Magical Pond — Hotel in Koillismaa sub-region

Great location in the middle of the forrest around a pond. About 30 minutes easy driving from Kuusamo airport. Some "igloos" have a better location facing just the lake and the forrest. Magnificent silence and peacefulness around. Just nature. For shopping or eating / drinking outside, you can easily drive to Ruka (15 minutes), where, of course, you can ski or snowboard. Staff at MP is very friendly and helpful. We used the sauna twice (1 hour per reservation) and the restaurant (separate building) also twice. The breakfast is served in the lobby (extra building as well), very well organized even with more guests and a tasty choices of food. Not tons but special. Restaurant with set menus reserved in advance very cozy and romantic. Only negative point would be the open fire with some smoky clothing after and maybe some eyes / throat irritation. But, in this season, open fireplaces are mainly everywhere in Lappland. You can get snowshoes for free at the reception and can rent fat tire bikes for riding on snow / ice (exhausting!). Snowshoeing I would highly recommend; you just can use phone maps (for safety, make them available off-line, too) and common orientation sense. And start walking in any direction you want. 15 minutes walk from the Magical Pond you'll find Lammintupa with options for husky rides (we did the shorter one and it's been really fun because you can drive the sledge), reindeer rides and watching with some interesting explanations by the staff, ice karting (need to book in advance) or snowmobile tours. I would recommend a snowmobile tour where you are driving by yourself and better during the night to hunt for the Northern Lights / Aurora borealis. At Lammintupa you can have some delicious pastry and drinks as well. Of course, there're everywhere slopes for cross-country skiing. We booked some outdoor activities, including ice floating (super fun) with Ruka Safaris, and we've been very satisfied with them. It's easier if you have a rental car because it's giving you flexibility to move around and pick what you would like to do. Taxis are also available but very expensive. About Northern Lights: we've spotted them several times. During the snowmobile night ride, during driving around with the rental car looking for proper spots to watch and even out of our igloo at 6 in the morning. So it's almost impossible to miss them within 1...

Nothing to say about the beautiful view you get in the igloos but if you can’t appreciate it because the igloo next to you had the whole night the lights on -being empty-, the enjoyment is not given. Of course, I went to reception and instead of taking it into consideration, I needed to justified myself why I didn’t came at night to report it.|2. what’s already funny and takes me to my second point since the day we arrived, the 6th of January, the receptionist were not able to welcome us, or offer us any information or attention on the "snack bar"?! It was already dark and snowy, he barely explained how to reach the igloo and this with all our stuff in the hands,|3. since the areas were not cleaned up, I felt and hurt my knee, because I didn’t recognize the steps due the punch of snow.|4. I can just agree with the other comments, there is no space for luggage and the shower system is maybe not comfortable but is fine for the place. Problem was that the shower head wasn’t fixed, so the water spreat in all direction, reaching even the bath door.||5. Now to the most disappointing... I would advise to everyone that expects a romantic, nice Dinner, do NOT GO to the Restaurant. Everything there was a disaster. Paying 80 €/person for cold, pre-cooked meal, served from a guy that never worked on service and couldn´t even serve an apperitiv, first because he didnt know what it is and second, there had no offer for it. You can´t choose what you will eat and their also had no other Option than the fish we got. You have to pay in advance. Made my birthday Dinner to a not nice experience. ||Of course, I mentioned all points at my checkout and even though we didn’t touch half of the food and the igloo experience, there was no apology or any compensation.|To my Remark about the Service, also connected to the poor breakfast (not even fruits), the receptionist told me that the whole Staff, just came from Albania a month ago and had no experiences.||I really would like to talk with the owner... We are paying 700 €/night and the minimum of expectation, is feeling welcome, get a nice service in a safe place and at least get a decent Breakfast and Dinner, which was all not given.|Btw. Personal cant talk finisch. Not even in Reception. Whats kind of strange, working in a Hotel in Finland..|Such a pity because that place has the potential...

We super disappointed with our stay at "Magical" Pond.

Nothing to say about the beautiful view you get in the igloos but if you can’t appreciate it because the igloo next to you had the whole night the lights on -being empty-, the enjoyment is not given. Of course, I went to reception and instead of taking it into consideration, I needed to justified myself why I didn’t came at night to report it. what’s already funny and takes me to my second point since the day we arrived, the 6th of January, the receptionist were not able to welcome us, or offer us any information or attention on the "snack bar"?! It was already dark and snowy, he barely explained how to reach the igloo and this with all our stuff in the hands, since the areas were not cleaned up, I felt and hurt my knee, because I didn’t recognize the steps due the punch of snow. I can just agree with the other comments, there is no space for luggage and the shower system is maybe not comfortable but is fine for the place. Problem was that the shower head wasn’t fixed, so the water spreat in all direction, reaching even the bath door.

Now to the most disappointing... I would advise to everyone that expects a romantic, nice Dinner, do NOT GO to the Restaurant. Everything there was a disaster. Paying 80 €/person for cold, pre-cooked meal, served from a guy that never worked on service, made my birthday Dinner to a not nice experience.

Of course, I mentioned all points at my checkout and even though we didn’t touch half of the food and the igloo experience, there was no apology or any compensation. To my Remark about the Service, also connected to the poor breakfast (not even fruits), the receptionist told me that the whole Staff, just came from Albania a month ago and had no experiences.

I really would like to talk with the owner... We are paying 700 €/night and the minimum of expectation, is feeling welcome, get a nice service in a safe place and at least get a decent Breakfast and Dinner, which was all not given. Such a pity because that place has the potential...