There are many ways to gaze upon the ethereal northern lights, but few of them are likely as enchanting as the experience offered by Arctic Bath, a 12-room floating hotel that opened in late January, buoyed by the Lule River in summer and locked in ice during the throes of winter.
Designed to reflect the nature of northern Sweden, the hotel’s circular main building was inspired by a logjam, with lumber jutting out in different directions, surrounding an open-air cold bath. Rooms start at nearly $3,621 for one of the hotel’s 258-square-foot floating cabins with a double bed, Wi-Fi, heated floors, and pellets, while a 667-square-foot cabin outfitted for up to five travelers tops out at roughly $3,900. For those prices, breakfast and dinner is included every day, as well as a guided northern lights hunt.
“We wanted to build a new kind of unique hotel,” explains Arctic Bath cofounder AnnKathrin Lundqvist. “Arctic Bath offers a unique hotel experience in all seasons, from the midnight sun’s summer bath to the northern lights’ winter bath. It offers great contrasts in light and temperature in a harmonious setting that blends well into the landscape.”
Architects Bertil Harström and Johan Kauppi designed the circular cold bath and six floating cabins with sustainability in mind. To that end, the surrounding nature has been incorporated into the cabins and suites with the use of materials such as wood, stone, leather, and luxurious textiles. The hotel collaborated with Input Interior and a number of Swedish design brands for furniture, including Swedish lighting company Ateljé Lyktan supplying bespoke lighting, Scandinavian furniture maker Karl Andersson & Söner providing the lounge furniture, and handmade beds from Carpe Diem.
Lundqvist herself, a Swedish designer educated at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco, designed all six two-story land cabins, which offer a more modern aesthetic, with floor-to-ceiling windows set against a dark teal and birch-white color palette.
Arctic Bath’s restaurant, which seats up to 24 guests, emphasizes a menu with local and sustainable cuisine. Chefs Kristoffer Åström and Maarten De Wilde prepare a five- or six-course prix-fixe dinner menu that changes daily, with signature dishes such as lightly smoked capercaillie; gahkku, a local take on flatbread; and gompa, a dish with the herb Arctic Angelica and sour milk. Breakfast is a selection of local breads, meats, and cheeses from the two nearby small towns, Jokkmokk and Vuollerim.
Outdoor activities include catching the northern lights, wildlife photography, husky sledding, snowshoe hiking, and cross-country skiing. But the highlight for some travelers may just be the full-day tour led by reindeer owner Anna Kuhmunen, a member of the indigenous Sami people who rustles up a traditional lunch prepared over an open fire in a traditional lávvu (tent house) dwelling, and introduces guests to her reindeer herd.
Arctic Bath guests also receive eco-friendly bathing suits and a spa-ritual kit to be used in the three saunas, outdoor hot tubs, and steam room. The main event, however, is of course the open-air cold bath, where the temperature in winter is four degrees Celsius (approximately 39 degrees Fahrenheit). Frigid? Absolutely. But dashing between the sauna and the icy water is meant to be an invigorating experience, one that causes an anti-inflammatory response in the body and boosts the immune system. There are also a handful of spa therapies from which to choose, including a “mindfulness massage” that is basically a slower take on a traditional deep-tissue treatment.
“I think it is the location, the surrounding nature, the clean air and water—this in combination with the design, food, and our staff that make the Arctic Bath experience so unique,” Lundqvist says. Once travelers gaze upon the night sky, breathing in the crisp air as they emerge from a cold bath, they may find it difficult to disagree.
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