Northern Lights Village Levi — Hotel in Tunturi-Lapin seutukunta

Our family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children - ages 8 and 10) stayed in an Aurora Suite for 4 nights from December 28th, 2024 to January 1st, 2025.||The Hotel Aurora Suite: Great! Overall the suite was beautiful and super clean.  Having the glass roof was amazing since it allowed us to watch the Northern Lights comfortably from our room without braving the cold!   It was also nice to have sledging right a the resort - the kids loved this!  Only room for improvement would be:| 1) Having more hooks or places to hang clothes (socks, hats, gloves, etc) to dry as there are a few big hooks by the door but those are quickly filled with mid layers, coats and thermal suits. So everything else you have to lay out to dry on furniture or whatever surface you can fine. || 2) Housekeeping is by default every other day which for us meant only once for our 4 night stay.  The one time housekeeping came, they did not empty the trash, restock mini-bar (we had literally drank all 4 water bottles, ate the 1 can of mini Pringles and 1 chocolate bar so it was pretty much empty) or take away dirty dishes. Apparently you have to request this which is fine, just some communication on what is standard and what we need to request would have made this a smoother experience.   || 3) Also there is no way to contact the front desk from the room, you just have to walk there (which can be annoying if you are settled in and don't to put on allllll the layers again) or call the main phone number that is not answered; we waited on hold for 10 mins two separate times and just gave up. ||The food was all buffet and ok.   Fairly basic and I wouldn't recommend coming to NLV just for the restaurant but it was fine. There were always open tables and wait staff was attentive. ||Activities - We also booked our activities through NLV which were very hit or miss: | 1) Husky Safari (10km) - was amazing and the absolute highlight of the trip, we would have done this again if we had time!  || 2) Reindeer Day (2.5-3hrs) - also amazing!  || 3) Snowmobiling (2hrs) - this was absolutely horrible.  It was 2 adults on one snowmobile and the children were in a heated sleigh.  I understand this is a group activity so the pace depends on other participants but there was one person who was INCREDIBLY slow so the guide had her drive behind the heated sleigh and the sleigh stayed with her while the rest of the group drove ahead.   And the children were just in the heated sleigh alone so nothing really for them to do. The result was our children were nowhere near us most of the ride, so far away, we couldn't even see the sleigh.   We stopped at the midway point and it literally took 10 mins for the sleigh to arrive.  Once the sleigh arrived, we spent another 20-30 mins standing around, having berry juice and cookies (this will be a theme).  And in general the main group was slow, the guide told us we weren't able to go as far as usual.  So of the 2 hour experience - at least 20 minutes for getting the group organised then introduction/safety rules (obviously this makes sense and no complaints for this) + around 40 mins stopping in the middle to wait for the sleigh and have juice and cookies + we stopped several times for the guide to check in with other slow drivers means we were actually snowmobiling 45minutes for... berry juice, marshmallows and cookies.   || 5) Searching for Santa - overall this was good but a few things made it less than great (especially for the cost of 450 EUR). Most of the Elves that led the activities were amazing - they interacted with the children, told them funny stories and kept them engaged. The elf that met us to begin the activity was nice/fun but pulled out a scroll for the children to read to begin the activity however the seal was already open and it as very general (there was some language that made it more relevant before Christmas); she said it was ours to keep however I would have expected this to be unopened and relevant for this time of year (after Christmas) if it was meant to be keepsake, possibly even with the children's names.  You then transition through a handful of activities: gingerbread cookie making was great, a few minutes on a reindeer sleigh was great, another stop for berry juice, Santa was good, then another session of cookies and marshmallows.  One elf (Clara) was simply rude, at first I thought she was just being cheeky but she was just rude and uninterested; she didn't really speak to the children, sat looking at her nails, made a snarky comment about being able to afford a trip to Lapland and chatted about football.   The other elf was able to redirect but Clara's behaviour was just terrible. || 6) Aurora Hunting by Heated Sleigh (3hrs) - the night we went you couldn't see the Northern Lights but we went anyway. The group stopped to look at the stars which was nice then spent most of the time in a hut with the guides (Eduardo, Taylor & Manu - who did an absolutely amazing job telling stories, talking about animals, etc) and then more berry juice, marshmallows and cookies.  In hindsight, because this was late at night (8:30- 11:30pm) and we knew there was a low probability of seeing the Northern Lights, I wish we just skipped this because the children ended up being so tired the next day and most of the time was spent in a hut with snacks that we had several times before. | | 7) Nordic/cross country skiing - we rented these on our own vs. doing the 2 hour guided activity which was great but the hotel doesn't tell you anywhere that you can hire these and snowshoes on your own (for half the price), you have to ask.  ||We have not been to Lapland before/done excursions with other providers so not sure if spending sooooooooo much time drinking berry juice and eating cookies is typical but we found it incredibly annoying because 1) we planned 2 activities a day and then spent time resting in between so we really wanted the activities to be active not just sitting around having snacks especially since our children are 8 and 10 years old they really wanted to do the things and 2) the temperatures were perfect, during it day it was right around 0 Celcius so not too cold to cut activities short...

Our recent family holiday to the Northern Lights Village in Levi was nothing short of magical. From the moment we arrived, the kindness and friendliness of the staff stood out. Every person we interacted with genuinely cared about our experience, ensuring that each moment was as perfect as it could be. This human touch added a special warmth to the wintery charm of Lapland.||One of the highlights of our trip was the opportunity to try new activities, such as cross-country skiing. Admittedly, some of us were apprehensive at first, but the instructor was exceptionally accommodating. With a thoughtful approach, she managed our varying abilities with encouragement and patience, ensuring everyone left the session feeling successful. It’s been over 25 years since I tried cross-country skiing and I have to admit, this opportunity rekindled my interest in this sport. My son however soon learned he loved driving the kids snow mobiles best. :-) The smile and independence he exhibited were wonderful to see!||The husky sled driving was an exhilarating experience that captivated every one of us. My 7-year old son was disappointed he’s not big enough to drive yet and made us promise we would come back when he can. He did love how fast we were able to run with the dogs! My 70-year-old father described it as the best experience of the trip, filled with excitement and the stunning beauty of Levi's landscapes speeding by. The initial fear of not quite knowing what you’re doing quickly evaporated with the thrill of “steering” the huskies through the snowy landscape. (Let’s be honest, the huskies knew what they were doing much more than we did). And then we were lucky enough to see the new puppies as well! So cute and mischievous. It was lovely to hear how the team here care for their animals. ||It has been a lifelong dream of my mother's to witness the Northern Lights, but we all knew it wasn’t guaranteed that we would see them while we were here. Although we weren’t fortunate enough to see them during our designated excursion, our guide, Elektra, made sure our experience was delightful. The warm sleigh ride was comfortable and full of joy, especially as Elektra infused fun into every stop, engaging our son in snowball fights and races in the 3 foot high snow drifts. The evening was topped off with Finnish stories around a campfire, drinking blueberry juice in kuksa cups. We were then graced by Mother Nature the next 3 nights, seeing the Aurora Borealis dance across the sky from our warm bed beneath the stunning NLV bedroom windows. ||Visiting the reindeer was another enchanting part of our trip. The staff there were incredibly knowledgeable and conveyed fascinating insights about these majestic creatures. Meeting Santa in such an authentic setting was magical, not merely for our son, but for each of us. The elves are full of fun and the attention to personal details is seen throughout. (Special shout out to the local elf from Finland and the elf who travelled all the way from South Africa, showing us how Santa’s helpers truly are all international, like we all are 😊) There’s a lot of expectations around meeting “the big man in red” and they were all met. I can't recommend this experience enough to any families who are considering it.||Before our trip, I was concerned about whether the picky eaters in our family would eat well in Finland, but I shouldn’t have worried. The food is clearly labelled for those with dietary restrictions, plenty on offer for vegetarians and gluten free. The fresh fish was AMAZING! I strongly recommend trying the reindeer soup! (Just maybe not on the same day as you’ve enjoyed the reindeer safari) Here too we found that the staff were so helpful. Michel always ensured that my son could find food he would eat (the chicken nuggets were an unexpected benefit) and he helped my son surprise his grandfather with a birthday cake and rousing rendition of Happy Birthday. João always welcomed us with a smile and kind conversation, making us feel like friends from our first day. Always willing to go the extra mile and help us with anything we needed – especially with my father who always enjoys trying the local beer. Thank you both for making our family feel so comfortable, like we were long-lost friends. ||Our stay at the Northern Lights Village was the perfect blend of adventure, relaxation, and enchantment. It’s a destination I would recommend to anyone looking to step into a winter wonderland where every detail is curated with thoughtfulness. And don't underestimate the fun you can have, as an individual, a couple or family just playing in the snow! Truly, this was an experience that will be cherished in our family memories for many...

First of all, this is a wonderful place itself, this could have been a 5-star review pretty easily. But unfortunately we had so many little problems and a lot of annoying things during our stay which left us with a bitter taste.

tablet: It started right after our arrival. The lady basically told us all necessary information and every service, including getting the room cleaned, and the norther light alert is available via the tablet in the room. So there is no need to explain everything. Our tablet was not working, so I went back to the reception to tell her. She told us there will be a maintenance guy in our room immediately. We waited there for almost 2 hours until the guy finally arrived. He then tried to fix it on our couch for more than an hour. So in total we sat there 3 hours waiting for the tablet to be fixed. After he was done it worked for 10 minutes until it broke again. But we decided to restart it, go to dinner and hope it will work afterwards again. Of course it didn't. So I went again to the reception because now the tablet was frozen in a completely with screen. So it illuminated the whole room and the reflection of the withe screen blocked our view to the northern lights. The lady then told me it's now to late to fix it, we just need to life with that. So I suggested she could just take it with her and fix it in the next morning (it was locked at the wall so we couldn't remove it ourselves). But she also just denied and didn't really care that the withe light is super annoying for us. So I tried to cover it as good as possible with my jacket. The next day I went a third time to the reception to get the tablet fixed and finally the guy there cared a little more and figured it out. But there was not really a sorry or something else. I mean if this thing is so important, they really should care to maintain it, it's not my job to als 3 times!

nothern light alert The website promotes that there is an alter to see the lights. First of all as I already mentioned we couldn't use this because our tablet was broke. Secodly its only until 12. That is honestly extatly the time I don't need an alarm. I need this during the night.. This is never mentioned on the Homepage. We didn't get a single alarm, even though the lights were there each night.

Misleading information There is misleading information all over the place. The alarm was one example but here's an other one, the sauna. On their homepage it says there are public/free and private times available. in the hotel lobby was a flyer which said private available for 60€ and public for 15€. We then tried to book it and it was all of the sudden 100€ for 1 hour and private only. Why is that not on the homepage? Any why is it so expensive, I mean the hotel in general is pretty pricey, which is ok but for that I expect a little more and not to have to pay every little thing extra.

Activities The activities they offer a super nice and we'll organized. We were super happy with them! They are pricey as well but worth the money. Except of them there is really nothing to do for free there. They really could offer 1 or 2 alternatives. The day we left we got super bored waiting for our flight.

Airport transfer We check online for the airport transfer and it said it's 20€/person (so 40 for us). Out of convince and since there was a fee online we booked it at the reception. At our checkout we noticed that they charged us 80€. So we asked if there was a mistake because it's cheaper online. Turns out the online service will only be available after November and they deactivated it after we told them. Why is there so much false stuff on their website? And why did they not tell us the price when we booked it?

I feel a bit sorry for the bad review because the place is really nice and the tours and their guides were really amazing! But the Service in general and the misleading and different information everywhere really made us constantly annoyed That's super unfortunate! Please fix this and try to care a bit more if a customer complains bout...