Hotel de Glace (Ice Hotel)

A once in a lifetime experience!!! My wife and I stayed in a Themed Suite the night of March 5th, and it was a magical experience. The cost was certainly not cheap, but the ice hotel room also comes with a regular hotel room in the regualr Valcartier hotel next to the ice hotel. Our Valcartier room overlooked the ice hotel and the tubing slopes and was a nicely furnished large suite. We arrived early in the day and spent the early part of the day and part of the afternoon snow tubing, which was awesome. In late afternoon we checked into the Valcartier hotel and were given our regular hotel room, a map of the ice hotel, site map and coupons for a free drink in the ice hotel. After checking in, we wandered over to the ice hotel to look around and check out our room for the night. We were in Suite S21. The ice hotel was simply incredible and much, much bigger than I anticipated. The details and artistry that are embodied into the ice hotel are jaw dropping. The whole complex is huge and breathtaking. We checked out our room for the night and the entire complex and then went to the bar to have our complimentary drink. The drinks are served in a frozen block of ice and look amazing! After touring the entire ice hotel, we went back to the Valcartier hotel room and warmed up and had a hot chocolate. Included in your ice hotel stay is use of the sauan and 3 hot tubs which all open at 9:00 pm. Wandering over to the sauna and hot tubs after 9:00 in a hotel provided robe in the wintery weather was a very unique experience. After 90 minutes or so of soaking in the hot tub and baking in the sauna, we went back to the Valcartier hotel room for a shower and to dry off and get prepared for our night in the ice hotel. At around 11:00 p.m. we went over to our room in the ice hotel where a bag for each of us was laid out on the bed. In the bag was a sleeping bag, a sleeping bag liner, and a small pillow. We quickly changed and slipped into our liner and sleeping bags. The sleeping bags were incredibly warm. We only wore a base layer of top and bottom, thermal socks and a toque and we were amply warm and comfortable throughout the night. At no time were we cold. Our themed suite was amazing. We did not opt for the fireplace or hot tub in our room, and we were happy with our decision. There is a switch on the bed to swith off the lights in the room. Our sleep was very peaceful and quiet and we awoke on our own around 7:30 completely rested. Overall, we were utterly impressed with the ice hotel, including our room. As mentioned earlier, our stay and the ice hotel exceeded expectations. Yes, it's not cheap, but for us it was well worth it for a once in a life-time experience. Highly recommended!

Honestly, words can’t do it justice. We did an evening walk through (our second time). Every room is different. There are amazing lighting effects and artistic wall sculpting….each room with a different theme. An ice chapel! Even an indoor ice slide for the kids! New this year is an elegant restaurant. Staying overnight must be wild! Go, go, go (can be combined with the water park, skating, etc). Truly amazing.

I came to Quebec City by myself and did not have a car. That said, please keep in mind there used to be a shuttle that you could take to reach the hotel. This service has been discontinued. The two best options for reaching the hotel would be a taxi or an Uber. Keep in mind the hotel is basically on the outskirts of town, which means there are very few Ubers you can take to reach return back to downtown Quebec City. On your way back to Quebec City, I would recommend asking the front desk to call a taxi for you. The taxis mainly take cash AND credit card. Overall, my stay was comfy and was a wonderful experience.

Surprised my wife with a romantic getaway and completely stunned her with the beauty and magic of this utterly unique ice hotel experience. So creative and artistic, fantastic incorporation of lights into all the decor… definitely check out online photography and video tours, to be amazed. I think I could visit here every year. We sprang for the premiere suite with fireplace and courtyard with private hot tub. (I mistakenly thought the hot tub would be in the room, but it is outside for an open sky view.) ice hotel room was forest themed, with trees carved up the walls and overhead, and animals everywhere– – Perfect. I wish we could have been better rested before arriving so we could have stayed up later enjoying it, before going to sleep. Their online instructions were clear and perfect. In the end I only used one layer of synthetic long underwear, and wore wool socks over regular socks. No hat. And I did not even have to cinch the mummy bag up around my head. The bag kept me perfectly warm and cozy, not too hot. someone else in her review left the advice to not drink much later in the evening, in order to try to avoid going to the bathroom… Yes, getting out of that snuggly bag in the middle of the night for a restroom trip was quite a shocker in 4°F. Leave yourself adequate time to tour every themed suite. Recommend proper snow boots and full insulated gear like snow pants, ski jacket, full headgear and gloves, for the walking tour and sliding board. Definitely heed their preparation guide if you will sleep there, RE clothing. We got up early enough to enjoy the hot tub again in the morning. I wish we had left ourselves enough time to enjoy it a few hours of the snow park before we had to leave. It’s a bit of a trek for us, over a 9 hour drive or a flight, but I will strongly consider doing this again for a two day stay, it is just so otherworldly special. The regular hotel room was perfectly lovely as well. The staff were professional and courteous, and the maintenance guy who rescued us when my sleeping bag zipper would not close, was a kind friendly soul, easy to love. Quick easy drive from Quebec City. The resort itself seems geared to families, given the indoor water park and the enormous snow park so while the ice hotel itself is romantic, just be prepared for all the families at the resort itself.

Really unique experience to see this engineering marvel. It is much larger than I remember from when I visited it over 10 years ago. Many more sculptures now. Amazing that they build this from the ground up every year. Like the additional tubing hill nearby. The $40 entrance fee was a little high.

We visited the public areas (Chapel and Bar). The snow/ice sculptures are very impressive. The lights make everything come alive. Drinks at the bar were fun, but too strong for me. We visited the other themed room the next morning. I am happy we selected the least expensive ice room (which was still pretty pricey). It is nice to look at, but once you are asleep you don't see the fancy carvings on the wall or the fireplace (which is only there for ambiance and doesn't give off any heat.) We made it until 430am, before heading back into the warmth of our complimentary room at the hotel. That room was immaculate and had a view of the Ice Hotel and tubbing hill. We ate at Safari restaurant (we were the only ones there).