The Frozen Wonder of America's Biggest Ice Castle

Depending on how old you are, you'll either stand in front of the Ice Castle in North Woodstock, New Hampshire and think that you're walking into Superman's Fortress of Solitude, or that you've been transported to Arendelle, and you're about to enter Elsa's Ice Palace. Whether or not you think you're in Frozen, parts of you will feel frozen soon enough. Even on a mild winter day, even with your warmest snow gear, the Ice Castle is very cold.

But if you can bundle yourself up and spend some time in the Ice Castle, you'll find a living sculpture to winter unlike anything else in New England - or many other places in the country, for that matter. There are five other castles in North America (in Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Utah and Alberta, Canada), but the New Hampshire castle is the biggest of them all, weighing in at a staggering 20 tons of ice. Over the course of this year's 10 week season, the attraction will welcome about 160,000 visitors.

Inside, you won't find any Disney characters singing about how the cold never bothered them anyway - unless you visit on a Saturday afternoon, when there are actually princess meet and greets. What you will find is thousands upon thousands of icicles, grown on the "icicle farm" in the back of the property, that the castle's architects use to build the coves, corridors and archways of the frozen structure.

The process goes like this: Once the icicles are large enough, they're added to the castle structure each day. When they're positioned properly, they're then coated with water from an enormous sprayer to freeze them into place. Because the castle changes from sun and rain, and because the "ice artisans" add more ice daily, the castle changes from one day to the next, and no two visits are the same.

Where To Find 2019's Best Hotels In The Middle East

When one region turns out over-the-top Five-Star hotels like Dubai's Burj Al Arab Jumeirah (where a stay in a marble-filled duplex suite comes with amenities like a 24-karat-gold iPad along with access to one of the world's largest fleets of chauffeured Rolls-Royces) and Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace (a dazzling $3 billion palace covered in gold leaf — even the camel burgers are topped with the shimmering, edible metal), you know that more big things await.

Forbes Travel Guide announced the 2019 edition of its annual Star Awards on February 20 and, just as it did in 2018, the Middle East had a strong showing.

The region's shining cluster of Star-Rated properties continues to grow, both in well-established luxury destinations like Dubai and in newly awarded cities across the peninsula.

The 61st annual collection of top-rated hotels featured a host of new additions to the region, including one brand-new Five-Star property, Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island, just outside the UAE's capital that wows with its 2,000-piece art collection, sensational 21,500-square-foot spa and sterling service.

Other top Middle East destinations also added to their roster of sumptuous stays with a host of newly awarded Forbes Travel Guide Recommended properties. One standout in Dubai's already stellar scene is Sheraton Grand Hotel, Dubai, which impressed with its 54th-floor poolside bar and array of international eateries (don't miss Miss Lily's Jamaican brunch on Fridays).

Across the gulf in Qatar, Doha added four new Recommended retreats to its lineup: the tropical, Maldives-style Banana Island Resort Doha by Anantara, with its overwater villas; the arabesque, private-island escape of Marsa Malaz Kempinski, The Pearl-Doha and its Illusion nightclub and Spa by Clarins; the foodie-focused Shangri-La Hotel, Doha, with its Argentine steakhouse and Chinese dim sum dining room; and the beachfront Sharq Village & Spa's sumptuous low-rise villas, serenely tucked just outside the bustling city.