I stayed at the ice hotel last February with 3 friends. We did the whole trip to Finland -- arrived in Kemi Friday night, went on the ice breaker cruise on Saturday, went to Santa's village on Sunday, and stayed at the ice hotel sunday night. (Thank goodness for the flight out on Monday!) We had a great time, but bring your mittens -- it's COLD up there!

I found the people at the ice hotel to be great! They helped me arrange the one night there and two nights at a nearby hotel, which were reasonably priced. Since this was my first stay at an ice hotel, I figured we'd stay all nights at the ice hotel -- thank goodness someone who knew better set me straight! We took care of the whole thing by fax (book early!) and it was very easy.

When we got there, we had dinner in the hotel. It's expensive and I'm not sure I'd do it again, but the experience was good. (Careful, the drinks are expensive!) We then spent the evening in the "warm room" before bed. It's much like camping in that there's no bathroom or sink in the room, so you have to take care of all of that before heading out to sleep. Trust me, midnight trips to the bathroom are absolutely no fun.

The next morning they took us back to the hotel for a shower and to collect our belongings. The shower is a group-type thing, be prepared. (Not bad, just a little surprising) We then took a taxi to the airport and were on our way. It was a memorable weekend!