I surprised my partner last night by taking him to the Ice Bar in Madrid. I first heard and saw the Ice Bar on television, but that was back in winter and the thought of subjecting me to sub-zero temperatures was too chilling. Therefore, I decided that a July Saturday night like last night in Madrid was ideal.

The bar is located in Calle Conde de Romanones 3, closest from metro Tirso de Molina or metro Sol. Perhaps a more familiar way of getting there is turning left down the street with Baños Arabes close to Cine Ideal, and then left again following the meandering street .

Ice Bar in Madrid night out

Anyway, we arrived at the bar where the receptionist, Mili, explained us the Ice Bar concept. There is a bear in the patio of the Ice Bar and we took a few fun pictures before going in.The bar offers really warm Ponchos with the entrance fee and even a pair of socks if you so wish at one euro.

The actual bar located one floor above is really impressive. Apparently there are currently 130 ice bars in the world and this one in Madrid is the 4th largest with 70 square metres. The biggest is found in, suprise suprise, DUBAI!

We received a welcome drink (see left image) from one of the co-owners and barman Francisco. At minus 8 degrees it is really cold, and being South African doesnt make me especially prepared, however the ambience makes up for it.

Ice Bar Madrid Ice Sculptures

There are various sculptures in the bar and even a Cibeles ice artwork made of frozen coloured water. Even the seats are made of ice!

I started dancing about to the background  music to keep warm, however the other co-owner Chus advised me not to as I was creating currents of cold air and therefore getting colder. Chus explained to us that the Ice Bar is meant to be a chilled, excuse the pun, hangout destination reason for the non-intrusive ambience music.

Ice Bar Madrid music and fidelity cards

Their songlist is from independent artists. In fact the Ice Bar popularity is gaining so much momentum that there will soon be releasing fidelity cards.

When we entered the bar, there were various couples and as they left another couple was coming in. One can sense why it is popular among couples, because apart from chatting and admiring the ice artworks cuddling and eskimo kisses come in handy.

When we arrived Mili told us that the longest time ever spent in the ice bar was 2 hours by one couple. We left shortly after an hour and as we were leaving more people were coming in. They looked like a group of friends on a bachelor´s night out.

My partner loved the suprise and we both felt it was a night well spent with many anecdotes. The entrance charge is 15 Euros per person, and that got us a Sangria welcome drink pictured here and another copa of our choice later, not to mention the poncho!I recommend visiting the Ice Bar at least once, to anyone…couples,friends,colleagues whoever!

Have a look at the official website Ice Bar webpage and the group in Facebook called Staff Ice Bar Madrid.