Here at kbbreview we're well used to venturing abroad to check out the very latest products the industry has to offer. In fact there can't be many kbb-related factory tours left in continental Europe that at least one of us hasn't been on. However, I recently got a chance to go on a trip that offered something a little bit different.

Perhaps you're already familiar with a Swedish company called Tylo who make saunas and steam showers? Not really our market you might think, but the story goes that they're now making a big push into the mainstream bathroom market with a new range of products aimed at providing retailers with a much needed extra string to their bow. 

To find out more, I journeyed to the company's HQ in Halmstad before flying north from Stockholm to the famous Ice Hotel, 200km north of the Arctic Circle. Maybe you've heard of this place? Joanna Lumley visited it last year for her 'Land of the Northern Lights' travel documentary, the resulting advice being to make sure you wear a hat in bed.

It was certainly an interesting experience. Landing in sub-zero temperatures at the nearby airport, together with Tylo's export manager and two guys from UK distributor Golden Coast, we were led to a changing hut to don our specially provided cold weather gear. Then we boarded the local dog sled (seemed a better idea than the van) and headed off into the icy wastes. A memorable 45-minute ride it has to be said - although if I'm honest you're a bit too close to those huskies' backsides for complete comfort.

The complex itself is in two parts; one is just a normal hotel for those who want centrally heated comfort (although why people visit a hotel made of ice and then stay in the only bit that isn't I'm not sure). The other section is just as it sounds - a hotel built completely from ice, cut from the frozen Thorne River, which in the summer runs close by. They even export the stuff to other countries, such is its apparent purity.

Cold comfort

The rooms are basically like igloos with snow floors and intricately carved sculptures including tables, chairs and ornaments. The temperature is regulated at a constant minus 5C, which is positively balmy in comparison to outside, where it can get as low as minus 40.

To me, the frozen ice passages inside are disturbingly reminiscent of the scene in 'The Shining' where a crazed Jack Nicholson chases his son around a frozen maze carrying an axe, but let's not go there. Suffice to say, it's very cold and along with wearing a hat in bed, I'd suggest making sure you don't need to visit the bathroom before you take off your heavy overalls, mittens and snow boots to get in your sleeping bag (it's all they give you apart from a thin mattress and a hide from what smells like a long dead reindeer). Otherwise, like me, you'll need to put them all back on again and find your way out of the place. Don't be too worried when someone appears at your bedside in the morning offering you berry juice either, it's all part of the service.

Anyway, an interesting experience as I say, and in case you're wondering what the Tylo connection is, the hotel is kitted out with some of its range of sauna equipment. There's an ice sauna as well if you want one, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you want vital parts of your anatomy to snap off.

Aside from the attractions of the hotel itself, the visit obviously had a serious point too. In Halmstad, I saw for myself how the concept of sauna is, by slow degrees, edging into the UK bathroom market. The new products for example offer a 'home spa' experience - a small sauna and shower combined, while the 'Mono' and 'Duo' offer steam rooms with benches with an additional shower.

In days when the bathroom has become a 'sanctuary' and wellness is the name of the game, Tylo hopes these kind of products can translate into an everyday bathroom setting. They're sizeable of course - and we all know a typical UK bathroom isn't - but the company remain convinced there's a market for the product over here. It's early days for the concept, and the roll-out is only just beginning, but it will be interesting to see whether retailers and consumers take to it in the numbers that Tylo and Golden Coast hope. Certainly in times when many are looking for new business streams to improve their offering, it may be an option the higher end showrooms might feel is worth considering.

tim@kbbreview.com