January 5, 2001

Canada's Ice Hotel has a chilly opening

BEAUPORT, Quebec (AP) -- Nineteen adventurous guests spent a chilly night under deerskin blankets as a hotel made of ice opened for business in the Canadian province of Quebec.

The Quebec Ice Hotel's first guests paid between $80 and $190 for Monday's night's stay in North America's only ice hotel, located in Montmorency Park near Quebec City.

"It's like going back to nature," said Jean-Christophe Jourde, one of guests, on Tuesday. With temperatures inside the building averaging about 26 degrees, guests could see their breath as they bedded down in deerskins and sleeping bags.

The first guests hailed from Toronto, Boston, Montreal and France, said Jacques Desbois, the project's organizer.

The hotel has five suites that can accommodate a total of 22 people. It will remain open until the end of March -- or until it melts.

Desbois, a specialist in winter tourism, said the hotel was is inspired by the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjaervi, Sweden.

"I talked about it for years," Desbois said. "People thought I was crazy, but I had to make an ice hotel too."

Backed by the Quebec tourism department, construction of the hotel started on Dec. 8 and took 275 tons of ice and nearly 5,000 tons of snow.

Two-thirds of the spaces for the season have been booked, Desbois said.

"Some people jumped headfirst into what became a very beautiful folly," he said.

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