I know it’s a bit of a novelty, but I’ve always wanted to visit an ice bar. It’s been on my ‘one-day list’ for a while now! The bar in Sydney closed before I had the chance to visit so when I learnt there is an IceBar in Melbourne, I was determined to visit. It was just Hubby, AJ and I on a quick weekend in Melbourne for Hubby’s work Christmas party. I’m always looking at accessibility so I was happy to hear IceBar Melbourne is wheelchair accessible.
Although this is a bar, children are welcome to visit if accompanied by a parent or guardian between 11am to 7pm.
It may seem obvious to mention IceBar Melbourne is cold, but being prepared will help you enjoy the experience for longer. At minus 10 degrees Celsius you’ll feel the chill even with the gear on. As we were visiting Melbourne on a hot weekend with temperatures around 30 degrees, I wasn’t dressed appropriately. I arrived at IceBar in sandals but staff soon had me sorted with a pair of socks and Ugg boots. Warm capes and gloves are also provided and kept us at a comfortable temperature.
Once we were all rugged up it was time to leave reception and head into the bar. Both the front entry and the entry into the bar are step-free.
Walking into the bar is like walking into a beautifully decorated freezer. It’s compact but the ice furniture slides easily making it simple to move anything in the way.
The bar has a range mocktails for kids and non-drinkers including the Siberian Slush, Arctic Ade and Cool Sip. We enjoyed the fruity delights of the Siberian Slush which is a combination of pineapple, lime, passionfruit, kiwi and ice.
The menu also includes nine choices of cocktail and Ice-presso Martinis, including salted caramel, white choc and orange and hazelnut. For those that prefer something less fancy, cold beer is on offer too.
The bar, walls and furniture are all made of ice with the ice sculptures the highlight for guests.
Intricate ice sculptures decorate the space including a massive ice throne. Please note due to a step up the throne is not accessible to transfer from a wheelchair.
I’m always keen to chat to others doing an experience to find out what they think so I can share more than our view with our readers. A local Melbournian family of four were in the bar with us. They’d booked because they thought it would be a novel experience for their kids and had found a deal online which they felt made it more affordable. The kids excitedly chatted and wandered around looking at the ice sculptures until they found the chill too much. It definitely adds to the atmosphere to be sharing it with others. We lasted around 40 minutes.
I can now tick a visit to an ice bar off my experience wish list.
WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBILITY
The reception and bar are both step-free making access easy. With only 6 people in the bar when we visited there was ample circulation space for a wheelchair. If the bar was at capacity, around 20 people, there wouldn’t be much room to move around a lot in a wheelchair. I suggest booking off-peak times. We visited at 11am on a Saturday and combined our trip with some shopping and lunch at a board game café.
Please note personal cameras cannot be used in the IceBar but you can get a souvenir photo taken by staff (additional cost).
Keep an eye out for special offers online, particularly in school holidays.
We were guests of IceBar Melbourne but as always our opinions are our own and this was a cool experience (I had to say that at some point!).
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