After sneaking in some sugar donuts just in time before Kahvila Lohihovi Oy closed at 5pm, we continued our 2-hour drive south from Ylläs to the Arctic SnowHotel & Glass Igloos, about 30 minutes north of Rovaniemi on the shores of Lake Lehtojärvi.
Finland’s Arctic SnowHotel is one of the largest snow and ice hotels in the world, and what makes it special is that it’s completely rebuilt from scratch every year. Starting in November, snow cannons blanket the area until artists and builders carve out an entirely new hotel by December 15th — that means new rooms, new sculptures, new themes, only for it all to melt away by spring. Every season is a one-time experience.
The property also includes 39 heated glass igloos with 360-degree glass roofs and a built-in aurora alarm that wakes you up when the northern lights appear. On-site you’ll find an Ice Bar, an Ice Restaurant, an Ice Chapel, a snow sauna, an outdoor jacuzzi, and three regular restaurants. It’s a family adventure packed into one compound by a frozen lake.
We parked outside reception and checked in, where we got a thorough 20-minute orientation at the desk followed by a mandatory 20-minute safety briefing for those staying in the snow hotel.
The snow hotel is essentially a room carved out of a block of ice with nothing but a hole for oxygen, and they need to make sure you know how to sleep overnight in sub-freezing temperatures without dying, as well as where the emergency bunkbeds are in case anyone wants to bail. The rooms sit at a constant 0 to -5°C regardless of what is happening outside, and they provide high-quality sleeping bags rated for the conditions. Only one night is recommended for obvious reasons.
All of this was happening in the middle of our buffet dinner at reception that got emptied out within seconds . . .
. . . when we got thankfully interrupted: an impromptu aurora sighting outside.
And they were brilliant. The brightest I’ve ever seen since Greenland, and a first for everyone else in the group.
We stayed out for a good half hour watching them dance before they dimmed and started blending in to look like clouds.
We then finished dinner and took a self-guided tour around the property.
We weren’t allowed into the Snow Hotel after 9pm as that’s when guests who booked those rooms settle in for their night of survival (that would be Sampson and Shirley), so instead we ordered some shots at the Ice Bar.
They serve drinks in real ice shot glasses here and encourage you to throw them against the wall after taking your shot.
Then we walked over to peek at the Ice Chapel, where my friend Keseena was going to get married in 2 days . . .
. . . and the Ice Restaurant where the wedding dinner would take place afterward.
Outside the hotel we walked past the outdoor snow sauna . . .
. . . .then past two of their restaurants, and warmed up at their “lean-to” fireplace next to some Mongolians tending the fire and cooking sausages.
Half an hour later we turned in to enjoy our night in the glass igloos under the northern lights, while Sampson and Shirley began their night of survival in their ice hotel room.
The Morning After
We woke up to winter wonderland paradise the next morning after 9 hours of sleep and watched the sunrise through the glass ceiling.
By 10:00am we peeled ourselves off our mechanized beds and headed to the hotel’s included breakfast before it ended at 10:30am. Shirley and Sampson emerged next, and alive, and with the hotel’s sleeping bags and their outerwear, they said they actually enjoyed the experience. They’d even snuck in a sauna session in the hotel’s guest sauna before coming to breakfast.
After a long breakfast and waiting for the lobby to clear out, we suited up, packed up, and checked out before 11am. After re-parking our car, we picked up complimentary wristbands from the ticket desk (a perk for overnight guests) and sat in on a presentation about how they rebuild the entire ice hotel every year.
Then came a full tour of all the uniquely themed ice hotel rooms that their rotating roster of artists creates each season. Again every room is different, every year a new set of designs.
Sampson and Shirley stayed in this one:
Some of them are more decked out than others, including one with its own real ice furniture.
Toilets, if you’re wondering, is shared and around the corner:
After checking out all the rooms, we headed back outside to the frozen lake where we admired some of the ice sculpting attempts, just one of the many activities this hotel offers . . .
The best ones end up on display by the Ice bar:
hmmm….
We then finally consecrated our stay by tubing down their ice slide:
Onwards to Rovaniemi!
Rovaniemi
By 1pm we got back in our car and drove 30 minutes south to Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland. We parked in the center and as some of us picked up coffee at Café & Bar 21, the rest arranged for lunch across the street at Polar Fun, the only place in town to get hot pot. Speaking Chinese with the staff, we spent a good 3 hours eating everything they had.
By 4pm we drove 6 minutes north to Arktikum, the museum and science center that’s essentially your introduction to the Arctic.
The building itself is worth the visit: a partially underground structure with a 172-meter-long glass corridor that serves as a “Gateway to the North.” You enter from the south end and walk northward through it. The design mimics how Arctic animals burrow under snow to survive winter, with the exhibition spaces sheltered below ground level.
Inside, the Regional Museum of Lapland covers the region’s history from the Sámi people and reindeer herding culture to how the Germans razed the entire city of Rovaniemi during World War II, and how Finnish architect Alvar Aalto redesigned the city afterward in the shape of a reindeer antler.
The Arctic Centre side covers the science: northern lights animations, Arctic wildlife, and the environmental challenges facing the region. Ranked Finland’s 4th best travel attraction, and at 20 euros entry, well worth the 2 hours.
We stayed until the museum closed at 6pm, after which we drove to the Angry Birds Activity Park on the riverbank by Valtakatu Street, where we played like kids for a few moments.
Did you know Angry Birds is a Finnish invention? The game was created in 2009 by Rovio Entertainment, a company based in Espoo near Helsinki, as their 52nd game after 51 commercial failures nearly bankrupted them. Designer Jaakko Iisalo sketched some angry-looking birds without legs or wings, the team couldn’t figure out why they were so angry, then the swine flu was all over the news and someone said: “What if pigs stole their eggs?” The rest is 3-billion-downloads history.
The free outdoor park in Rovaniemi was built by Finnish playground manufacturer Lappset in 2012 and has a slingshot, climbing structures, and a flying fox, or rather, a flying bird.
Then, once I finally got the check-in instructions from our Airbnb host, who said he had a guest check out late and was making me nervous, we drove 20 minutes to a K-Market supermarket to stock up on groceries for our Airbnb, and checked into our next home for 2 nights.
We’re now settled in watching the Winter Olympics and the Snowboard Big Air final!
- At time of posting in Lehtojärvi, it was -16 °C - Humidity: 88% | Wind Speed: 1km/hr | Cloud Cover: clear
