Watch the video of the Icehotel taking shape

It’s a hotel where the temperature is below freezing, there’s no ensuite bathroom and no television, but people clamour to pay hundreds of pounds to stay there.

Sweden’s Icehotel opened for its eighteenth season this week, and despite a host of replicas around the world, few match the Icehotel's popularity.

The hotel is in Swedish Lapland, a magical region that’s a good match for Narnia for around four months of the year. The fir trees are dusted white, street lamps glow all day with only a glimpse of subdued sunlight over midday, and children glide down the streets on foot-propelled sledges.

Each year the Icehotel is built in the village of Jukkasjarvi, 100 miles inside the Arctic Circle. Construction starts in mid-December using pure, clear ice harvested from the Torne River. Ice and a mixture of snow and ice is used to build the hotel walls, ceiling, beds, reception desk, the bar and even the glasses.

The hotel opened its first ten bedrooms on Friday December 7 and will open a further 80 bedrooms over the coming weeks.

The good news for British visitors this year is that direct flights between London and Kiruna, a 15-minute drive from the Icehotel, will launch on December 18. The flight time is three-and-a-half, which saves a four-hour flight via Stockholm plus at least an hour transfer time. The flight is operated by Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) from Heathrow.

Visitors tend to spend between two and four nights in Jukkasjarvi, with one night in an ice room and the remainder in one of the Icehotel’s warm rooms, either in a hotel or one of the chalets. The short days put a dampner on day-long activities for much of the year, but most guests find time for husky dog sledding, snowmobiling, ice driving or a lesson in ice sculpting.

Drinks are served below zero degrees in the hotel’s Absolut Icebar, but food is offered in the more cosy surroundings of the hotel’s two restaurants, which serve wholesome warming dishes including local specialities such as reindeer and elk.

Throughout the day the Icehotel welcomes visitors on tours, but at night guests have the hotel to themselves. The first ten bedrooms, which opened last week, are Art Suites, designed and created by artists from around the world. Each was chosen on the merits of their design but few have worked with ice before – their talents include sculpting, illustrating, filmmaking and woodwork.

The results are varied and spectacular – suite designs range from smooth waves of snow and ice curling around a double bed, to crystal clear ice blocks in geometric patterns that support double bed.

The artists responsible for the design of the first ten rooms, some of which are featured in the video above, are Laura and Lele Trabb, Sakai Hiroyoshi, Maurizio Perron, Kestutis Musteikis, Oppen, Natsuki Manakata and Shingo Saito, James Drew and Ben Rousseau and Patrik Dallard.

Need to know

Discover the World offers three and four night trips between December and April to the Icehotel. Breaks cost from £754 per person including direct flights from the UK to Kiruna, one night in an ice bedroom, and the remainder of the stay in a warm room, transfers from the airport and breakfast. Excursions, other meals, drinks and insurance cost extra. Direct flights depart on specific dates between December 18 and March 25 - see www.discoverlapland.co.uk for more details.

Excursions at the Icehotel cost from £123 for 90 minutes husky sledding including a campfire stop for coffee and cake, or £72 for 90 minutes snowmobiling.

For more information about Swedish Lapland go to Visitsweden.com

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