Taking road trips to the next province over in Quebec is one of my favorite kinds of nearby trips to take. I’ve always said that it feels like I’m visiting a different country and I love their architecture, cobblestone roads, how food is an art over there, and the beautiful nature they have to offer. But this time, I’ve embarked on a really unique journey in the winter – staying at Hôtel De Glace (Ice Hotel) at Hôtel Valcartier. And although I’m not such a fan of the winter, I thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience to try. This destination was actually part of a surprise trip that I took my husband on to celebrate his first year of being in Canada. Needless to say, it was a great road trip and experience for both of us.
Those who aren’t familiar with Canada may assume that we all live in igloos, but that’s not the case! We have to go so far out of our way to even have this kind of an experience. It took about an 8-hour drive each way – and this was the closest we could get to the real thing. So I’ll be sharing with you my ice hotel experience in Quebec, Canada should you want to cross this off your bucket list as well!
Why Hôtel De Glace (Ice Hotel) Is So Special
Hôtel De Glace first opened on January 1, 2001, and is the only ice hotel in North America – one of two in the world! It is rebuilt yearly with a different theme and takes about a month and a half to build. It is made entirely of ice and with 30,000 tons of manmade snow that’s churned to become denser and more humid so that it doesn’t melt and keeps its structure for the 3 months it is open from January to March every winter.
They have a Grand Hall, a family area, an Ice Bar, a chapel where couples can have their dream wedding (this ice hotel is actually a dream wedding destination), and 30 rooms and themed ice suites.
It is also located on the Hôtel Valcartier property so you can also get access to other outdoor and indoor activities which I’ll share in more detail below!
How Should You Prepare For An Ice Hotel Experience
If you’re opting to stay at Hôtel De Glace for your own ice hotel experience, I highly suggest preparing mentally and physically for the event! Although the ice hotel is built in a way that keeps guests insulated and warm, you are still quite literally in an igloo. Unless you get a suite with a fireplace, it’ll be pretty cold throughout the night – and I’ll explain my own experience below!
Hôtel De Glace provides you with a printout of their Preparation Guide with all the details you need to know about your stay once you check in. And you will actually be required to attend a 20-minute training session at either 7 PM or 8 PM to go over the instructions again. And for some reason, they will really emphasize changing your socks right before you get into your sleeping bag. They will also let you know it’s better to wear synthetic clothing since cotton can make you sweat (so remember to pack the right type of clothing). And once you sweat, it’ll get cold and wet.
In addition, here are some of my own winter vacation tips that may help you out: Winter Vacation Packing Tips To Stay Warm and A Winter Skincare Routine For Dry Skin That Works.
Details Of Your Overnight Stay At Hôtel De Glace
You can check in at Hôtel Valcartier any time after 4 PM, but you don’t actually get access to your room at the ice hotel until 9 PM since you and other guests can tour all the rooms and suites throughout the day prior to that. And to be honest, you probably don’t want to sleep too early anyway since you’ll want to enjoy the other amenities on the property and it is bare bones and can be quite cold in there. You will also be required to check out of your ice hotel room by 9 AM the next day, but you will still have access to your hotel room at Valcartier until 11 AM. They will sound the alarm and get you ready to start waking up at 8:15 AM, 8:30 AM, and 8:45 AM so that you can be out by 9 AM on the dot in order for them to have enough time to get the room ready for the guests to start touring at 10 AM.
The ice hotel and everything in it is made entirely of snow and ice, but you will have a mattress and solid wooden bed spring on top of an ice block which acts as the base of your bed to make it more comfortable and less wet. You will also be provided with a North Face mummy sleeping bag that can handle up to -29°C weather along with a very thin insulated blanket and a small fleece pillow. And regardless of the temperature outside, the room temperature in Hôtel De Glace will stay between 3°C/27°F and -5°C/23°F.
Prior to your restful night, you can use the hot tubs and saunas in the Nordic relaxation area which will help increase your body temperature before you head to bed in the ice hotel. But you will need to wear your bathing suit, robe, and winter boots from your hotel room, walk outside to where the ice hotel is to enjoy these facilities, then go back to your hotel room to take a hot shower. You’ll need to dry off completely before going back to the ice hotel so that nothing of yours freezes overnight.
Anything you bring to the ice hotel including electronics will need to go with you in your sleeping bag so if you don’t need much, don’t bring it! Your jacket and extra socks will need to be placed inside the bag that holds your sleeping bag. And you won’t be able to place anything metal on the nightstands in case they got frozen on top overnight.
Rooms At Hôtel De Glace
There are 30 rooms at this ice hotel with 9 types of rooms to choose from. Rooms start at $400 CAD and can get up to $850 CAD a night before tax and you can choose between regular rooms and themed rooms. For a good experience, I suggest booking a themed room with cool lighting and snow and ice sculptures – otherwise, you can literally be in a room with just a slab of ice and a sleeping bag.
What’s Included In Your Ice Hotel Experience
Included in your stay at Hôtel De Glace for your ice hotel experience, you will be given:
- A hotel room at Hôtel Valcartier where you can place all of your belongings and have a shower or two
- A voucher worth $10 CAD for a welcome cocktail in a glass made of ice (you might need to put some extra dollars down unless you get a non-alcoholic beverage)
- Access to the Nordic relaxation area to enjoy the 3 hot tubs and 2 saunas under the stars
- Access to the ice-skating path
- 10% discount at the Aroma Spa
- 20% discount on your Hôtel Valcartier reservation before and/or after your overnight stay
Optional Add-Ons During Your Hôtel De Glace Ice Hotel Experience
Hôtel Valcartier is a large property that has great amenities that you can enjoy during your stay at an additional cost which include:
1 – Aroma Spa
Their spa has options for aromatherapy and beauty treatments, massages, and a thermal experience.
2 – Bora Parc
This large indoor Polynesian-style water park has 102,000 square feet of space and has a wave pool, 14 slides, a family pool, water games, an adventure river, and a double surf wave attraction. Admission fees start at $37.99 CAD and if you need to rent a locker, that’s an additional $8.70 CAD before tax.
3 – Digital Games Room
Located on the 2nd floor with 10,000 square feet of gaming room space, you can spend hours racing, playing pinball, and basketball, challenging your friends with air hockey, dance competitions, skill-testing games, and more. You’ll just need a chip card that you can get at the entrance, upload the amount of money you’d like to play, and start gaming. However, there are no gambling or lottery machines.
4 – Winter Playground
In the backyard of Hôtel Valcartier is the largest winter playground in North America with 35 snow slides, ice skating paths, snow rafting, and inner tube slides. Tickets start at $32.99 CAD.
My Ice Hotel Experience At Hôtel De Glace
I’ve heard of this ice hotel since I was in junior high and had always wanted to visit, but this didn’t become reality until many years later. In 2023, I wanted to do something special for my husband to celebrate his one year in Canada and for moving from Miami, Florida to Toronto, Canada for me. As I was planning our trip, I actually landed on an amazing deal at Travel Zoo. I was able to get a themed suite at Hôtel De Glace for $399 CAD plus tax, compared to the $549 CAD plus tax I would’ve had to pay. And I was able to make this the highlight of our 3-day road trip through Montreal and Quebec City. We also weren’t getting much snow in Toronto and ended up getting plenty in Quebec so this was perfect.
Check-In
We checked in at 4 PM at Hôtel Valcartier and were actually planning to go off-property and into Quebec City to visit a very highly-rated restaurant, but because of the mandatory training session at either 7 or 8 PM (which was a really awkward time), we had to cancel our plans. I really think they should have just given us a quick summary once we checked in especially when those exact training instructions are given to us in a multi-page printout with photos.
Touring Hôtel De Glace
Once we settled in our room (which was facing the Winter Playground), we quickly went to tour Hôtel De Glace. This was a good call considering the number of people that started visiting the ice hotel increased significantly around 6 PM. So if you want to be able to have a photo opp or just have fewer people around overall, visit as soon as you can since it gets really busy later in the evening. There is plenty to look at and they really did an amazing job building and designing the ice hotel. I felt like I’d entered the set of a movie and it is so intricately designed and the lighting just made it that much better. I thought they did an excellent job with the detailing at the Ice Bar and the multi-colored lights made it so enticing and the center of attention. Plus, the ice cups were so unique. My husband used his drink voucher for bourbon and had to pay about $6 CAD out of pocket, and since it was so cold I ordered us two hot chocolates with mine, but I thought it tasted a bit watered down.
When we finished touring the Ice Bar, chapel, and Grand Hall area, we went to take a look at the actual rooms and themed suites. There was a lot of ground to cover and it was very impressive the way they designed the themed rooms – they are truly artists!
Lag Time Before Training Session
Because we had to cancel our dinner reservation, we had to find somewhere else to eat. Unfortunately, the property doesn’t have many great options and there were a lot of people. We ended up eating at Resto Safari and the décor of the restaurant was nice but catered more towards kids. The food was actually good, with the poutine being a little saltier than I’d like and the pricing was decent as well. The service was also good which we appreciated.
We were considering running to Bora Park after our dinner but because of the training session, it made it impossible for us to make it in time or have it be worth it to just enjoy for less than 2 hours before closing. We ended up just walking around the property, looking around, and waiting for our session to start.
Hôtel De Glace Training Session
When we attended the training session, it was presented by both English and French speakers from the front desk but it was exactly like the printout they gave us with a really heavy emphasis and multiple repetitions of telling us to change our socks before getting into our sleeping bags. To be honest, I really wish we could’ve skipped it and it or had it at an earlier time.
The session ended before 7:30 PM and we just walked around some more and spent some time in our hotel room before we headed for the Nordic spa area at 9 PM.
Nordic Spa Area
We changed and headed to the Nordic Spa area, but we took the long way since we didn’t realize there was a closer door to the far right and had walked outside in -20°C degree weather in just our bathing suits, robe, and winter boots. We actually got there 10 minutes before opening since we wanted to beat the crowd but we had to wait so long and had to go in our suite for some “warmth” before heading back out to see if the area was open yet. I highly suggest arriving a couple of minutes after 9 PM for your experience!
We jumped in the hot tub as soon as it was opened and it was such a nice experience, being able to enjoy the hot water and cold air at the same time with the clear sky and falling snow above us. I did wish that the hot tub was able to go a little hotter though. It was also so cold that any part of my hair that got wet immediately turned to ice. Speaking of ice, the Ice Bar also doesn’t close until 11 PM so I think a lot of people spent time there before heading to the spa area (but they will advise you not to drink too much since it will get you even colder when it’s time for bed) so it wasn’t too crowded thankfully and we had the hot tub to ourselves for a majority of the time.
The two saunas were very small and can fit maybe 4 to 5 people at a time but you will be in very close proximity to each other. It heats up quickly so it’s actually quite nice when the cold winter air hits you once you open the door. But getting back to the hotel and to your room is a mission when you’re half-frozen with minimal clothing in negative-degree weather.
Staying Overnight At Hôtel De Glace
After we showered and made sure we were completely dry, we went to the ice hotel at about midnight for a night of rest. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect or if I can even survive the night since I really can’t stand winter and I’m cold all the time!
What I Wore
Heading to the ice hotel in our winter jackets and boots, I had also worn thick wool socks, a pair of leggings, a cotton tank top as an undershirt, a Columbia half-zip thermal pullover, and a Barefoot Dreams cowl neck sweater on top, a Columbia fleece neck gaiter, and a DKNY knit hat. I also brought an extra pair of wool socks since they told us we had to change our socks right before we got into our sleeping bag. I suppose it’s because they think we’ll sweat between the 5-minute walk from Hôtel Valcartier to Hôtel De Glace and that will cause us to be cold all night, which was not the case! But to be safe, we did what they suggested anyway.
How We Prepared For Bed
We had the Frankenstein-themed suite and I didn’t have a choice in the matter otherwise I wouldn’t have chosen this! When we got to our suite, we unrolled our sleeping bags and fluffed them out a bit to make sure the insulation was evenly distributed. I placed my winter jacket into the bag that held the sleeping bag before getting into bed and took off my boots one at a time so that I can get onto the bed without touching anything. Now we couldn’t quite sit on the bed to change our socks as it was literally an ice block and we didn’t want to get wet. So I set up my sleeping bag and pillow with the insulated blanket which was also in the shape of the mummy sleeping bag that you can slip into before climbing on. Once I did, that’s when I changed my socks, put the old ones into the sleeping bag’s bag and closed it. When I got my socks on, I got into the insulated blanket and sleeping bag and started to zip up. The sleeping bag felt tight near the shoulder and neck area and I couldn’t zip it up all the way even though I was fully covered. I also kept my cell phone in my legging’s thigh pocket so that it wouldn’t freeze overnight.
Temperature And Noise
We actually left the lights on and it didn’t bother us, but I also had my hat covering my eyes. Surprisingly, it was quite warm and it wasn’t too hard to fall asleep for me, but I would wake up several times throughout the night because it was such a different experience to sleep in an igloo. As the night went on and a few hours passed by, I did notice that my nose was getting drippy and I had to either decide to cover my entire face and not really breathe or let my nose be exposed and stay cold. I think that was the only part that really bothered me. My husband didn’t sleep very well either in part that his nose was also dripping and we both heard a lot of footsteps crunching in the snow when people walked by and we didn’t actually have a door, only a curtain. That may have been why we were sleeping lightly since we didn’t know if anyone would come into our room or if something was happening and we’d need to get out.
And as it got closer to morning (I’m estimating here), I felt my feet and shoulders start to get cold. To be honest, I wish I brought more clothing and even a scarf but they also warned us that there’s a high chance of sweating which will in turn make you cold so I took their word for it. I forced myself to continue to sleep but it got to a point where I just really wish I had my scarf that I left back at the hotel to cover my shoulders.
At around 6:30 AM, my feet and shoulders got even colder and I asked my husband how he felt. We decided to head back to the hotel to sleep the rest of the morning since we were going to be woken up at 8:15 AM anyway and we might as well get some uninterrupted sleep before a long drive back to Toronto. And we got to see a beautiful sunrise!
Overall, our stay at Hôtel De Glace (Ice Hotel) was a very cool and unique experience and I’m glad I was able to try something that was a bit out of my comfort zone. It definitely is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and something to check off my bucket list. And yes, my husband absolutely loved it!
To see a full video tour, follow me on Instagram!
For more winter vacation ideas, here are The Best Winter Destinations To Visit In Canada.