An ice hotel is being built at Bâlea Lac
The ice hotel, the biggest built so far at Bâlea Lac, is estimated to feature 14 rooms, a bar and a restaurant, all made of ice.
Articol de Carmen Vulcan, Sibiu, 01 Decembrie 2010, 09:44
At an altitude slightly over 2000 meters, in the Făgăraș Mountains, there has been laid the ice foundation for the sixth and the biggest ice hotel built so far at Bâlea Lac.
The hotel will feature 14 rooms, a bar and a restaurant, all made of ice.
Facing a shortage of snow, the team of 20 workers who started the building procedures had to put into operation a snow gun fed with water from Bâlea Lac, which is situated less than 100 meters from the building site.
The ice is also extracted from the nearby lake, in order to be used for the hotel windows.
If the weather permits, the ice hotel at Bâlea Lac will be opened on Christmas Eve.
A tourism agency in Great Britain has already booked the hotel for Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
As the ice hotel is increasingly sought after tourists and despite the economic crisis, the owners have increased accommodation rates.
Therefore, the price for a room at the Ice hotel is 150 lei per person per night, as compared to last year’s accommodation rates of only 99 lei. However, the charges for visiting the Ice Hotel during the day have remained the same.
The price of the ticket is 8 lei for adults and 4 lei for children.
For 2010, the theme of the project is 'Lights and Stones'.
Therefore, each room will be called after a precious or semi-precious stone and will be lit in the color of that specific stone.
Due to its remote location, the Ice Hotel can be reached only by cable car from Bâlea Waterfall. The price of a two-way cable car ticket is 40 lei.
Translated by Mihaela Grigoraş and Andreea Velicu
MA Students, MTTLC, Bucharest University
