Santa's Hotel Tunturi

This hotel has very large and comfortable rooms. Even included a sauna in the room. The lounge area was very roomy and comfortable. The on downside was that the shower was over the bath. Breakfast was served in an adjoining building and was a let down, the food was often cold and not much variety.

We booked through Santa's Lapland and their team were fabulous. Saariselka was a picture post card place. We booked the 3 night 4 day package, will book 4 night next time. The extra activities we did husky ride and snowmobile search for northern lights on Christmas day unbelievable. Then saw the northern lights later that night.

The rating I have given is purely for the hotel but I will comment on some elements of our experience from the TUI side of our holiday at the end. A few things to bear in mind when reading this: 1. We had researched this hotel before we came so knew what to expect and as a result only booked B&B. This is a 3* hotel remember regardless of what it costs. 2. We travel a lot and stay in a huge variety of places ranging from 3* B&B to 5* Hotels so have balanced expectations. 3. It was -30c when we were in Lapland. 4. We flew on a 6am Gatwick flight in mid December 24. 5. Family of 4 with 6 & 8 year olds. Hotel facilities: Pretty basic, the hotel is split into a number of buildings the food being served in the ‘Main’ reception building other buildings were about 400m from one another you need to be careful walking a scan be slippery. We were in Gielas building it was ok, typical Europe 3* hotel corridors a bit battered carpets stained lifts quite small. Had a few drinks in the bar €4 for a soft drink €9 for a beer. Staff very friendly. Room: Very very basic but clean, beds comfy walls a bit battered. Our room was warm we had a family room with a balcony which was quite cramped for 4 people but we weren’t in it for long. Didn’t use the sauna. The bathroom seemed to have been renovated and was a bit odd with a tin bath not attached to the wall so water fell down the sides onto the wet room style floor when having a shower. This meant the floor was very wet. Towels not changed i our 3 day stay but tissues etc topped up. Clothes drying machine in room worked well. Free safe kettle cups and glasses all cleaned. Food: I was expecting it to be bad and it didn’t disappoint! We only had breakfast and the choice isn’t great, it’s extremely busy and they run out of things fast. The kids enjoyed the chocolate spread though. The most annoying thing was the two stupid little toasters that allow about 100 people toast 4 slices of bread at once. Ridiculous. I have also never had scrambled egg you can cut into slices, read into that what you will! No fresh orange juice the whole time we were there. Staff friendly and did their best but seems to not be enough of them. The ‘Gala’ dinner we had was a bit of a joke food wise very salty, not enough of it and it was cold. TUI: Flight good but 30 mins late lots of people to meet you and show where to go on arrival. Took ages to get the warm weather gear (lots of waiting around on the coaches for the other coach to be ready) was about 3 1/2 hours from landing to getting in our rooms despite only being a 24 minute coach ride from airport to hotels and the luggage coming out quickly. You do end up carrying a lot of stuff. We had 4 suitcases hand luggage and then two huge sacks of warm weather gear. Very difficult to manage with children in -30c. The most annoying thing was the stupid ’welcome meeting’ which they get you all off the coach for basically stick you in a big conference room and sell

Some of the reviews on this hotel are baffling and are quite the opposite of our recent trip (2 adults and 2 kids aged 5 and 9). We upgraded to a Gielas room which had plenty of storage space, a safe, tea/coffee, a sauna, balcony and relatively comfy beds. The room was quite warm, so much so we had to open the balcony door, despite sub-zero temperatures. We didn't hear any noise so managed to get a peaceful sleep. The rooms, cosmetically, were quite dated and basic, but again this was no surprise due to advanced research. You aren't in the room that long anyway. The food wasn't amazing, but satisfactory. Our expectations were met as we had done the sufficient research in advance. We weren't there for the culinary experience. Breakfast had cereal, toast, porridge, fruit, scrambled eggs, sausages (mini hot dogs), tea, coffee, pancakes. If you can't find something from that, then tough. Or, walk 15 mins to the supermarket. The festive gala, again wasn't brilliant food. Just ok. But the kids had a wonderful time dancing and singing which was worth it. The staff were friendly (both hotel and Santa's Lapland). The location was perfect. Gift shop opposite side of the road, snowmobile excursions a 2 min walk, toboggan slop less than 5 min walk and all other restaurants and bars are within a 15 minute walk. Aside from the hotel, we weren't pushed to purchase any additional activities and never felt pressured. My top tip is to do your research... Are prices of the trips, food and drink expensive? Yes. Is the food brilliant? No. Are the rooms basic but fine for the odd night? Yes. Will the hotels be full of 'overpriced' Santa trips? Yes, it's Christmas. Also, money is relative to each person. Is Lapland cold in December? erm, yes! None of the other reviews should really have come as a shock to those people.

Booked as part of a Santa's Lapland trip. Santa's Lapland and their reps are absolutely amazing. We had an absolutely magical time there. The location of this hotel is fabulous, but that is the only thing good about it. The room (267), although clean, was very dated. Beds were very uncomfortable, with only one small pillow each. The room was also extremely hot, we had no way of controlling the temperature in the room, the windows didn't open, and the curtains did not fit the window correctly. The food in the hotel was very disappointing. We got there for the beginning of service, but the food was cold. The choice was poor too. Myself and my daughter struggled to find anything that we like. Unfortunately the 'Festive Gala Dinner' was exactly the same experience. Cold, buffet style food, in containers that should have kept food hot but didn't. Having paid so much money for our 2 night stay in Lapland, we expected more from the hotel.

Stayed one night, that was plenty. Hotel has basically seemed to have brought out loads of other smaller hotels in the area so there are 6-7 different blocks all owned by same hotel. Stayed in a kontio room suite with sauna. Room itself was big, warm, comfortable but not particularly inspiring. We had a large balcony next to the hotel entrance. Breakfast was terrible. Food was low quality but served in a dark depressing room covered in 80s tinsel, not even the proper restaurant. It was clearly set up for all the package holiday groups that use this hotel and I would have hoped that those guests who had booked outside these package holidays would have been catered for elsewhere. Because the hotel is full of tui and Santa's lapland guests enjoying overpriced holidays, it is super busy and really lacks any class that it could have - like large bins for returning thermal suits left outside entrance doors, people blocking the entrance to the hotel and restaurant whilst hanging around waiting to be carted off on their bus and things like that. It may be a lovely place to stay in summer, but I'd suggest avoiding in December. If you want a quiet and more sophisticated trip to lapland, there are far better options (see my other reviews).