Sweden has just opened a floating hotel and spa

Sweden has just opened a floating hotel and spa
By Christian Fleetwood


A unique European floating hotel and spa has opened to the public on Sweden’s Lule River.

Situated under the northern lights in winter, and the midnight sun during the summer months, the eagerly awaited ‘Arctic Bath’ is a unique small-scale hotel and spa based in the Nordic country.

During the warmer months, the property floats on the Lule River when it flows, and sits on the ice when the river freezes over during the region’s peak winter season.

At the heart of Arctic Bath is its focus on wellness – quite literally – with the centre of the hotel home to a giant, open-air cold bath that sits under the northern sky, ringed by three saunas and spa treatment rooms, as well as hot baths.

“Together with our spa and wellness facility, staying at Arctic Bath is not only a full experience – it is the main attraction,” the property’s website said.

Treatments

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As well as taking a dip in the hotel and spa’s nippy ice bath for a traditional northern Swedish experience, guests have access to a plenitude of treatments.

Arctic Bath’s spa treatments focus on both the inside and outside of the human body as part of the four cornerstones of wellness at the hotel: proper nutrition, regular exercise, peace of mind, and care of the face and body.

Guests also go home with an eco-friendly bathing suit, along with shorts and spa robes.

Design

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Natural, sustainable materials with a rich history – including wood, stone, leather and luxurious textiles – blend with Scandinavian design throughout the hotel.

This emphasis of embeddedness in nature is plainly seen on the hotel’s exterior, as well as throughout its 12 rooms and their three categories: land, water and suite.

Each of these are embedded in nature, in view of either the river, adjacent trees and wilderness, and winter-time snows.

Food

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Arctic Bath’s restaurant incorporates a daily-rotating menu focused on local, pure and sustainable produce, with signature dishes including lightly-smoked capercaille, Gahkku (Sámi flatbread) and Gompa (a Sámi dish with Arctic Angelica and sour milk).

With all meat and fish served at the hotel from the wild, guests can also expect to be treated to dishes of moose and reindeer, among others, free from pesticides and antibiotics.

Activities

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Travellers staying at Arctic Bath are also offered a selection of add-on activities touring the Swedish Lapland, including husky sled rides, day trips to Storforsen Nature Reserve, snowmobile safaris, or village visits of the local town of Harads.

Rates start from 9600 SEK ($1,490) per night at Arctic Bath, based on two sharing water rooms on a half-board basis.

The hotel operates private transfers to and from Luleå Airport, which take around one hour and 15 minutes by car.

Featured image: Arctic Bath (Facebook/Anders Blomqvist)

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