Have you ever been to an ice bar?
A bar made entirely out of ice
Ice bars originated in Swedish Lapland in the mid 1990s, and quickly became popular across the globe. The first time I visited one, I was in Las Vegas at the Caesar's Palace Hotel & Casino, and it was a bit weird because I went from 40+ degrees (celsius) outside in the open air, to an air-conditioned temperature of around 18° in the casino – and then -5° inside the actual bar. It was a thermal shock, but also a bit of visual and emotional shock.
As the self-defining name suggests, ice bars are drinking establishments made almost entirely out of ice. Literally. Everything, from the decor to the furniture and of course the glasses, is made of ice. It is a cool concept, and the temperature is artificially maintained at a steady -5° celsius.
One of these ice bars was located in London, in Mayfair, which is where these videos and pictures were taken. I went there in the summer of 2018, to celebrate my birthday, and I had a blast.
Unfortunately, the Icebar in London was closed because of COVID-19 and a few days later, on 31 March, it announced its permanent closure. This made me a bit sad but I'm assuming it was becoming increasingly difficult for this location to make financial sense and I guess that perhaps the outbreak simply sped things up. Pity.
Join In
Comments (12)
I have been to the one here in Dubai. I think it shut as well. The novelty factor I think wore out pretty soon. Plus we had to rent clothing etc to enter. It works in places where you can walk in wearing exactly what you are wearing instead of changing and renting clothes.
Exactly why it should have worked in London.
Yeah
Yes! The Absolut one in Stockholm, the best
I liked Stockholm. I should go back
No but would love to
it's interesting, a differente experience
There was one in the Mandalay Bay in Vegas. It was so cool, clearly not on my dime. They gave us Fur Coats to wear. (Don’t come for me PETA) Drinking expensive Vodka in an ice cave while wearing a coat was just really cool..
It's amazing how badly things age in Las Vegas. I first went in '09 and only three years later, in 2012, it looked different. New hotels and old ones that had looked cool and all of a sudden they weren't anymore
It’s scary how disposable they are.. although Caesar’s just gets bigger, you can still see the 60’s deep there