Vacation Pictures & Review of London Icebar

One of the things Dale and I wanted to do in London was to check out London's Icebar. 

Neither of us had been to an icebar or icehotel before

So we went on Friday December 10th

First thing: you book your time slot to go to the bar. You're allotted 40 minutes in the bar. 

And there's a big timer counting down by the second your time as seen here:

A note about the time: the 40 minute timer starts when the first person walks into the bar

There were at least 50 or more people in the bar with us...Dale and I were near the front of the line and the timer was around 38 minutes when we walked in. Plus, there is a bit of a delay in walking into the bar because just before you enter the bar, staff throw on a hooded cape over what you're wearing - so that delays everyone's entry by several seconds...

So if you're at the end of the lineup for your time slot appointment, just beware of that if you were hoping for the full 40 minutes you paid for

And yes, the security was yelling aloud for everyone to get out when the 40 minutes was up

I was lucky to snap that picture above showing "00:00" when the time was up

There was one guy in the bar that ordered a drink very close to the 40 minute mark

And when security asked him to leave he said he still had to finish his drink that he just ordered

The security guy couldn't give a shit from his tone of voice and just told him to chug it essentially

So just letting you know they are strict with time...

 Your entrance fee includes one free drink

And the glasses are made of ice

Remember how I mentioned that the staff throw on a hooded cape on you? 

Well attached to this cape are mittens

You need to use your mittens (ewww, mine did not feel hygienic) to hold/lift the ice glass

I tried to lift the glass with my bare hands - doesn't work as it's too slippery LOL 

A note about the glasses: if you order a second (or 3rd etc) drink, they do not give you a new glass

You must re-use your initial ice glass AND they did not rinse out our glass (not even in cold water) before pouring our second drinks into our glasses. And our 2nd drink was different than our 1st drink

Idunno, for the price of the drink I figured they would give you a new ice glass...but they don't

I read a sign before entering the bar that the ice in the bar is imported from Sweden

It's the same ice used for the Icehotel, and apparently they import the ice for it's pure source and that it doesn't form as many cracks in the ice - making the ice "clear"

Idunno, I guess I don't see many huge chunks of ice often as a comparison, but there were many cracks in the ice I saw in the Icebar....

The Tic Tac Toe wall was probably the neatest thing I saw in there

That's what the ceiling looks like

More cracks seen along the wall....oh well, it's ice but I wonder if the cracks would be much worse if they just used purified water from one of London's rivers? 

Like, does it really make a difference that they need to import this ice from Sweden? 

There are some blocks of ice to sit on although more than half the room full of people were standing

Silly but Dale and I thought the floor would be made of ice too LOL

So I wore sneakers instead of high heels :S

Yeah, okay, we realized after a minute or two in the bar that lawsuits would be common if the floor was made of ice as well....so feel free to dress up, wear your heels or whatever shoe you like as the floor is not slippery

Overall Dale and I had much higher expectations for the Icebar - the interior decor was a bit of a let down. I guess with all the hype we just set the bar high

Both of us expected the bar to be larger 

I guess since both Dale and I are born/raised in Canada, we did not find it that cold in the bar

Only our hands were cold - from holding the glass

However, before our 40 minutes was up I already sort of wanted to leave because I just felt bored

Yeah, bored!! The music was okaaay - and we thought it would be a good idea for them to put a big screen TV in there and play some music videos. But there wasn't much to look at and quite a number of people left before the 40 minute timer was up

Initially Dale and I thought we'd go back 2 or maybe 3 times to the Icebar if we really liked it since it's a novelty and we don't have one in Canada

But after the 1st visit we had no interest in going back LOL

I mean, if you haven't been in any Icebar or Icehotel, it's good to check out - but there wasn't anything to keep us going back

This is a really short (and rather shoddy) video I took while in the bar. I was along the back wall of the bar so perhaps you can see what I mean when I say the bar is quite small 

There are better videos on youtube demonstrating this but just thought I would post mine :)

Have you been in an Icebar or Icehotel before?

Or have you been into a bar or hotel that was really different?