On Sunday, Holland was visiting the Chena Hot Springs Resort, home of the upcoming ice hotel, for some swimming and relaxation with his family. Like many visitors to the resort, he checked in on the progress of the frozen building and found a beehive of activity.

A snowmaker rumbled just outside as workers bustled within the thick walls, where it was several degrees warmer, even without the rum.

Bernie Karl, who is creating the ice hotel with champion ice carver Steve Brice, also took a few minutes to toast a project that's already drawing a steady stream of onlookers.

Things are looking good, visitors said, but there is plenty of work to do before guests can rent a night's sleep on the caribou hide-covered frozen beds.

Still, Karl expected the first room to be ready today. Five more are in the works.

The hotel could be largely completed as early as New Year's Eve, he said.

For a few weeks, it appeared the project might have to be scaled back, but a stop-work order from the Alaska State Fire Marshal has been resolved and workers are quickly transforming the interior of the structure.

Karl plans to keep the ice hotel running even after the seasons change.

Inside the walls are 14,000 feet of one-inch tubing, through which antifreeze chilled to 20-below zero can be pumped at 400 gallons a minute to keep the structure frigid.

"We want the mass to help keep it cold all summer," said Karl, who is so confident in the sturdiness of the building, he's invited Dodge to film a commercial with one or more of its vehicles parked on the roof.

Not that the hotel hasn't already generated a buzz.

As workers hustled to finish the project, visitors marveled at the symmetry and craft of the work, snapping photos of the progress. Several Japanese and Interior vacationers were quick to share Karl's enthusiasm for the hotel, which the entrepreneur expects to be one of the region's top tourism draws.

And wait until you see the martini glasses, he said.

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner