me to another highlight of sleeping in a snow hotel. There's a camaraderie you construct with all the other overnight guests. <br>Come morning, over coffee and morning meal in the warm dining room, you swap stories with your fellow overnighters, collect your standard certificate declaring a person made it through the night, and wonder if you'd 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 Parks That Are Better in Winter  <br><br>10 Relaxing Hotels Where You Can Escape Winter  <br>Read the original story: What It's Really Like to Sleep in a Snow Hotel simply by Kim Foley MacKinnon, who is a contributor to SmarterTravel. <br>Read the original article on SmarterTravel. Copyright 2015. <br>More from SmarterTravel:  <br><br>The 11 Most Egregious Travel-Consumer Issues  <br><br>European Passport-Free Journey May Be on Its Way Out  <br><br>Product Review: Genius Group Extensive Wheeled Upright  <br><br>Lonely Planet Goes Electronic with Guides App for 38 Cities  <br><br>Product Review: Teva Northwater Sandals