On 30 December I madly decided to see if I could take the family to Lapland for New Year! A friend of mine had travelled with Emagine the previous year and came back with glowing reports of both the tour company and hotel. Gill at Emagine was fabulous and stayed late in the office to book our holiday, for 10am the following morning! Transfer to hotel was seemless, friendly welcome at Hotel Jeris and a hysterical fitting of the all important snow suits and boots. We stayed in a log cabin with open fire and private sauna. Heaven! Excursions were on time and great fun - snow mobile across the frozen lake, husky ride through forest and wonderful fireworks on New Year's Eve. All in all, a magical 4 days in Lapland. Hotel staff were so friendly. Only negative is that food could have been better. We will be going again for longer stay next time.

We visited the Hotel Jeris in December as a Santa tour booked with Emagine travel from the UK.
As far as I can tell Emagine act as UK agents for the Finnish company which own both the Jeris and the Wilderness Hotel, Harriniva tours.
Our package was more like a DIY affair, we chose the number of nights we wanted to stay and which "safari" tours we wanted and Emagine did the rest. Because we hadn't booked with one of the "major" UK operators we had to book flights ourselves which meant we had to travel via Helsinki, It did make it quite a long day getting there.
When we arrived at Kittila airport we expected someone to be waiting for us, however we couldn't find them! The airport's pretty small and after just a few minutes we were alone in the terminal! luckily we managed to phone the Emagine head office and they said they would get in touch with the local agent. Just as an afterthought I walked outside to where a bus was waiting in the car park and lo and behold they were waiting for us! (Obviously thought we were psychic!) But on a plus point as we handed our luggage to the driver her phone rang telling her we were there!

Transfer to the Jeris took about 45 minutes, on arrival we were taken downstairs and fitted with our thermal suits including; Thick socks, boots, inner gloves, thick outer mitts, balaclava and body suit. Basically you don't need to take any of your own outdoor gear.

Our accommodation was in one of their detached cabins which was superb, it consisted of 2 twin bedrooms downstairs and a lovely twin mezzanine room for the kids upstairs, the stairs were more like a ladder but a built in stair gate was in place. The cabin also had a fireplace (which we never used!) a kitchen (likewise) drying room and private Sauna.
The cabin was unbelievably warm! heated floors were tiling was present and triple glazed windows which were totally draught free. We had packed for a winter holiday but wished we had taken shorts and T-shirts for lazing about in! Hence why we didn't use the fire. We didn't use the kitchen because we never saw a convenience store!

The cabin was about a 400 yard walk (down a lit path) from the main hotel which also included quite a nasty hill, which was quite hard work for the children.

Food included was half board, breakfast was a standard buffet style. Dinner was, again, buffet and was of a very high standard although there was little choice. My wife is a vegetarian but the chef was happy to provide something for her. My mother-in-law is a Coeliac and therefore can't have gluten, which we thought might cause a problem, but didn't - they were great about it! they had a stack of gluten free bread and use cornflour in most of their recipes not wheat flour.

For when we were there at lunchtime the choices were very limited - the majority of guests were a large French party who seemed to take over most of the Hotel, when they were away on Safari the only lunch choices were off the standard a la carte menu which didn't really consist of much, but we asked for some bread and cheese one day which they happily provided. On our other 2 lunches we waited for the French to leave and had what was left of the buffet!

Our safaris had all been pre-booked, to know what we were doing on each day was a simple case of referring to a list posted at reception.
I would recommend a snowmobile tour for the adrenaline junkies, a husky dog tour, because it's great and obviously the trip to see Santa which I thought would be tacky but wasn't!
Children are taken on all the trips by separate guides, which we initially thought might be a problem but once they've put all the kids together in their sleigh's covered in reindeer furs they seem happier than we are! irrespective of whether pulled by a snowmobile or pack of dogs!
We also booked a northern lights excursion but not sure that was worth it - it's very weather dependant, I think you could always book that locally when you know what the weather is going to be like.

If I was to return i'd probably book a private Santa visit as we had to hang a round while the other kids went.

Overall a very pleasant, if somewhat expensive trip, but I'm sure it's one the kids will remember, I'd happily recommend the tour operator to anyone and answer any queries about them you might have.

Returned yesterday from 6 nights in Jeris booked with Activities Abroad. We tailor made our own holiday choosing and paying for excursions upfront in UK. In retrospect possibly that was not necessary as we could have booked at reception if trips were not full (thats the risk you take). All the things we booked were good except the Northern Lights Safari which cost a lot of money (about 130 euros each I think) but the weather was shocking so we couldnt drive our own snowmobiles as promised but were packed in big sleds and pulled by a guide. We got stuck on the lake 3 times and had to get out. The whole trip was supposed to be 2 hours but by the time we all got helmets sorted out and the fact that the weather made us turn back early we were only on the move for about an hour. We were however looking forward to the promised drink and snack on our return but sadly it was tepid fruit juice and a biscuit. (Come on Hotel Jeris. Where was the hot toddy or hot chocolate). It should have been cancelled really or at least we should have been given the option to cancel. That said the husky safari was fantastic. Cross country skiing lesson was good but that was just the two of us and a guide. Snow shoeing was also good. Our guide for both was Lotta and she is very nice and very knowledgeable about the local forests etc. Other people who booked as a package had 25 skiing with one guide which is silly. All the clothing given ie. boots, overalls and gloves is fabulous and warm and you collect that when you arrive but any special stuff like skies or crash helmets is given out when necessary for each experience you book and eats into the time for that experience.
We thought the food was good (like comfort home cooking) but very little choice and no good at all for vegetarians or people with special requirements. Also the day before new years eve suddenly there was no lunch buffet only a la carte which is a very small menu and pricey for what it is. Its not like you could pop out and get a sandwich. Also because there were only two of us and they were busy we often found our allocated table for dinner was doubled up with another couple which was a shame (although fortunately the couple they put us with were very nice it was still a case of no choice).
Cabins were extraordinarily warm so no worries there. It was -25 ish and we still slept with the windows open. Found the beds horribly uncomfortable but that was the bed linen and thin unanchored matresses which just bunched up in the night whatever we did. I would take a sleeping bag next time and put the quilt on the bottom.
The cabin had all the facilities ie. tv, fridge, cooker, microwave, dishwasher. However the only thing we managed to buy was a pint of milk and 6 teabags. The nearest supermarket is over 20k away. The hotel is missing a trick by not having an onsite shop and I cannot understand that. We asked to buy a bottle of wine but they cannot sell them to go back to the cabin. If you buy a bottle to accompany your meal but dont finish it they take it away and bring it out again the next night. We were glad we had taken a little drink with us for new years eve.
The sad and always empty pub bar which closes at 11pm (but actually never had any staff at all so had to buy a drink upstairs and take it down) needs refurb and new life. We were back in our cabin by 9pm every night except new years eve. I would say the hotel was a cross between a hotel and a nice hostel. You will not need any special clothes for the evening thats for sure.
If you book an excursion they will display your name on a list clearly visible on reception the night before. Be aware that if your excursion starts at 2pm for example you may have to meet in the lobby at 1.15pm in order to be transported to the start point of the excursion. Lots of people were caught out by this because it is not explained. There is a slight lack of information around the whole hotel.
Overall Lapland is beautiful. The staff are extrordinarily helpful although they wouldnt need to be if things were set up to run more smoothly. They should open a supplies shop without a doubt. Transfers were excellent. Go - take supplies and base layers and dont miss the husky safari.

My wife and I stayed in a cabin at Jeris for our honeymoon and it was everything we hoped it would be and more!

The location is great, a real escape from the rat race of home, it's so quiet and peaceful. We enjoyed simply sitting in the spa watching the sun go down over the lake, could have sat there all day. We took a couple of plastic sledges with us which were great fun. The snowmobile safari was good but didn't get to see the northern lights. We also didn't get chance to do the husky sledge excursion so we have an excuse to go back.

We took a trip to Levi on the bus which was nice to see but the buses were running late both ways so we waited around quite a while.

The staff at Jeris couldn't have been more helpful, everything was clean and tidy and there was a very relaxed atmosphere around the whole place. We booked the cabin and transfers direct and sorted our own flights. This meant we got a good deal and were free to pick and choose what we ate and which excursions we did.

There isn't much food available from the shop on site so would recommend taking some with you if you intend to cook for yourself in the cabin which is well equipped to do so.

It was perfect for us , the only thing was we didn't stay long enough, we had three nights but four would have been better!