Treehotel

Style

Trees chic

Setting

Luxuriant Lapland forest

Adults who say they’ve outgrown treehouses are lying… Show them the eight, stylish branch-hung dens at Sweden’s Treehotel, and they’ll scramble up the ladders and floating walkways with unbridled glee. Romantic breaks at this eco-friendly hotel are lo-fi; rooms are shower-free, but mind-boggling mirror-cube and bird’s nest designs, and Scandinavian-chic interiors ensure you’re not exactly roughing it. There’s much more to love, too: treks through lush boreal forest, husky-drawn sled rides, rustic Nordic cuisine, and a possible peek at the Northern Lights.

Facilities

Rooms

Eight individually designed treehouses.

Checkout

Noon. Earliest check-in, 3pm. Early arrivals can stow their luggage and relax in the restaurant or wander through the woods.

More Details

Rates include a buffet breakfast, served in the Guesthouse (the reception building), with pancakes, bacon and eggs, cheeses and meats, freshly baked bread with home-made jams, muesli and fresh orange juice.

Also

The Blue Cone has wheelchair access. Treehotel can arrange transport for disabled guests from the Guesthouse to the treehouses.

Free Internet Access

Pet Friendly

On-Site Restaurant

Room Service

Spa

At the Hotel

Restaurant, bar and shared kitchen in the Guesthouse; shower room; Forest Spa with a sauna and whirlpool plunge bath; open-air hot tub; woodland sauna; free WiFi throughout. In rooms: mobile phone, minibar, a kettle with a selection of teas and coffee, free bottled water and air-conditioning.

Our Favourite Rooms

If you plan to hibernate in your treehouse like a pair of upwardly mobile squirrels, the Mirrorcube is a well-camouflaged modern hideaway with rustic-chic interiors and a discreet terrace. The Cabin is simple but snug, just big enough for a bed and two cushion seats by a window feature wall. Set high off the ground, this room has soul-restoring panoramic views.

Spa

The owners can organise massages (of the Swedish ilk, of course), but here it’s all about schwitzing like a Scandinavian. There’s an open-air hot tub, which is satisfyingly brisk in the winter and surrounded by lavish greenery in summer.

Packing Tips

Bring a full beauty arsenal: no bath products are provided, and an eye mask to shut out the winter sun’s light. A sturdy pair of hiking boots will come in handy in summer; in winter, some warming wardrobe essentials.

Also

On arrival you’ll be ushered into the Guesthouse to check in – stop for a while to grab a cup of coffee and a handful of retro foil-wrapped sweets.

Children

Are very welcome. Cots (free) can be added to all treehouses, except the Cabin and Mirrorcube. A children’s menu is served, there’s a wide range of kids’ activities (best suited to over-7s) and babysitting is available.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Cross-legged on a reindeer-skin rug by a campfire in the snow, for full-on Viking-style feasting.

Dress Code

Try traditional Lapp fur-lined snow boots in winter, and a lightweight dirndl skirt in summer, both elaborately embroidered and brightly coloured.

Hotel Restaurant

The Restaurant feels like an eatery your grandparents might run if they took up bear wrestling. Warm and cosy interiors – mismatched plates, candlelit tables and Fifties artwork – contrast with the menu’s rugged local delicacies, such as reindeer, bear and moose meat, and fish and caviar from the Kalix and Lule rivers nearby. However, with juniper and lingonberry sauces to drizzle over meat, thyme-sprinkled salmon and cloudberry ice cream, this is no mess-tin affair. For a truly memorable meal, book a campfire feast in advance.

Hotel Bar

There’s no official bar, but you can sip a range of local beers or birch-flavoured schnapps in the Guesthouse. There’s lingonberry juice and shots of vitamin-packed birch sap (when in season) for abstainers, too.

Last Orders

The restaurant is open from 8am to 11pm; breakfast is served until 10am. In the bar, snacks and drinks are served from noon until the last guests are treehouse-bound.

Room Service

Tucked up in your treehouse, but getting peckish? Rather than trek for five minutes to the Guesthouse, ask for hot pies, gravlax, cheese and charcuterie platters, salads, sandwiches, fruit and chocolate, to be delivered to the foot of your ladder.

Planes

The closest airport is Luleå Airport (www.swedavia.com/lulea), a one-hour drive away, where frequent flights from Cyprus, Greece, Spain and the Canary Islands, Turkey, Norway and other major Swedish cities arrive. Transatlantic flights and flights across the Pacific connect via Stockholm, on a 90-minute flight from Arlanda airport.

Trains

Boden Central Train Station is a 35-minute drive away; the hotel can arrange one-way transfers for SEK990 a car. The ride from Luleå Station is 25 minutes, and there’s a 12-hour overnight train from Stockholm – with breathtaking views of Swedish Lapland along the way.

Automobiles

The hotel is an hour’s drive from the airport: follow Route 97 north until you reach Harads. Hiring a car isn’t essential – the hotel can organise transfers and day trips – but you may want to explore the magical surroundings further. In winter, roads are icier and prone to closures.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Norrbotten County is wonderfully wild, with vast stretches of tundra, mountains and forests. Guests can tour the Sámi (native Lapp) village in Flakaberg – 80km away from the hotel – or meet the Disney-film’s worth of furred creatures that graze in Treehotel’s forest surrounds: sociable reindeer and the odd moose or arctic fox. Jonas and Hanna can organise excursions that let you explore the great outdoors in full-throttle fashion. Hop on a husky or horse-drawn sled; go for a midnight-sun ride; bike, trek, ride a Segway or snowshoe-walk through the countryside; cross the Arctic Circle and scan the sky for glints of the Northern Lights, or strap on a pair of skis – the very brave can go skijoring, where a horse pulls you along. Snap-happy guests can join a Northern Lights photography tour too. Kayak, or go white-water rafting and ice fishing (until April) in the Lule river, and in summer the lakes close by are the ideal temperature for swimming in. The hotel has a zipline on site, with speedy sections for the accustomed. Take a day trip to the waterfall at Storforsen, where the water runs even when the banks are icy; and in December, it’s worth heading into Boden – an hour’s drive away – to visit the Christmas Market, where you can sip warming mulled wine and pick up some crafty souvenirs and ironic knitwear. Alternatively, relax in the tree sauna or hot tub onsite. Guests can visit fellow Smith spot Arctic Bath, an eight-minute drive away near Bodtraskfors, which has refreshing cold baths, saunas and massage treatments in a building that resembles frozen kindling. Then again, you could simply sit on your terrace with a suitably outdoorsy tome – may we suggest Walden, or perhaps Cheryl Strayed’s Wild – and fantasise about starting a new life in loftier climes.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .