WoW what an incredible experience! - Lainio SnowVillage, Yllasjarvi Traveller Reviews

HolidayNomad2

Antwerp, Belgium

Senior Contributor

26 reviews

Reviews in 22 cities

21 helpful votes

“WoW what an incredible experience!”

Reviewed 12 March 2011

1

person found this review helpful

We wanted to do a holiday a bit different than usual this time and came out with Finish Lapland. We did not know what to expect but already from the very beginning when asking information throught the website, the staff (Heini) provided us with a lot of information and with a lot of suggestions for activities. We stayed beginning March 5 nights in the snowhotel (first night in the ice room and the other 4 nights in the teepee). Sleeping in the snowhotel is real experience, we received a very nice tour through the hotel from Eleonor. There is also an ice chapel where they do lots of weddings a year must be an incredible experience. After the tour we went for a nice dinner in the warm restaurant (you can also go for dinner in the ice restaurant). we took a sauna around 9 pm and then got ready for the night. With the special sleeping bags you do not really feely the cold but still it's something to get used to (in case you get really cold you can also go the the warm room). All by all a great experience and next morning we received our certificates that we survided a night in the snow hotel :-) After breakfast we left with guide Sandro for a full day snow mobile excursion and it was really really fantastic. It's just awesome going through the white landscapte with your snowmobile. Next day we continued with a shorter snow mobile excursion combined with ice fishing. Again Sandro was our guide and gave us another great day. We also went for a full day husky safari (each with own huskies & sledges) and that was so wonderful, just amazing !!! Hope to be back some day to do a 3 day husky safari what an experience! The Teepee is just amazing as well, you have a sauna, whirlpool, complete bathroom etc. upstairs you have the bedroom with big windows where you can look at the sky while lying in your bed. Outside there is also a hot tub. What a great place to stay ! Also the food in the restaurant is very nice and the staff is very friendly. We just had a great time ! If you are looking for a relaxing but as the same time adventurous outdoor snow holiday this is definately the place to be for you. If you are looking for a busy place with lots of bars and restaurants, this is however not the place for you as the snowvillage is quite remote located (although you can get a cab to the places around).

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Crazycat

Senior Contributor

45 reviews

Reviews in 31 cities

187 helpful votes

“A fab night in the ice!”

Reviewed 29 March 2010

We stayed at Lainio Snow Village for one night as part of a package to Finland. We'd always wanted to stay at an ice hotel and were not disappointed!

We were given a full tour of the hotel when we arrived as well as the warm rooms. We were then given outer suits, but no other gear was offered so definitely take some boots with a good grip, as some of the paths in the ice hotel are slippy.

The ice hotel was amazing both in terms of the restaurant and bar and the rooms. We ate our evening meal in the ice restaurant which was such a great experience! The food was really good and we enjoyed all 3 courses.

The warm changing room is a little limited in terms of facilities. We found that in the morning there was a bit of a wait for a shower, as there are just 2 toilets - one male, and one female both with a shower in, and one other room with 2 showers in. This did mean either waiting till much later to shower and change or getting up before the rush for the bathrooms!

There were just 2 warm bedrooms each having 2 single beds in so if you don't like sleeping in the ice, you may have to take a bit of a gamble and see if a bed is free. When we were there no-one needed a warm room however.

The warm restaurant served a limited breakfast selection - sausages, bacon, meatballs, cheese and ham. It was enough though to get you started in the morning! Lunch was great - there was a choice of 2 soups which were delicious and were a good price. There was also a range of open sandwiches, cakes and drinks too.

The ice hotel itself was amazing. We had a full tour which included some background info on how the hotel is constructed each year. We also had a briefing on how best to sleep in the ice rooms, and shown how to use the sleeping bags provided and inner fleece liners. Don't worry about needing lots of clothes to sleep in - we were briefed to only wear our thermal layer and they were not wrong - we were nice and warm with just that layer on for the night.

The standard rooms are split into twin and double bed rooms, but the suites were awesome! There were 8 or 9 suites and each one had a different design and some were brilliant! If you can, book a suite as it will make your stay and experience even better!

There were a range of activities that we could choose from to do on the following day which included Snow Show Walking, Ice Karting and Ice Sculpture classes. Some did need to be booked in advance, so our hotel helped us contact Lainio and arrange the relevant activities we wanted to take part in.

Overall, we had a great time at the Snow Village and it's an experience that everyone should try once!