ROVANIEMI · SCANDINAVIA
I have stayed here, and the thing I tell people first is that it is two properties on one site.
Why I recommend it
I have stayed here, and the thing I tell people first is that it is two properties on one site. You can sleep in a room carved from snow — genuinely carved, new every winter, held between 0 and −5 °C — or you can sleep in a heated glass igloo at 20 °C with the whole Arctic sky over the bed. Most people do one night of the first and the rest of the week in the second, and that is exactly how I would book it.
What makes it different from everything else we sell in Lapland is that the northern lights come to you. Every glass igloo has an aurora alarm you switch on before you sleep, and a guide stays up all night watching the sky — the property calls him the Northern Lights Discoverer. If the lights appear at three in the morning, you get woken. They also run aurora hunts if you would rather go out looking.
It is half an hour out of Rovaniemi on the shore of a frozen lake, and the round-trip transfer is part of the package rather than an extra — which matters more than it sounds when the alternative is a taxi at midnight in −25 °C.
Best for
The honest fit
One night in the snow hotel is the recommendation, and it is the property’s own — not ours being cautious. The rooms sit at 0 to −5 °C, the sleeping bags are arctic-rated, and the showers and toilets are in the main building rather than the room. It is a genuine experience and it is not a comfortable week.
The property does not recommend the snow hotel for children under five. Families are very welcome in the glass igloos and the family suites, which is the pairing I would suggest.
And a real one: the snow and ice structures depend on the weather. The supplier’s own terms say that if conditions prevent them providing the service, the fees are refunded in full. Every other property we sell in Lapland has a building that stands whatever the winter does.
Where you stay
Carved new every winter. Superior double, triple and family rooms plus suites; the family rooms and family suite sleep up to six. The temperature holds between 0 and −5 °C whatever the weather outside. Arctic sleeping bags with fleece liners, reindeer furs, and a hot drink on waking. Showers and toilets are in the main building. One night is the recommendation, and not recommended for children under five.
Thirty-nine heated igloos — 34 twin at 20 m² and 5 family at 33 m², with an extra bed available in each. A 360° thermal-glass roof, heated floors, an adjustable temperature around 20–22 °C, motorised beds you can angle for sleeping or for watching the sky, and an aurora alarm. En-suite bathroom with shower.
The reason it exists
Snow hotel room, rebuilt from scratch every winter and gone again by spring. Sleeps up to 6.
Eating & drinking
Built entirely of snow and ice and rebuilt every year — tables and benches carved from ice. Dinner at 17:30, 19:00 and 20:30.
A traditional Lappish kota shelter, dining around an open fire. Lunch 12:00–16:00, dinner 19:00 and 21:00. Glow-fried salmon is the thing to order.
The warm main-building restaurant. Breakfast 7:30–10:30, included in every room type; buffet dinner 17:00–20:00.
Inside the snow hotel, open 12:00–22:00. Drinks are served in glasses made of ice — as the property puts it, you don't order a drink with ice, you order a drink in ice. Non-alcoholic options too.
Open 16:00–00:00, upstairs and glazed — the warm place to watch for the lights.
Packages
Out on the snow
A guided hunt for the northern lights. It goes as far as it takes — the guide drives to wherever the cloud isn't, and that changes nightly. Sightings can never be guaranteed.
Ninety minutes, starting in the solar-powered ice store. Minimum age twelve. Not available 15–31 December.
An hour on a nearby frozen lake, drilling through the ice with a guide. Cold-weather clothing included.
Ninety minutes through the forest around the property on an electric snow scoot, with a campfire stop for hot drinks and sausages. Minimum age twelve.
A two-hour guided trek to a campfire site on a snowy hill. Ages ten and above. Guests are driven to the starting point.
A visit to a traditional reindeer farm — feeding the herd, a short sleigh ride, coffee and Lappish pastries indoors. Two hours.
A full day out — meeting Santa, crossing the Arctic Circle, a 2.5 km husky ride, a three-course lunch and Snowman World. Six hours forty-five minutes.
The northernmost wildlife park in the world — over 150 animals including lynx and arctic fox. A six-hour day with a ninety-minute drive each way.
Run by the same company as the snow hotel, about twenty-five minutes away in Santa Claus Village — a winter activity park with an ice skating rink, snow and ice slides, snow tubing, a snow labyrinth, its own Ice Bar and Snow Restaurant, and an Ice Disco included in the ticket. Entry is included in every room rate for stays between 6 December and 17 March; the property's own season runs two weeks longer, so a late-March stay does not include it. It is a separate venue with its own character — the photographs in this section are Snowman World's, not the snow hotel's.
A separate venue of the same supplier, about twenty-five minutes from the snow hotel. These photographs are Snowman World’s.
Time at the property
The Ice Chapel is rebuilt from snow and ice every winter and seats 30 to 50. Couples marry here for real — the property arranges a registry officer and the marriage certificate — or renew vows in a symbolic ceremony officiated by Santa Claus, an Ice Princess or a Lutheran priest. The ceremony runs about fifteen minutes, in English.
The snow sauna is the one I would not skip. You steam in a sauna built of snow, then drop into an outdoor jacuzzi at 38 °C with the cold air on your face. The supplier says it cannot be found anywhere else, and I have not seen another.
Ice sculpting starts in the solar-powered ice store, which stays below freezing all year, and the best guest carvings go on display inside the hotel. Minimum age twelve.
Sleep at 0 to −5 °C in an arctic sleeping bag under reindeer furs, and collect a diploma for it in the morning. One night is the recommendation.
Switch the alarm on in your igloo before you sleep. A guide watches the sky all night and wakes you if the lights appear.
A sauna built of snow, then a 38 °C jacuzzi outdoors in the arctic air. The supplier calls it an experience that can only be found here.
Rebuilt from ice and snow every winter, seating 30–50. Legally binding with a registry officer, or symbolic — officiated by Santa Claus, an Ice Princess or a Lutheran priest.
Learn to carve where the temperature stays below freezing all year round. The best guest sculptures go on display inside the hotel. Minimum age twelve.
At the Ice Bar inside the snow hotel — the glass is carved ice, and it changes the drink.
Planning your trip
Lehtoahontie 27, Sinettä — on the shore of lake Lehtojärvi, on the Arctic Circle.
Every visiting package includes return transfers from Rovaniemi city centre or Santa Claus Village.
Fly into Helsinki, then a domestic connection to Rovaniemi (RVN). Shuttle and private transfers are both provided, and we arrange yours.
The snow hotel exists from 15 December to 31 March and not a day either side — the ice is built each winter and melts each spring. For Australians planning a December departure, that window is the whole trip, so it is worth booking early rather than deciding late.
Consultant tip
Book the snow hotel for one night and the glass igloo for the rest. Ask for the aurora wake-up at check-in — it is a request, not automatic. Bring long underwear, a hat and wool socks to sleep in; warm outdoor clothing is not included in the visiting packages.
The complimentary Snowman World ticket runs 6 December to 17 March, but the property’s own season runs to 31 March. If a client books the last fortnight of the season, the ticket is not included and we should say so before they ask.
One honest line: the northern lights are a natural phenomenon and can’t be guaranteed — they depend on solar activity and cloud cover on the night. What we can promise is the planning: the right place, the right nights, and a stay built to give you the best possible chance.
Your consultant
We book Arctic SnowHotel directly with the supplier, and the same company runs Snowman World in Santa Claus Village — so the activity park, the restaurants and the hotel are one relationship rather than three. Your enquiry is handled end to end by a Mykish consultant, with our 24-hour response promise.
Because I have stayed here, the advice you get is first-hand: which room type suits which night, how the aurora alarm actually works, and what half an hour out of town means in practice.
Personal reply from Rahul
On the property
Questions
We would not suggest it, and neither does the property — one night is the recommendation. The rooms hold between 0 and −5 °C and the bathrooms are in the main building. Most guests pair one night in the snow hotel with the rest of the stay in a heated glass igloo.
No one can promise that, and the property says so in its own brochure: “we can never guarantee you will experience the Northern Lights.” What it does do is give you three ways at them — an aurora alarm in every glass igloo, a guide who watches the sky all night and wakes you, and guided aurora hunts if you would rather go looking.
As far as it takes. There is no fixed destination — the guide drives to wherever the cloud isn't, and that changes nightly. Rahul has travelled 200 km one year and 50 km the next for the same thing, and he will tell you what that has meant in practice.
The glass igloos and family rooms are genuinely family-friendly and the family units sleep up to six. The snow hotel itself is not recommended for children under five by the property.
The snow hotel and all the ice structures exist from 15 December to 31 March. Outside that the property still operates with a different programme, but there is no snow hotel, no Ice Bar and no Ice Restaurant — they are built fresh each winter.
Entry is included in every room rate for stays between 6 December and 17 March. The property's own season runs to 31 March, so a stay in the last fortnight of March does not include the ticket. Snowman World is run by the same company but sits in Santa Claus Village, about twenty-five minutes away.
Every visiting package includes return transfers from Rovaniemi city centre or Santa Claus Village. Shuttle and private transfers are both provided, and we arrange yours.
Yes, and legally. The Ice Chapel is rebuilt from snow and ice each winter and seats 30 to 50, with standing room behind. The property arranges the registry officer and the marriage certificate, or you can have a symbolic ceremony or vow renewal officiated by Santa Claus, an Ice Princess or a Lutheran priest. Ceremonies run about fifteen minutes, in English.
The supplier's terms are explicit: ice and snow structures depend on the weather, and if conditions prevent them providing the service the fees are refunded in full. It is the one property in our Lapland portfolio where that is a real consideration.
No — this is an enquiry property. Tell us your dates and party and we will come back to you within 24 hours with what is actually available.
ROVANIEMI
