Travellers looking for unusual holiday ideas should look at the Ice Hotel Romania, reopening for the 2010-11 winter season on December 25th with four new rooms.

The hotel is in the Fagaras mountains on the shores of the glacial Balea Lake, about 2,000 metres above sea level.

Every year in December, tonnes of ice are harvested from the lake to create a unique accommodation establishment that remains in place until the following spring.

The ice hotel will now offer a total of 14 rooms that have different designs and lighting schemes, as well as a chapel and a bar featuring hand-carved ice sculptures by celebrated Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi.

Temperatures can drop as low as minus 20 degrees C outside during the winter, but are kept at a steady minus two degrees C within the hotel.

Animal skins, wool blankets and special sleeping bags are provided to ensure guests stay warm.

Holidaymakers can reach Ice Hotel Romania by flying to Bucharest and travelling along a road that once featured on BBC television series Top Gear, before boarding a cable car that will take them up the Fagaras mountains.

Untravelled Paths offers a holiday package that includes a night in the hotel and visits to medieval towns and castles in the region. Prices start from £355 per person, not including flights.

Travelbite.co.uk staff

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