Our Stay at the Balea Lac Ice Hotel, Romania

Ever wonder what its like to stay in an ice hotel? Going to one of these was a huge dream of ours and when we happened across the Hotel of Ice Romania website, we just had to check it out. Let me tell you, this is an adventure! We started by driving out to Balea Cascada chalet, located in the southern Carpathian mountains outside of Sibiu. From here, you have to catch a cable car to take you up the mountain since the roads are covered in five feet of snow. I thought "Cool, a cable car, that sounds fun!". Well we found out this isn't just some quick ride up the mountain- its a 2.3 mile ride with a 2,600ft+ elevation gain. You ride over cliffs, snow covered pine trees, and the Transfagarasan road highway (if only you could see it under all that snow!). It was an incredibly beautiful ride, though a little daunting. As we stepped into the tiny cable car, the operator called out "Last Shuttle for the day!". Last Shuttle? Its only 1pm. "Theres a storm coming. We're only letting people up the mountain who are staying the night." "Ok then, when will the next shuttle be tomorrow?" I asked nervously. " I don't know. It depends on the weather. You may have to stay two nights if the weather is too rough." Great- of course we chose to go up the mountain the day of the snowstorm. But there was no turning back now, we had made up our minds. As we rode up the mountain, the scenery changed from lush and tree covered, to stark and rocky. By the time we made it to the top of he mountain (elevation 6,673 ft) there were no trees at all. Just a snow covered chalet and an ice hotel below jagged peaks. As soon as we stepped out of the cablecar it was a total whiteout. With everything covered in six feet of white snow, you couldnt really see anything clearly. I couldn't even see Josh's steps in front of me as the sun reflected off the snow. However, once we got into our cozy little igloo, everything was good. The igloo is one solid little building. Its made entirely of thick ice blocks. All the furniture is made of ice too. Our little room had a table, chairs, and sofa. To keep things warm enough to use, layers of sheepskin are laid down. When it was time to go to bed, we collected all the sheepskin we could find to keep me warm- which was about 12 pelts. That night it got down to negative 20 degrees! Thankfully, the Balea Lac chalet is heated and has hot showers you can thaw yourself out in. I am so glad for that! Overall, we loved our time at the Balea Lac Hotel of Ice! The whole thing was an adventure, and it was a very cool once in a lifetime experience. The top of the mountain was so peaceful. We took tons of pictures, so be on the lookout for the blog post soon :) ~ Shelley and Josh Hartman