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Cold Comfort

      Are you the kind of person who likes staying in unusual places?If the answer is "yes ",then try the world 's coldest hotel in Jukkasjarvi in the north of Sweden.But go in winter or all you'll find is a pool of water ,because the hotel melts every spring!

      The man who runs the ARTic Hall Hotel is Nils Yngve Bergqvist.He is also the man whose idea it was.He built his

first igloo for an art exhibition in 1991 and he designed the present hotel—over 200 meters square —himself.It took workmen about two months to pile 1000 tons of snow onto a wooden base.As the weather got colder,the snow froze and then they removed the base.The whole building and everything in it is made of snow—except for the wooden front door.There's a theatre which Niles uses for slide shows,a jazz club,a radio station and a large ice bar.As you can imagine,hot drinks are popular with the guests!The rooms have no doors,there's no furniture ,no heating and everyone sleep on…yes,that's right…ice beds.But the 800 people who have stayed at the hotel this winter seemed to like it.If you want to stay in one of the ten ice rooms,it will cost you about $30 a night.You won't be very comfortable,but you will receive a survival certificate from the manager!

      When the winter's over ,Niles holds his annual contest to predict the day that the igloo will fall.The person that guessed the day correctly last year received a large painting from an ARTic Hall Hotel exhibition.Bergqvist's ice hotels are becoming world—famous and he loves his work.He's already excited about his new project — an ice hotel that will have more complicated architectural features and,he says,will be bigger and better.