Mudpie Fridays >> Finland >> Arctic Snow Hotel Rovaniemi – Everything you need to know before you go

Arctic Snow Hotel Rovaniemi – Everything you need to know before you go

Arctic Snow Hotel Rovaniemi Review. One of the things I really wanted to do when we visited Lapland for Christmas is stay in the Arctic Snowhotel in Rovaniemi. This was a Lapland bucket list item for us and I was expecting great things. Unfortunately, out of all of the things that we did during our six-night stay in Lapland, this was the one that I found most disappointing. Don’t get me wrong. There were some good bits. And perhaps doing it on our last night was not the best idea. So I am writing this article in case you are thinking of staying at the ice hotel in Finland. These are all things you need to consider.

Table of Contents

Where is the Ice Hotel in Finland?

The Arctic Snow Hotel is located 27 km from Rovaniemi city centre and 35 km from Rovaniemi airport. It is in the wilderness and so away from the light pollution that the city creates. Increasing your chance of seeing the Northern Lights.

We found that transfers are not included with your stay at the Arctic Snow Hotel Rovaniemi albeit they are included if you’re visiting for a day trip. So we caught a taxi from Apukka Resort to the snow hotel which cost €100. We then arranged an airport transfer directly with the Snow Hotel which cost €80 for the four of us. Which was extremely good value.

If you have a hire car then there is free parking at the hotel.

Opening Times & Activities of the Arctic Snow Hotel Rovaniemi

Due to the fact that it is made from ice, the hotel is not open all year round. When we visited in 2022 it opened on the 15th of December through to the end of March 2023. The resort also offers glass igloos with a thermal-glass roof. The season for these is longer with bookings being made from the 20th of September.

They also offer several activities for an additional fee such as ice fishing, snowmobile safaris, snow sauna and a range of other outdoor activities. If you are staying in one of the igloos then you can have free entrance to the hotel to look around. This could be a better option for those worried about the cold. As you can still see the spectacular ice sculptures and beautiful rooms of the hotel. But retreat to the comfort of your igloo.

The resort backs onto Lake Lehtojärvi which offers beautiful snowy walks amongst the pine trees.

How much is a room at the Arctic Snow Hotel Rovaniemi?

The price of a hotel room varies based on the number of people who are staying and the level of room you go for. We had a standard family room which cost 169€ per adult and 109€ per child. It is possible to opt for a family suite in the Ice Hotel Finland. These have larger and more intricately carved rooms and ice art and cost 1099€ for the room. Sleeping six for a larger family would mean better value. There are also suites two people rooms these also vary depending on the options chosen but start at 449€.

If you would prefer to visit the Show Hotel as a day guest then tickets cost 34€ for an adult and 25€ for a child without transfers. Or 69€ for an adult or 45€ for a child for tickets with transfers from Rovaniemi.

Arriving at the Arctic Snow Hotel

We checked in at reception at 3 pm, which is the earliest you can access your room. The receptionist was really helpful and gave us loads of information as well as free drinks vouchers for the ice bar and also the sky bar. The children were given a small gift and we were shown around and explained how to get ready for our night’s stay.

This was an essential part of our visit and very useful. Also at check-in, you are given keys to lockers. As a family, we received two. It is not possible to take your bag into the Ice Hotel in Finland. Instead, there is a luggage room held in the main reception building. But you can take personal belongings that you will need for your stay into the locker room.

Obviously travelling with the children, meant that we needed quite a bit of personal stuff. This is why in hindsight, I think I would’ve not done this on our last night. As we need to get ready to go to the airport in the morning. So we didn’t want to have extra layers for travelling and needed to rearrange bags to get them through security.

Our hotel room

The Arctic Snow Hotel Rovaniemi is available for people to look around as day guests until around 7 pm in the evening. This means that they can access your room. There are no doors on the snow hotel rooms, just a black curtain and a do not disturb sign. You are free to put out the do not disturb sign at any point.

We decided to let people look into our room until around 7 o’clock after all they have paid to visit the Snow Hotel and we had nothing in our room of any value. At this point, we put up the do not disturb sign so that anybody eating in the restaurant could then not enter after this time. Most of the other rooms seem to do the same sort of thing. However, we did note that a couple already had a do not disturb sign-up when we arrived around 3 o’clock.

Beds are made up of a mattress on a metal bed frame which has got ice surrounding it. The beds have pillows and blankets on them. This is to ensure you are as comfortable as possible. Sleeping bags are also provided with a thermal inner as a separate layer. We did not struggle with the cold when we visited. albeit some people did.

Each room has a different design and since they build the snow hotel. Each room will never be created again, as each year the rooms are redesigned from scratch. Our standard family room was at the lower end of the price point and had a small polar bear carving in the centre of it. It was lit up by a blue light that worked well for the boys night light.

Bars and Restaurants

There are various different bars and restaurants that you can eat in. Both inside the Arctic Snow Hotel Rovaniemi and outside the snow hotel but within the resort.

Outside the Arctic Snow Hotel

Outside of the Snow Hotel but within the complex, there is the Sky Bar that offers a relaxed environment away from the cold. I was especially pleased to find board games that the children enjoyed. As part of our stay, we were given a welcome drink in the bar which was a cranberry fizz and the children could have hot chocolate. There is a room at the top with lots of windows in case the Northern Lights make an appearance. I think that the Sky Bar was probably my favourite of the eating and drinking options.

At the back of the Sky Bar, there is a small gift shop that runs directly into the back of the Kota Restaurant. Where tables are seated around a central fire pit. It operates a set menu. We did not eat in this restaurant, but you can find out more information about it here. It did look really nice and cosy and would probably be our preferred choice if we ever return.

There is also a snack bar and canteen-style area called Log Restaurant Lumikartano, which is where breakfast is served located right next to reception. This is open until 11.30 pm in the evening. We found quite a large number of families using the area prior to going into the Snow Hotel. There is no food or drink options later in the evening.

Inside the Arctic Snow Hotel

Within the ice hotel itself, there is the ice bar, serving drinks in ice glasses. As part of our stay, we had a free drink in the ice bar. They serve non-alcoholic drinks for the children and alcoholic drinks for the parents. Ours were a blue liquid and it wasn’t overly nice. The man behind the bar took pity on me and offered me an alternative which I thought was a nice touch. The boys loved being able to through the glasses against the wall.

Our Meal in the Ice Restaurant at the Arctic Snow Hotel Finland

And then, perhaps the biggest disappointment of all was the ice restaurant. The ice restaurant itself is split across three different rooms. With some being cosier and more intricately decorated than others. It appears that these nicer rooms are reserved for tour companies. And despite the fact that we were paying to stay in the hotel, and paid full price for our meal, we did not have a great table. We asked to move but they would not move us despite the other tables not being laid up.

I think we must have been in a draft as our water had frozen. Whereas all of the other pitchers on the tables were fine.

The Food

It is a set menu and the mushroom soup was delicious. It came with bread and I was hoping that they would be able to give us a little bit more bread for my six-year-old. However, we were told that there was no additional bread available and that they would have to bake it. Despite the fact that our basket was the same as a two-person table. When you’re paying over €200 for a meal I do not find this acceptable. Not only that but the way the message was delivered was a little bit ‘how dare you ask for more’.

There is a choice of three different main courses, salmon, chicken or elk. The portions are extremely small. I guess this is because obviously food gets cold in the restaurant quickly. However, staying overnight and therefore needing the energy to stay warm. I would’ve hoped for better size portions. As someone that generally does not eat huge amounts of food for me to say that they’re small means that they really are small. Dessert was served on an iced platter, which looked fantastic. Albeit it was so frozen we could not get our spoons through it.

The service was extremely poor and the waitresses were rude when we asked for additional bread. We were also very much rushed through our meal. They got most people out within 40 minutes if not slightly less. I appreciate this could be because of the environment to a certain extent. However, I do expect more when you’re paying more money for an experience. In hindsight, I wish we hadn’t eaten in the ice restaurant.

Getting ready for bed

After a disastrous meal, we collected our arctic sleeping bags and thermal liners from the warm room. The warm room is where all of the lockers are located. It is also where there are a few beds put aside for those that do not sleep well in the ice rooms. When woke at 6 o’clock in the morning to catch our flight we found all of the beds occupied and several people sitting on the floor. I felt a bit sorry for them. It would have been nice to be able to make tea or coffee in the warm room. After all, a hot drink can work wonders when you are cold. But this facility was not available.

We decided to wear both our underlayers and our PJs, with thermal socks and ski socks and also our hats. Which seemed to really work well for us.

Getting into the thermal liners and into the sleeping bags was a little bit of a challenge. As you want them to come up completely around your head. The boys were fine and my husband helped me into mine, but then obviously he had to myself. Harry woke up in the middle of the night and needed a wee. So I then needed to get myself back in and it took quite a bit of effort. But that shouldn’t stop you from giving it a go.

How did we sleep in the Ice Hotel in Finland?

Apart from waking up to go to the toilet, we actually slept pretty well. By that I mean we slept all the way through from around 11.30 pm in the evening to 6 am in the morning. We had opted for the hotel’s special aurora borealis alarm service where somebody would come and wake us should there be the appearance of the Northern Lights. This didn’t happen unfortunately during our stay as they were not in the sky.

But they did come and wake us up at 6 o’clock so that we could catch a transfer back to the airport. I wonder if they had not don’t this what time we would have naturally woken up. They also bought us a breakfast package as we were leaving too early to have breakfast in the hotel itself which is served between 8 am and 10 am.

Top tips for visiting the Ice Hotel in Finland

Bring lots of snacks for the kids and things to keep them entertained as it’s likely you will not go to sleep until quite late.
We kept our base layers on and our pyjamas. As well as our hats which meant that we stayed nice and warm during our stay. We were advised to take the base layers off but I’m glad we didn’t as I think we needed them.
Arrive at check-in time at 3 pm, so that you can look around the other rooms and ice chapel before people put up their do not disturb signs.
Book restaurants in advance, I do not recommend the ice restaurant, especially when dining with children.
We also took hand warmers with us which we didn’t really need, but the boys did quite enjoy using them in the restaurant and also when we were getting ready for bed.
If you think you’re going to need the warm room before you even visit then this experience is not for you. As they just do not have enough beds to accommodate all the people that wanted to use the room on the night we visited.

And a few more tips for staying in the Ice Hotel in Finland

Generally, the average room temperature within the Snow Hotel is around -5° at all times. When we visited, it was -18° outside.
There is a toilet block located right next to the warm room. You can clean your teeth here and it was close to our room. However, if you want a shower in the morning, these are located outside of the Snow Hotel in a separate block with the saunas. Which creates its own complications when travelling with children.
The public Finnish sauna times are different for each gender. So if you’re travelling as a couple, then you can’t go to the sauna at the same time.
The free wi-fi does not work in the snow hotel itself as the walls are too thick.
When staying at the Snow Hotel you can also get free admission to Snowman World. Where the children can enjoy the ice slides

Conclusions

I am glad that we did it, it is a one-in-a-lifetime experience and I can say we’ve now stayed in an Ice Hotel in Finland. I think we learn a lot. As I mention next time we wouldn’t eat in the ice restaurant. I also wouldn’t do it on the last night of our trip as it made it organisationally difficult for us. Outside of that the sleeping arrangements were fine. The kids enjoyed it. I think if you’re gonna do something like this you need to go on it with your eyes open and perhaps we didn’t.

Have you stayed in a Snow Hotel would you do it again?