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Every winter, this hotel is carved out of the surrounding snow, with igloo rooms, romantic suites and even an outdoor whirlpool for the bravest guests.

Iglu-Dorf hotel is rebuilt every season from 3,000 tons of snow at six locations from the Alps to the Pyrenees.

The Swiss igloos, constructed in the Bernese Oberland and surrounded by 9,000ft mountain peaks, comes with artworks carved into the walls by artists from around the world, candle-lit suites for romantic guests and even saunas among the mountains. 

The colourful lighting design adds even more beauty to this outdoor whirlpool

A cartoony mermaid is found on the wall leading into the rudimentary bathroom at the Iglu-Dorf hotel in the Bernese Oberland

Couples can enjoy a romantic suite and the chance to sleep in a pile of sleeping bags and sheepskin rugs to keep warm

For those who need to warm up, a Jacuzzi is also set in a snow cave near to the igloos and surrounded by candles

After a chilly night, guests can warm up with a huge breakfast, served with lost of coffee and pastries

From the outside the Igloo Village appears unassuming but below the snow it's a creative winter wonderland

Open from Christmas Day to April, each villages sleeps up to 38 guests, cocooning them in cosy sleeping bags on thick sheepskin rugs, designed to withstand temperatures of minus 40C.

And in the morning, there's an enormous buffet of croissants, cooked meats, pastries, cereals, cheese and coffee.

The cost for one in a standard Iglu-Dorf igloo is 99euros (£68) from Monday to Thursday and 115 euros from Friday to Sunday.

A tour around the Gstaad site shows the great diversity of works in rooms and common areas of the unique accommodation from traditional Inuit works to artists from Switzerland and much further abroad.  

A guest hams it up with a dragon's head sculpture at this unique accommodation 

A design all over the wall features a beautiful mask and a rose cast in a block of ice

This cosy lounge and bar area in the Igloo Village belies the fact the entire building is case in snow and ice

Artists armed with no more than an ice pick, motorised saw and shovel, produce life-like animals such as seals, arctic wolves, polar bears and whales, eye-catching designs and patterns, or even super heroes. 

It's an elaborate and classy scene compared to the basic igloo Gunter first constructed with friends on a mountain in a bid to be first on the slopes in the morning.  

The company says 99 per cent of their guests stay one night only. 

'We don't generally recommend [more than one night] as we neither have running water, nor showers,' the company says.  

Each village caters for 38 guests a night, all of who bed down on a thick sheepskin rug in cosy sleeping bags equipped for minus-40 degrees celsius. 

An elegant dining area in the hotel that is built seasonally from Christmas to April

Nighttime entertainment doesn't extend much past mulled wine and good conversation, though there is a private whirlpool and saunas. 

Other locations include Davos-Klosters in the Parsenn ski arena, Engelberg-Titlis in the Trubsee, Stockhorn and Zermatt where you can sleep at altitude of 2727m next to the Matterhorn.