Arctic Treehouse Hotel
Lapp of luxury
Finnish Lapland
Arctic Treehouse Hotel, in Finland’s slice of the Arctic Circle, gives the den of your childhood dreams a slick Scandi makeover. Each cabin’s window wall is like an ever-updating Insta-stream of snow-dusted pines, wispy auroras and the jazzed-up skies of the Midnight Sun. When you’re not cosseted in duvet and furs giving nature the eye, polar expeditions await — wild taste testings, ice swimming, reindeer and husky safaris – followed by fine Finnish dishes of lake-caught perch and reindeer ribs, served indoors or fireside in the snow.
Facilities
បន្ទប់
60, including three ArcticScene Executive Suites and five Arctic Glasshouse suites.
Checkout
11am, but flexible for a charge of €50 an hour (till 3pm), subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 4pm.
ព័ត៌មានលម្អិតបន្ថែម
Rates usually include a drink on arrival, porterage and a choice of Continental, full-English or American breakfast (French toast, pancakes and omelettes appear alongside trad-Finnish picks: smoked fish, muesli and the like).
Also
Don’t neglect the drinkables in your minibar: try the hotel’s own pale ale (a collab with Arctic beer-meisters, Lapin Panimo).
Free Internet Access
Laundry
On-Site Restaurant
At the Hotel
Swimming lake, ice rink (seasonal), fireplace-warmed lounge, shop, free WiFi. In rooms: furry throws, a Tivoli Audio Bluetooth radio, concealed flatscreen TV, minibar filled with local goodies, Nespresso coffee machine, kettle, air-conditioning. Seven Treehouse Suites also have a kitchenette, and each Arctic Glasshouse has a fireplace, sauna, kitchenette with an electric hob and a private deck. ArcticScene Suites each have a wellness area with a product-packed spa goodie-bag (with Temple Spa products, a bath bomb and wellness drink) and eco-friendly yoga mats.
Our Favourite Rooms
Like Lego Architect kits and Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, these Treehouses are sophisticated takes on kids’ daydreams – and there isn’t a bad one in the bunch. However, the spacious ArcticScene Suites each have a patio with a log fire, sauna and bath tub with views, so they feel more spoiling. Request a Treehouse Suite close to the main building if you want a shorter stroll back after dinner.
Poolside
There’s no pool, but you can take a brisk wild swim in the icy lake (a 20-minute drive from the hotel). If that’s a touch too invigorating for your liking, temperatures rise to around 22°C come July.
Packing Tips
Bring shoes with grip, knits and thermals – plus, strokably soft nightwear.
Also
You’ll be offered mulled wine on arrival, for a literally warm welcome.
កុមារ
Children are welcome. One extra bed (€50 a night, for children aged three-and-up) can be booked in some Treehouse suites; Glasshouse Suites hold up to two extra beds, and you can fit three in ArcticScene Suites. Babysitting is available, too.
វិចិត្រសាល
Food & Drink
Top Table
Sit with your nose to the glass of the restaurant’s window wall, under the pine-cone–shaped pendant lights.
សម្លៀកបំពាក់
Slay in layers: think ski casual with a little sparkle.
Hotel Restaurant
Rakas Restaurant, the heart and hearth of the snowflake-shaped main building, strikes a balance between elegant new Nordic cuisine and the survivalist foragings of cable-knit-adorned mountain types. Pike perch hoiked from the hotel’s own lake is served with Lappish potatoes and white-roe dressing, reindeer is smoked and salted or drizzled in a game-y sauce, and distinctive desserts include lemon mousse with licorice and spruce-sprinkled bilberries. Join the crowd for brunch on Sunday or have an intimate chef’s dinner for two, starring whitefish ceviche and flambéed beef with reindeer-horn powder.
Hotel Bar
The lounge doubles up as a toasty bar. A large fireplace is ringed by seats with fur throws slung over them and there are comfy sofas to plump down on, and wines, chilled and mulled, and craft brews bring merriness to proceedings.
Last Orders
Breakfast runs from 7.30am–10.30am (8am–11am on weekends), then the restaurant opens for lunch and dinner from 11.30am–10pm.
Planes
Fly to Finnish capital Helsinki – direct flights run from London and New York, flights from Asia and Australia usually connect via Doha – then travel on to Rovaniemi airport (a 90-minute flight). The airport is a five-minute drive from the hotel. Private transfers can be arranged for €50 each way and an airport bus service runs to and from the hotel three times a day.
Trains
Take the VR overnight train (www.vr.fi) from Helsinki Central to Rovaniemi rail station (around 11 hours away) to wake to Christmas-card panoramas – choose from cosy private berths or bunk-beds. If travelling by day, you’ll need to change at Oulu or Tampere. Hail a taxi at the train station or hop on Santa’s Express Bus number 8, which stops at the hotel.
Automobiles
Those with sturdy tyres and an even sturdier constitution can attempt the nine-hour drive from Helsinki to the hotel – it’s pretty much a straight drive north on the E75 route. There’s free parking at the hotel.
Worth Getting Out of Bed For
If you don’t have a treehouse to call your own, it is tempting to go into sleepover mode, only snuffling out to roast marshmallows and drink wine by the hotel’s secluded fire pits. But, there’s plenty of frosty fun to be had – icebreakers include swimming in frozen lakes, donning a flotation suit and going aurora spotting, riding snowmobiles, or watching the world whizz by from a sled pulled by huskies. Stop by a reindeer farm to pet their surprisingly soft antlers or take a blindfolded taste-test of bear meat, berries and other Finnish delicacies in the forest – or book a fireside dinner in the snow, blindfolds optional… and if you’re feeling especially self sufficient, you can even catch your own dinner through a hole in the ice. The city of Rovaniemi – Santa Claus’s official address – is a 20-minute drive away. When St Nick flies off to make his deliveries, we’re pretty sure he looks back at the city: it was redesigned after World War II by local architect Alvar Aalto and is now shaped like reindeer antlers, so it's best viewed from above if you've packed your drone. Artikum and Pilke museums offer fascinating insight into science and sustainability in the Arctic – but, really you’re here to hand your wishlist to St Nick and the elves at Santa Village, then double up on Christmas cheer at SantaPark, where you can ride magic trains, visit the Ice Queen, earn your elf diploma and decorate festive cookies before meeting the big guy himself. More into natural wonders? Get up close and personal with the Northern Lights on an after-dark plane flight, or spy polar bears in Ranua Wildlife Park.
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. .
