RukaTonttu — Restaurant in Koillismaa sub-region

We went to Finland for New Year 2015 with Crystal Ski and to be honest didn't know what to expect. After a short 25min transfer from the Airport we were at the apartment with our key code for the electronic lock. First impressions were a spotlessly clean apartment, well equipped and very warm with the under floor heating. We had a 6 birth room for 4 of us (2 twin bedrooms plus sofa bed) so ideal for us with 2 teenage boys. Plenty of room, free wifi, kitchen with all appliances including dishwasher (bring your own tablets unless you know how to use powder and rinse solution) comfy beds (you do have to make them up on arrival) and an amazing sauna.||Clearly, we were skiing and with the nearest lift literally across the road (30mtr) with the ability ski back into the apartment you couldn't ask for better. The Tonttu apartments are just outside the village centre and to walk only takes 10 mins max, not worth waiting for the free ski bus, via a tunnel under the ski slopes and escalator. ||||We were on a half board basis eating in the Tonttu restaurant for breakfast and dinner. Breakfast was buffet style with choices of porridge, toast, hot and cold meat, cereal, tea and coffee etc etc. plenty of choice. Dinner was a bit strange as there was a fixed started which was sometimes hot and sometimes a bit of salad - do have the beetroot soup if offered - amazing! Main course was a single choice of fish or meat (plenty of reindeer - sorry Rudolph !) well cooked and very tasty although portions are quite small for English standards. Sweets were a single choice of the day but the homemade ice-cream was wonderful. The dining room surroundings were amazing with a big fireplace in the centre as a feature with wood panels and nice and warm. Note that the restaurant is not park of the accommodation (strangely) so any accommodation issues (we had none) need to be reported in the village and all is explained in the apartment welcome book.|| ||The skiing is limited for more advanced skiers and irritatingly the few black runs are closed most of the day for training! However, you couldn't ask for a better place for learning, which is why we were there as our 2 boys have just defected to the dark side and become boarders! The tuition is wonderful and in Finland they clearly attract teachers from all over Europe so it is highly likely you will get an English instructor (unlike the ESF mafia in France!) The facilities are not up to the Alps standard but the whole place is a scaled down event. The slopes are very wide and not busy and with 3 hours of daylight skiing under floodlights makes the whole place magical. Do wear plenty of layers as it got to -25C on one day and you will need to wear some kind of face protection (we used cycle balaclavas from Aldi - £1.99 extremely well spent!). There are wooden huts with open fires dotted around the piste so if you have a pack of sausages in your bag the that makes for a tasty hot snack - they even provide the toasting forks! Food and drink is typically expensive everywhere and so is alcohol so fill your bags with wine at the airport. There is a small supermarket in the village centre where we bought soup, bread, pasta and pizza for lunches - being able to ski back was great and with a hot boot and clothes warmer in each apartment then all your stuff is toasty warm for when you go back out.||||As to Crystal Ski other than the welcome meeting (which a delay at the airport meant we missed) and them dropping off a card for departure time the day before we left - we never saw them. We did make a comment on our feedback forms that a visit to check everything was OK with its clients wouldn't do a miss, although I understand that they did visit some log cabins that were further away. Luckily everything was good so we didn't really need them.||||Also, buy your ski passes and ski school on arrival (you have plenty of time) in the hire shop as they are cheaper than Crystal and you don't pay their ridiculous exchange rate either. If you tell the ski school you are with Crystal they will even put you in the same classes so you are with fellow Brits. The service is excellent and the equipment well maintained.||||Overall a great place to stay, great apartment on the slopes (almost) which are ideal if you are a beginner and a lovely restaurant to eat and relax in...

January 2016.||We stayed in the hotel but transferred to an apartment. ||||HOTEL - is very comfortable. Twin beds. Hairdryer. TV. It has a drying cupboard for damp clothing. Under floor heating in the shower room is extremely nice. There was no shower gel or shampoo. Only criticism is that the room was too hot. We had to request kettle as there was not one in the room.||||APARTMENT - The apartment had two twinned bedrooms. The lobby area has a coat cupboard and there is also a drying cupboard too. The shower room has under floor heating, a toilet and sauna. There was also a separate toilet. Table and chairs that seat six. Didn't use the log fire as, again, the apartment was too hot. Would say that if the top damper of the log burner (on the wall) is pulled out... it lets in a tremendous draught. All the apartments appear to have a balcony and there is a launderette in the basement. Everything you need for self catering is there. ||||RESTAURANT - Breakfast was included in our package. Usual fare on offer, cereal, hot and cold food together with tea/coffee/squash. Lunch time snacks available which is fresh cooked and hot. Had two evening meals one of which Matti prepared planked smoked fish... really tasty !||||LOCATION - Beautiful location in Winter and would imagine it to be in Summer also. Set on a vast lake surrounded by fir streets. Ski Slopes can be seen from the hotel/apartment and are lit in the evening. ||||It is about a 450m uphill walk to the escalator that takes you up the hill into Ruka Village. However, on the occasions I used it.. it didn't work and had to walk up the 75 steps! We were told that you have to push a button and it would start but the button is not in an obvious place. It brings to out to a car park and the village is not far from that. You have to have a reasonable amount of fitness to walk into Ruka.||||RUKA VILLAGE||||Plenty of bars/restaurants/shops/supermarkets etc. ||||All in all... a pleasant trouble free vacation. Thank you to Matti and his team... professional and...

We wanted an apartment so we could come & go as we pleased and also to relax in the evening.We booked the apartment with Tui and were extremely pleased. We were a family of 3 and I’d say the accommodation would comfortably fit a family of 4 (2 adults 2 children). The bonus of the apartment was that it came with its own sauna which my husband used a lot. We had a nice living/dinning area where we did cook a couple of meals using the facilities provided. The main bedroom is compact but comfortable with good wardrobe space. The other bedroom is fairly small with bunk beds (the stairs are steep but have high sides so there’s no chance a little one could fall out). On booking it did say a 1 bedroom apartment but actually it is 2 separate bedrooms it’s just the one with the bunks is small. We also had a small balcony which was nice and a drying cupboard which was brilliant, the apartment was very well thought out & came with a fireplace.|The location was spot on, it was away from the town of Ruka by only 10 minutes walk (via the shortcut) and it backed onto the beautiful lake which was frozen and where we got a glimpse of the northern lights. It was the best of both worlds.|The apartment also left 2 sledges which we used everyday.|The hotel restaurant next door was also very nice.|Also the apartment is operated by a key code so you don’t need to worry about loosing keys just remember to take a photo so you don’t forget the code.|The only negative comment was that you had to make the beds when you arrived which was a pain especially after a long journey but other than that is was a perfect place to stay in a beautiful location. We’d definitely stay here again I’m just surprised this great place doesn’t have more reviews as it was fully booked. Definitely...