Experience Review: Minus -5 Degree Ice Bar in Manhattan
Okay, I bought a Groupon. I was curious. I wanted to see what this Minus -5 Degree Ice Bar, at the Hilton Hotel on 6th Avenue and 54th Street, was like.
I’ve passed by it and it looks interesting – a bar set in sub 0 temperatures? What could be better on a 100 degree day in New York City. So, I bought a Groupon for $50 for two people and traveled into NYC with my husband and son.
(By the way, children under the age of 21 are allowed in the bar until 8 pm every day. The bar opens at 11 am and is open until 2 am.)
We walked in. We handed in our Groupon, paid for our son and were given three blue down coats and three grey gloves to wear. We were also told to put our mobile phones in a locker. We put on the coats and the gloves. It felt a little strange after being so hot in the oven temperatures outside.
Before we walked inside, I noticed that there were also Faux fur coats. “Can I wear one of those?” I asked the woman. “For another $10 you can,” she said. I told her to forget it. (And I’m glad I did!)
When we went through the heavy glass door, it was freezing. I wore a dress without panty hose. I could feel myself shaking. It was that cold. We looked around. If I tell you the place was no bigger than my small kitchen, you probably wouldn’t believe me, but it’s true! I have never seen such a tiny bar.
We ordered drinks. They were served in an ice cup. That was pretty clever. The decor was all New York based. There were seats made out of ice with animal skins thrown on top so that you can sit down. Between sitting on ice, drinking from ice and just feeling the chill in the air, you definitely felt the cold, even if it was 100 degrees outside.
There was no band. There was pipped in music and we were alone in this freezing bar sipping our drinks. I’m sure it gets packed in there quickly. If you have 20 people, it would be tight! Just imagine, people pressed up against each other like during rush hour on a packed subway.
We finished our drink and within 10 minutes or less, we were existing out the door. Since our Groupon included a photo, we went to the photo area and asked for it. They workers were very rude. They said they sent the photo but I didn’t get it until an hour later and it ended up in spam. We were supposed to get two photos as part of the package but we only got one. We were told, “you can send it around to each other.”
The normal price is $75 for two people (which includes only one drink each). The admission price for a child was $15.
Was it worth it?
I would not recommend this bar. It was cool to see for five minutes but it quickly became stale.
