We visited here ( didn't stay)

A lot of time and skill must go into the snow hotel, but it didn't inspire me or even make me go 'wow'. I think the first reason is that it isn't in the middle of nowhere but very close to Kirkenes ( half hour walk from centre up hill). It didn't feel like a romantic location, and for a building so special , and the price, the location needs to match!
The carvings are very cutesy - I would have liked to see some more elegant snow/ice art. I didn't really find it as beautiful as I thought I would.
The smoke alarms stuck on the snow made us giggle.
We watched the dog sledding.. I would recommend people look elsewhere - Sollia up the road would be a better choice. The dog sledding is round a frozen lake, but next to a busy road and coach park. Again, for the prices you pay I think you would expect more of a wilderness experience!
Interesting to see ( there is an entry charge), as there is the reindeer and huskies there too. But I was SO glad I hadn't paid the HUGE prices to stay here as I would have been disappointed!

or do I? We were brought out to the Snow Hotel in the afternoon as we'd booked a dog sledging excursion i think run by the same company that runs the hotel. The excursion was fantastic. the guides are friendly and fun, the dogs are beautiful and obviously loved and cared for. We went for what seemed like miles out over two lakes and had a toasted cheese and reindeer meat sandwich and hot fruit juice in a Sami tent whilst the guides told us stories and the dogs rested. Even though our excursion finished around 5pm we were taken back to the Rica Arctic hotel (where we'd stored our main luggage) as the Snow Hotel didn't want you until 6pm. We were collected from the Rica Arctic wihin half an hour of being dropped off. We were ushered into the Ice Bar just inside the entrance to the Snow Hotel for a drink and encouraged to look at the rooms and pick the one we liked the most to sleep in. We had a quick drink and were then taken to where all the sleeping bags and other kit is kept to show us what was what and have a demo of how to insert the sheet into the sleeping bag and advised what to wear to have a warm and comfy night.
Other reviews have complained about the facilities being inadequate so we must have been lucky to be in a group of just nine people staying on the 28th February 2013. The Gabba restaurant is how I imagined Norweigan restaurants would be with a roaring log fire. We enjoyed the sausage,then fish followed by icecream and berries. We avoided drinking too much in anticipation of our night in the snow room and the distance between our room and the toilets. We saw the Northern lights briefly outside the restaurant so decided to join the 'Hunt the Northern Lights' tour as it was a clear night and the last chance for us to see the lights before we left for home in the morning. Our driver took us up near the Russian border and pulled into a layby for the most spectacular sighting lasting a good 40 minutes.
On arrival back at the Snow Hotel we collected our sleeping bags, sheets, woolen socks, etc. I wore thermals and a light sweater and my own socks plus the woolen socks provided. Getting into the sheet and then the sleeping bag in the snow room is not easy and you have to be careful zipping up the sleeping bag so the zip doesn't jam but once you're inside it's really snug. I slept soundly until about 6:30am and didn't wake because I was cold. I've never done the back packing or camping thing so have no point of reference for the facilities. However there were only two others in the warm room when I got there in the morning. I had an unhurried shower before breakfast. There were plenty of clean towels and if I'd not brought my own toiletries they were provided along with a hairdryer. Even with all nine of us around it didn't feel crowded (I can understand though that double that would have been crowded in the space) and we'd all become friendly during the previous evening and so being altogether was companionable. Breakfast was warm bread and the usual selection of cheese and cold meats and good coffee. We may have been lucky because there were a small number of guests that were good company, the sighting of Northern lights following a great day with the dogs but I had the best time. Would I do it again? No, because it was just perfect and anything less would be a dissapointment.