When Game of Thrones wrapped earlier this year, fans began feverishly seeking ways to live out their Westeros-inspired fantasies in real life. We’ve already seen a GoT-inspired ice hotel, a John Varvatos designer clothing collaboration, and even custom Fender guitars. Beginning next year, fans can add one more way at a Viking-inspired floating spa on the edge of the Arctic Circle. Sure, it’s not technically Game of Thrones related, but we imagine the spa’s designers have watched more than a few episodes.
Swedish Lapland is renowned as one of the most pristine and naturally beautiful destinations in the world. It’s a fitting location for an exclusive, world-class wellness retreat like Arctic Bath Hotel & Spa. When it opens, the boutique spa will accommodate a limited number of guests at one time. Inside the circular structure will be a single spa treatment room, four saunas, hot and cold baths, indoor and outdoor showers, and two dressing rooms. Several specialty wellness treatments, including “bespoke crystal healing sessions” will also be available. The unique center “courtyard” features an open roof allowing guests to sunbathe, icebathe, or stargaze in seclusion after their treatments.
The complex also features six luxury hotel rooms allowing guests to extend their stay beyond a mere day trip to the spa. All feature sleek, minimalist Scandinavian designs with modern furnishings, wood-burning fireplaces, and oversized windows for Zen-like views of Lule River. The guestrooms and spa will be open year-round — floating on the river in summer, frozen into the ice in the dead of winter.
On paper, the spa seems like almost any other modern high-end wellness retreat. What sets it apart, however, is the stunning circular exterior which could easily double as some otherworldly royal home from the Seven Kingdoms. The one-of-a-kind design recalls Northern Sweden’s timber floating era which involved floating felled trees downriver for processing. It’s fantastical, futuristic, and unlike any other spa we’ve ever seen.
We first reported on Arctic Bath Hotel & Spa in 2017 when it was just a concept. It’s taken two long years for the design to come to fruition, and for the hotel to open for reservations. But patience is required, as it’s going to be another eight months before the first guests check in.
Not surprisingly, living like Viking royalty doesn’t come cheap. A three-day package including overnight accommodations in a floating/frozen cabin, nightly five-course dinners, a guided trek to spot the Northern Lights, ground transportation, and, of course, spa treatments will run nearly $5,000. Reservations can be booked through Off the Map Travel for stays beginning in February 2020.
