Arctic Fox Igloos — Hotel in Rovaniemi sub-region

My friend and I stayed here to celebrate our January birthdays. The bus timetable in January only runs a few times a day so we got there well before check in which was meant to be 3pm. We arrived seamlessly from Rovaniemi by bus at around 1130am and were so surprised when they told us we could have our igloo early! We had the whole place to ourselves for most of the day until others began arriving at around 5pm. It’s magical, the landscape is stunning in the snow and it’s so peaceful. We relaxed on the beds watching the snow, then went for a walk around the park before coming back to use the sauna. Just fantastic.

There are a few things that do let it down slightly however. The food options in the restaurant cabin are really quite dire considering the amount of money for our stay. We had dry baked potatoes which tasted like they’d been cooked that afternoon and heated up with a bowl of sort of creamed cold mush. I had mixed veg “mush” and my friend had reindeer mush; they looked identical. We couldn’t eat them. The drinks offering is not great, no option for a cocktail and no sort of comfortable sofas to just enjoy a relaxing drink whilst watching the snow. It felt very much like a school camping trip with basic rations. The breakfast next morning was a little better.

We considered renting skis to ski on the lake which they suggested but it means taking a taxi to their other resort 10 minutes away at a cost of around 20 euros in a taxi each way. They weirdly do not offer any sort of shuttle bus. Despite us seeing Ranua resort branded vans, we’d have been happy to pay a small fee to travel if needed but our thought was we’d spent a substantial amount of money to stay here. We also had to take a taxi the next morning to Ranua Zoo which they own and have a whole holiday village, to catch a bus back to Rovaniemi just as one of their branded minibuses goes by. It seemed odd.

The igloos themselves do feel really luxurious, the beds are extremely comfortable, we would recommend asking them to turn the temperature down slightly before going to sleep as all the temperatures for each igloo are controlled at reception. Once reception finish for the evening at around 8pm you can’t turn it down. We woke up sweating at around 2am and had to open the door to let some cool air in. There’s a basic kitchenette with microwave and fridge so we’d recommend bringing your own food and supplies.

Some things that would make it really great:

A small cocktail menu of 3-4 really classic and basic cocktails (the man on reception told me he couldn’t make an espresso martini because they had no olives… wtf) Some cosy chairs to relax with a nice drink. A better more classic food menu. The baked potatoes would have been nice if they’d been fresh, wrapped in foil with seasoning and crispy skins with butter and a hot traditional filling. The option for guests to be picked up from the bus station if needed at set points during the day to coincide with bus timetables as private transfers are very very expensive.

The staff are excellent however, very friendly, responsive on email and willing to help in whatever way they can. So despite the few slight let downs, it didn’t have a significant impact on our stay here. We’d come again but we’d definitely bring our own food and drinks next time and factor in additional...

Room 4/5: Spacious, comfortable, beautiful view of the sky and frozen lake. The toileteries were poor in quality (and quantity). The small sauna is quite worthy and spacious enough for 2 people, needs about 10-15 mins to get hot enough. If you want room service you have to request it otherwise nobody will clean your room for your entire stay. Don’t get your hopes up about seeing the northern lights from the glass especially during November to January because most of the nights (and days) are very cloudy in Ranua and Rovaniemi. We stayed for 1 week and had to travel 300 km from Rovaniemi to see the ligths. In general the room was very good.||||Breakfast 4/5: Open from 8-10. To be honest I would like it to be open from 7 because especially in winter in Lapland it is dark from 2-3 pm (in December even sooner) and Rovaniemi is a 1h and 5-10 min drive, depending on conditions and driver’s experience. The variety was moderate and kind of repetitive, I would like for example to have more cereal, sandwiches, cheesepies and other pies etc, but the food delicious. I loved the pancakes and hot chocolate. It is included in the reservation.||||Lunch/Dinner 5/5: The best food in the finish Lapland, no other comments to make! Just delicious and better than most of the restaurants. Price of dinner about 40€ per person (not included in the reservation.||||Other amenities 2/5: I would love if the area of the igloos had a small gym, spa and indoor pool/jakuzi. It lacked other amenities. I don’t know though if there are pools etc at the ranua resort which is a 5-10 min drive.||||Personnel 3/5: Variable/depending on the person. Some were kind if rude and passive-aggresive, others okay, some more polite. This happens to every hotel though. The Romanian people were the best!! Loved the cooks also.||||Location 4/5: 1h and 5-10 min drive from Rovaniemi which is not too bad if you have your own car. The Ranua is a small town without many things to do or restaurants to eat, but you have the hotel’s restaurant which is perfect to eat as already mentioned. Furthermore, the Ranua resort (including the Ranua zoo) is a 5-10 min drive and it provides numerous activities and safaris which are necessary to book if you are visiting Lapland (huskies and ice fishing are the best in my opinion).||||Price and value for money 4/5: Lapland is pretty expensive to visit especially if you want an igloo, but it was worth it.||||Overall, I strongly recommend...

My husband and I recently spent five days at the igloos. While we enjoyed the organized activities (the husky sledding was a highlight!), there are a few points to consider if you're planning a winter stay. Please note that this was the first time I've been to Finland and not sure if this is normal for the culture:

Luggage transport: Guests are responsible for transporting their own luggage to and from the igloos even though the car can drive up to the room. While sleds are provided due to the amount of snow you'll need to trudge through, they are often unavailable at reception.

Activity Transportation: Most activities depart from the main building, requiring guests to arrange transport. While minor delays were common, we experienced a significant wait (30 minutes in -22°C weather) for our return transport after a late-night activity. The lodge was closed as it was 11pm and we had to call the emergency number and wait outside for a car to pick us up.

Dining: I'd highly recommend buying your own food to take to the igloo. There is a small kitchen, pan, plates and cutlery and fridge as well. The dinner at the lodge was 50 euro per person, the portions were really big which is great, however the osso bucco we had was extremely dry and tough which made it difficult to find the edible portions.

Lost and found: Try not to leave anything behind as you might not get a response. I left a piece of clothing in the room upon check out (my fault) and emailed the reception. I waited 2 days and there was no response. I called to follow up several times as often no one picked up and when they did, they mentioned they saw the email but didn't respond as they were unable to find the clothing. It would be great if the staff would respond to the emails so it saves customers from placing overseas calls and trying to catch the business hours from...