Deep in the heart of the impossible to pronounce village of Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, there lies an ice palace that’s been attracting tourists since 1989.
The IceHotel is in its 23rd installment, and 15 of the 65 rooms are one-of-a-kind “art suites”, according to gizmodo.com.
But despite the hotel maintaining a constant temperature of 23 degrees, the Swedish authorities have determined that it still carries the risk of catching fire and have mandated that fire alarms be installed, Time reports.
In typical Scandinavian politeness, the hotel complied with no objection. IceHotel spokeswoman Beatrice Karlsson told the AFP that the hotel didn’t understand the requirement at first, but then conceded that, “there are things that can actually catch fire, like pillows, sleeping bags or reindeer skins.”
“To us the most important concern is the safety of our clients, so we will comply.”
Adding these new safety modifications to this hotel was no easy task. The hotel lies on the banks of the Torne river, where it melts and is reconstructed every year. Building a fire alarm system has added to the already difficult construction process. Yet the unrelenting optimism of the IceHotel sculptors cannot be extinguished, with Karlsson stating, “It’s been a challenge for our building team, but it made us one experience richer.”
Thus far, the only time the alarm has been triggered was when a guest “snuck off to the cleaning closet and had a cigarette,” Karlsson stated.