E06 | Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby | Icehotel, Sweden

Giles and Monica don their best thermals and extreme weather gear, and travel 200km north of the Arctic Circle to Sweden\'s Lapland. They enter a magical world of snow, ice, inky blue and pink skies, and ICEHOTEL, a regular feature of bucket lists, now in its 27th year. The hotel\'s team have given themselves their biggest challenge yet - to run an ICEHOTEL that will stay open 365 days of the year, powered by the sun. Using two-tonne blocks of ice that have been hacked from the nearby River Torne, Giles works with a team of international artists to create individually crafted rooms designed to take your breath away. He meets Arne Bergh, responsible for ICEHOTEL\'s creative vision, who teaches him how to make drinking glasses from ice and even lets him put the finishing touches to the hotel\'s reception desk. Beyond the hotel\'s unfinished walls, Monica meets head chef Alex, who introduces her to the art of using natural ingredients found locally in the nearby forest, and Manne, an 82-year-old Sami whose family have been herding reindeer since the 17th century. He supplies reindeer meat to ICEHOTEL, considered a delicacy in this part of the world. Giles and Monica brave what can become as low as a minus 35-degree freeze with the inspirational team as they bring snow and ice to life - and prepare for their big night sleeping in a minus 5-degree bedroom.