Ice Hotel, Quebec
418-875-4522
www.icehotel-canada.com

North America’s only ice hotel -- modeled after the original ice hotel in Sweden -- celebrates its fifth anniversary this winter on the shores of Lake St. Joseph, just half an hour west of downtown Quebec City.

The 30,000-square-foot hotel made with 12,000 tons of snow and 400 tons of ice reopens for the season Jan. 7, with 18-foot ceilings, 4-foot-thick walls, 32 rooms and suites, a spacious reception area and a bar sponsored by Absolut vodka. Even the queen-size beds are built on blocks of ice, topped with wood frames, foam mattresses, deer pelt covers and cozy sleeping bags to ward off the brisk interior temperatures, which average around 25 degrees Fahrenheit. In case you’re wondering, the hotel bathrooms are made from more conventional materials and stay fully heated around the clock.

The temporary structure is erected each year on the grounds of a winter sports center offering cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, ice skating, dog sledding, snowmobiling and other activities. Double rates, including breakfast and a welcome cocktail, begin at $522.40 Canadian per night, which works out to less than $450 in U.S. currency. Just be sure to make the trip before April 30 when the walls begin to melt.