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70 Organic Spa Magazine | January–February 2010 spa & travel guide The When I was a child, one of my favorite This year the Hôtel de Glace is celebrating its fairy tales was “The Queen” by tenth anniversary, and they are offering a special Christian Anderson. I loved the story for many “Polar Getaway Package.” This two-night getaway reasons, but the part of the tale I found most includes welcome cocktails, as well as dinners and compelling was the palace in which the wintry breakfasts at the Auberge Duchesnay for both days. enchantress lived. It was a spectacular castle made The package includes one night's accommodation Quebec of snow and ice and lit by the aurora borealis. I in an Hôtel de Glace theme (complete with couldn’t imagine anything more magical… until I arctic sleeping gear), and access to hot tubs and learned about the , or Hôtel de Glace, sauna. A private room at the Auberge Duchesnay is as it is known in Quebec. included for the same night as the Hôtel de Glace (in the event that guests want to warm up a bit), and Inspired by an ice hotel in the Swedish village of for a second night of the package. The Polar Getaway Jukkasjärvi, the Hôtel de Glace is located just 45 also includes a choice of two activities offered at the minutes outside of Québec City, on the banks of resort, such as tandem massage at the Tyst Trädgård Lac St. Joseph. Every winter for the past 10 years, Spa, and dog sledding at Adventure Inukshuk. as much as 15,000 tons of snow and 500 tons of ice have been transformed into an architectural During its construction as well as its operation, WHAT TO DO wonder that rivals the of Anderson’s the Hôtel de Glace is committed to preserving mythical snow queen. The Hôtel de Glace has 36 the environment and reducing its carbon footprint.

rles Fortin Aventure Inukshuk a h private rooms and theme suites in which guests They recycle at the hotel and sell recycled items in C n- Located on the Duchesnay Resort, a sleep in protective polar sleeping bags on top of their gift shop. And, during the last two years, they Aventure Inukshuk offers a variety of guided dog sledding adventures. Their fur-covered foam mattresses supported by beds have reduced their consumption of energy by roughly

Photo: ©Je highly trained guides will take you out chiseled from ice. Every room is a work of art, 13 percent. But perhaps the greenest thing about on their dog sleds for a few hours or a decorated with relief sculptures carved into the the hotel is its building material: ice. They use nothing few days. You can learn how to drive walls, and sculpted ice furniture. In addition to the but pure from the Saint Joseph River to make the sled or just take one of the most rooms and suites, there is an Ice Café, a breathtakingly an especially stable kind of snow called “snice.” And invigorating rides of your life. Aventure Inukshuk takes excellent care of their beautiful ice chapel (where over 200 couples will at the end of the season, when the hotel melts, the fully licensed and vaccinated dogs, have been married by the end of this season), and purified water is returned to the river.I n this way, the keeping them on a healthy regime with a spectacular lobby with a sculpted ice candelabra Hôtel de Glace is not just easy on the environment; regular veterinary visits. The dogs are lit by fiber optics of changing colors.T he hotel also it is also an exquisite exercise in the Buddhist spectacular to watch when they are has an ice slide, art gallery, and a renowned reception practice of non-attachment. For five weeks, engineers, working, or even just playing and rest- ing. Aventure Inuktitut is an accredited room known as the , which serves guests builders, and sculptors work nearly round the clock member of Aventure Ecotourisme cocktails in glasses made of ice. In between drinks, to construct a breathtaking work of art. Everyone Quebec. www.aventureinukshuk.qc.ca guests dance on the snow-covered floor while an involved knows the hotel won’t last for very long, but auroral play of light illuminates the crystalline interior they build it anyway. Upon completion, for three Tyst Trädgård and sculpted ice furniture. months in the winter, the hotel sits on the frozen Tyst Trädgård is a Scandinavian-style riverbank, like a mirage from a fairy tale. But then, spa located adjacent to the Hôtel de In addition to all its icy amenities, the hotel has as often happens in fairy tales, when its time comes, Glace. Tyst Trädgård offers a variety heated bathrooms, showers, and lockers, as well the enchanted place disappears, in this case, turning of massage treatments (Four Hands as hot tubs and saunas in a private courtyard. The and the new Hot Shell are especially back into the river from which it came. So visit the hotel is located next to the Duchesnay Resort, which worth experiencing), facials, body treat- amazing Hôtel de Glace it while it sparkles like the ments, chromatherapy, and the truly offers dog sledding, cross-country skiing, snow- Snow Queen’s castle in the icy winter light. breathtaking hydrotherapy treatments shoeing and ice-skating, and a full-service spa, Tyst set outdoors in a snowy wonderland. Trädgård. The resort also features a lodge, cabins Open January 4, 2010 to April 4, 2010. They also offer a number of well-priced and a regular hotel (Auberge Duchesnay), as well www.-canada.com half-day package deals. as a highly rated gourmet restaurant. www.tysttradgard.com —Belinda Recio

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