Arctic Skylight Lodge

It pains me to write this review because the lodge was beautiful, I loved the room, the location, the sauna and jacuzzi, the meals, and the staff. However, my one complaint is so bad that it cancelled out all the rest. Although the name is the Arctic Skylight Lodge and specifically caters to people looking to see the Northern Lights, there is no aurora alarm like at similar hotels and all staff leaves the resort at 10pm. They told me to download a $10 app that would alert me if and when the lights came out, which I did, and when I checked into the room discovered that there was no cell reception whatsoever. So basically, if you wanted to make sure not to miss the lights, you had to stay awake the entire night, which I wasn't willing to do. Apparently, there were amazing lights around midnight during my stay, but I was sleeping and missed them. Luckily, they did show up around 2:30am (although much weaker by all accounts) and I was able to see them from the comfort of my room. But bottom line, this situation was just a complete and utter letdown.

It’s a beautiful location in the midst of a snowy forest, and overall our stay was lovely. But sadly there were a few disappointing aspects, especially given the high price per night. The cabin itself is quite small, with very little space for winter clothes and luggage. There is no WiFi in the cabins (I was very happy to have no TV, but no wifi was a step further than I was expecting!), and hot water in the shower was only 15 minutes per hour. The breakfast was adequate, but quite basic. We booked the sauna and we were told that we needed to take the towels from our room, which we did, but then needed to carry our very damp towels back to our room after - perhaps for the cost of over €100 for 1.5 hours, towels could be provided? We were staying 2 nights, and the room wasn’t cleaned during that time, so we had to ask for dry towels. I did ask reception why the room wasn’t cleaned and I was told that I needed to request that - again, it’s a high price to pay to have to request your room to be cleaned. Also, dragging 2 x 23kg suitcases up a slight incline in a small sled is not so easy! And going down the slope must have been quite entertaining for anyone watching us - sleds bashing into our legs and suitcases flying… a little bit of help with this would have been appreciated. I guess it’s about what you expect when somewhere is described as luxurious and costs more than €500 per night - the bed was very comfortable and felt luxurious, and the views from the cabin were beautiful, but it didn’t feel like that was enough to justify the price.

Traveling from NYC, we stayed mid February for two nights. I would highly recommend this hotel, the property was beautiful and not too far away from the downtown area so it’s just a few minutes drive if you want to explore. The staff was incredibly helpful with anything we needed while at the hotel in terms of getting to and from our activities and booking any additional things to do. We had a car, so we didn’t need the help of the staff too much when it came to getting around. The Restaurant was excellent, and we ate there both nights. I would recommend making a dinner and Sauna reservation right away because they do book quickly. There was no Wifi in the rooms, but it didn’t bother us too much at all as there is free Wifi in the main lodge where the restaurant is located. We spent a lot of time deciding where to stay in Lapland and this was definitely my favorite location and hotel we stayed at.