The world’s coolest alpine retreat?

Snow, skiing, Santa Claus – Lapland is a winter lover’s dream.

Tucked away in a forest seven kilometers outside Levi, Northern Finland, lies one of this snow-capped wonderland’s lesser-known treasures.

Luvattumaa is a hotel carved entirely out of ice that opens during the festive season. Part hotel, part art gallery, what originally started out as 800 truck-loads of ice has now been lovingly transformed into an exquisite guesthouse.

Between 40 and 60 couples are expected to tie the knot at the ice hotel this season.

The hotel also doubles as a gallery with designs and patterns adorning the frozen walls.

It is located near Levi, northern Finland, and has proved a popular destination for holiday-goers in search of a winter retreat.

Some recognizable faces are carved into the walls, including Elsa from the movie "Frozen" ...

... and several Pokémon characters.

It takes two months to complete the hotel, which is made out of ice blocks taken from a nearby river. There are only a few hours of daylight during the winter in Lapland, but the region does boast spectacular skies.

If they're lucky, visitors may also catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights, a spectacular natural light display occurring in Arctic regions.

Luvattumaa isn't the only hotel of its kind. Pictured is ICEHOTEL 365 in the village of Jukkasjarvi in Swedish Lapland that is open all year round having been built and rebuilt since 1989. It also hosts weddings -- about 100 annually.

Temperatures inside are -5 C, meaning warm blankets and sleeping bags are essential.

The world's coldest vacation?

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Intricate patterns and designs adorn the walls throughout the building, the product of two months of painstaking labor. And as of December 12, it’s open to visitors.

“The most difficult part is to build the 10-meter-high snow dome because of the shape,” explains Maija Palosaari from Destination Levi.

“The sculptors are lifting the huge ice cubes from the Ounasjoki river 50 or 100 meters away, so they are using that for the ice hotel.

“At the end of the season, the ice just melts and flows back to the river.”

This season, the hotel expects to host between 40-60 weddings and sleep 1,500-2,500 people in the 12 rooms. The standard price is €124 ($135), while a suite is €355 ($376) with breakfast served in the tepee restaurant.

World Cup Venue

Levi is a winter sports hotspot. As well as being the largest ski resort in Finland, it’s also the most northerly venue of the Alpine Skiing World Cup.

When the Tour visited in November, Austria’s Marcel Hirscher won the men’s slalom event ahead of compatriot Michael Matt and Italy’s Manfred Moelgg.

In the women’s competition, USA’s Mikaela Shiffrin continued her dominant season to extend her lead in the overall standings. She currently leads Lara Gut and Sofia Goggia with 358 points, while Hirscher heads the men with 280.

As is traditional in Levi, the male and female winners both receive a prize reindeer. It’s just one of many quirks that makes Levi such a unique place.

There’s the daylight hours, for example. Almost constant sunlight in the summer is traded for nearly complete darkness in the winter. This makes for some spectacular views from Levi and Luvattumaa.

“There’s a really nice view through the mountain area,” says Palosaari. “It’s a really nice place to admire the sky and spot the Northern lights. Of course there are millions of stars as well because it’s totally dark at night.

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“In December we have around two and half hours of sunlight. Light comes at around 1:30 or 2. But then in the summer the sun is shining 24/7.”