We came to Rovaniemi purely to see Santa. We have 2 children, aged 5 + 7. On a friend's recommendation we stayed out of the city at Sky hotel. This is situated 3 km from the city on the top of a ski resort. There are both cabins and a hotel section with rooms. We stayed in a cabin and we were delighted. I had emailed and called the hotel several times whilst planning and spoke to Mira, the most helpful person you could ever imagine. She advised us to stay in 'large' family cabin and it was perfect for the 4 of us.
CABIN- the large cabin was half of a 'house' (see photo). it had a main bedroom downstairs, bathroom/laundry/sauna all in one area , lounge and kitchen. The (steep) upstairs had a double bedroom as well as a large landing area with a couch (?sofa bed) and a single bed. It could have accommodated another 2 children easily. It had a lovely feel with cable TV and basic food items like tea/coffee etc. It had a driveway but as we didn't have a car we had to walk to the hotel which was quite far along the roads or quick if you took a short cut uphill through the snow. That was fun for us but could be difficult if your mobility wasn't good.
HOTEL- The hotel is out of town with no buses. The taxi ride to town is about 12-15 euros one way. A taxi to Santa park or Santa village is 20-24 Euros one way.A taxi to the airport is 40 Euros one way. I didn't see the rooms but there is a nice lobby area with a fireplace, TV and free internet access. There was also a movie theatre which showed movies every afternoon for the kids (even with free popcorn!) There was a kids playroom nearby too. However, the most spectacular part was the restaurant upstairs that had windows from top to bottom and overlooked the ski field and mountain trees. It was beautiful to eat and look at snow covered trees and the distant lights of the city at night. The food was excellent, though the a-la-carte was better than the buffet. There were plastic sleds that we borrowed from reception to slide down the hills but they go really fast and are quite dangerous when you hit a bump and go airborne! We did use the sleds to go down the road to a small supermarket when we arrived as it was a fair walk and the kids got lazy so we pulled them along!
SKIING- Unfortunately we didn't ski as we had a 5 yr old who had never cross-country skied before so we didn't try but I would have loved to cross country ski in this extremely beautiful area. There was a downhill run with one chairlift but I didn't think it was worth it for us (and we had just come from skiing in the French Alps). It is only light for about 5 hours. There is also a toboggan run but it was closed as it wasn't cold enough (it has to be < -5 degrees) to make snow for the toboggans.
Overall, I am so glad we stayed here in this picturesque resort in the lovely cabin. My kids enjoyed the snow and sledding more than Santa almost! It was worth the money we spent on taxis each day but you have to be prepared to do that or walk the 45 mins into town.
We spent Xmas Eve here and there was a xmas tree that the staff brought out decorations for and the kids put them on. After dinner Santa came to visit in another room and the kids went in and got gifts which was a nice touch.
- Sky Hotel Rovaniemi
