We stayed in the snow castle in kemi- great experience and the castle and ice sculptures are amazing!
Slept surprisingly well in -5degrees thanks to an arctic sleeping bag and lots of layers! The early morning trip to the toilet was not fun though- my boots had frozen to the floor in the night!

Word of warning- there is VERY little else to do in Kemi unless you want to spend lots of money doing the ice breaker sampo trip...

I can not say anything, you have to see it and spend a night there on your own!!!

we got married at the snow castle in feb 2007.what a wonderfull day,i arrived in a sledge pulled by reindeers.i felt like a filmstar,people were stopping their cars to wave and take pictures.the snow chapel was amazing.we held the reception in the castle,there was a ship carved out of ice in the wall.the food was lovely,very different.it was a bit cold after a while,benches carved from ice get a bit cold on the bum.the staff then moved us into a warm room where we were given warm juice.the highlight of the day was when my daughters boyfriend got down on one knee in the snow and asked her to marry him. if your looking for a different wedding this is it.

No reviews for 2 years, and then 3 in a week of each other!!!

We got married in the Snow Castle at the end of March 2009 and it couldnt have been a more wonderful and romantic day. The chapel inside the hotel is a beautifful and was a unique setting for our wedding. During the ceremony the chapel was closed to the public (however we still had 2 gatecrashers!!! - we presume that they were in the chapel at the time it was closed off!). We followed the ceremony with a meal in the Snow Restaurant, and again they had sectioned an area off especially for us.
The staff at the Snow Castle office were brilliant and meant that there was no stress on the day. They arranged for me to have my hair and make up done at a local salon and arranged for a local photographer to take some pictures (the lighting inside the Snow Castle is unusual - so it was definitely worth having a professional!).

The meal in the Snow Restaurant was also very nice, the food was surprisingly good, and remained warm long enough for you to eat it. The restaurant has to be booked in advance, and has only a set menu, but there is enough variety for most people.

The next night we stayed in the Snow Castle Hotel. You can check in at any time during the day and there is a large locker room for guests to store their luggage. At 7pm the Snow Castle is closed to the general public, leaving only hotel and restaurant guests visiting. At 9pm there is a safety briefing explaining how to stay warm during the night and how to use the arctic sleeping bags (which work down to -35C, it is only -4.5C in the Snow Castle). There is someone in the warm bar area all night in case of any problems. They also ask you what time you would like to be woken, as the Castle opens to the public at 10am. After this time you can goto your room. We spent a good half an hour wandering around the Snow Castle, taking a few photos. Prior to going to bed we had hot drinks in the warm bar before retiring to our room. The hard part is taking off your clothes to get into your sleeping bag, but once you are in it you will be toasty warm for the night. Surprisingly I slept very well.

Breakfast is served in the warm bar area and was similar food to what we had been served on the 3 mornings previously at the Hotel Merihovi.

Yes, an overnight stay at the Snow Castle is expensive, but how often do you get the opportunity to stay in a room made of snow! And, compared to other snow / ice hotels around the world the Snow Castle is reasonably priced!