stayed at the Holiday club from 10th February 2008 for 1 week. Firstly, on the positive, Finland is a lovely resort to ski for begginers as we were. The slopes are quiet and there are no ques for chair lifts etc. On the down side.... We found the Holiday club to be far from a four star resort. If like my husband and i you have been to other four star resorts around the world you will find this hotel a let down. In the 7 nights we were there the bedding wasn't changed at all, in fact for bed changes you were charged! We were discouraged from towel changes and the rooms were not cleaned daily...in fact i'd argue they hadn't been cleaned for weeks. There was general dust under the sink unit amd the floors were left wet from showering-there is no bath available. The rooms were warm but very small with no storage space, we spent the week living out of a siutcase as there was no whre to put folded clothes at all. The room was barely big enough to move around the beds. The food was awful. In Finland they eat vegetables for breakfast, strange to say the least! There was cereal (only three kinds) vegetables and the continental options. evening meal was equally as dull. Vegetables, overcooked fish, mashed potatos and pork daily. No variety at all. Hardly a substantial meal after a hard days skiing.There is very little around the hotel so no option to escape for a meal anywhere else. Finland is a beautiful country and on the whole we had a great time but be warned it is very expensive once there. We paid £260 for a trip with the huskies. The trip was very good but not worth that kind of money. The general feel we got from other guests was that they too felt let down by the hotel so i'm sure we're not being too harsh here.

We stayed at the Tropikii for one week with Activities Abroad with our eleven year old son. We did toboganning, snowmobiling, cross country skiiing, snow-shoeing, husky sledding, skiing, reinder farm etc etc. It was great fun and one of the best holidays we have ever had. The hotel facilities are good - tropical swimming pool, ten pin, sports bar, badminton.

The rooms are a bit cramped even though we supposedly had a large room for the three of us.

The hotel and activity staff were excellent and really looked after us well.

The main disappointment was the catering. The food was very average and there was a very restricted choice for the breakfast and evening buffet (when you compare it to say, a Mediterranean holiday hotel or a skiing hotel in France.)...the Finns aren't renowned for their cuisine.

The cafe doesn't open till midday so you've no way of getting any kind of hot drink when you come back from an activity at 10:30 or 11:00. And at lunchtimes the cafe is understaffed and you can wait 10 minutes in the queue.

DON'T underestimate the cold, especially when you are out on a snowmobile or sled! It was -20 degrees C all week. The company gives you a thermal suit, socks, snow boots, balaclava, mittens and mitten liners for the week. Under all this, I suggest you wear the following:
- Top half: thermal top, polo neck, fleece
- Bottom half: thermal pants, fleece tracksuit bottoms
- Hands: Thin liner/wool/cotton gloves, plus ski gloves
- Feet: Three pairs of socks!

And believe it or not....you will still get cold!

We took the family to Ruka Jan 2007. Stayed at Holiday club Kuusamo. Great hotel, Good meals excellent pool area. Two children (6 and 9) did ski school at ruka first time skiing, they loved it the ski school were excellent. Did snowmobiles and reindeer sleigh ride all very good experences. All in all very easy friendly holiday with good group of other families. The week went too quick.

Timeshare RCI/Flexiclub member fm Harare, Zimbabwe

We booked the holiday club through our timeshare and having spent the last Xmas in Germany and then Austria, I wanted to make sure that we definitely had snow and there was no lack of it in Kuusamo. We have two young girls and we found the outdoor activites arranged from both the hotel and outside of the hotel fantastic. We did everything from a private trip to the Artic Circle to Santa's village, to Reindoor rides, ice fishing, night sledging, all the ski mobile trips, husky dog rides etc etc. Absolutely fantastic and all the outfits are supplied if you don't already have. The tour guide was just brilliant and not once did he clock watch and was absolutely brilliant with our two girls, all the patience in the world, nothing was too much trouble. We have been around the world and to us Finland was one of the best holidays we have ever experienced, the scenery was just like a Disney movie, Winter Wonderland. The skiing is brilliant X-ctry or down hill skiing. However, Ruka is recommended and we enjoyed many many hours just tobaganning down the slopes. We have never stopped talking about this holiday and have booked to go back for Xmas 2007. We all cannot wait. We could not fault this place and our two girls, rave about the hotel. I have to say that the beds are the best we have ever slept on. Great holiday and thoroughly recommend this hotel to anyone looking at holidaying in Finland.