We are just back from a 4 day trip to Lapland booked with Esprit. My husband and I were there on our very 1st holiday to Saariselka along with our 8yr old daughter. We stayed at the Holiday Club Hotel. Unfortunately, on the 1st day of our holiday which was Christmas Eve, we slept in. We had adjusted our watches the previous evening but had forgot to adjust the alarm clock to Finnish time.We were booked on the early morning Snowmobile Safari at a cost of £150 approx. Reception rang at 7.45am to say the bus was waiting. We arrived at reception 13mins later but the bus had left. No Esprit rep was available to us until 9am. We offered to get a taxi and pay it ourselves but reception had telephoned Lapland Safaris who had refused. We had hoped to transfer to the afternnoon session as there were places available but again this was stopped by Lapland Safaris. Esprit accepted this decision claiming they were just the 'booking agents' even though our contract was with them and not with Lapland Safaris. The Esprit reps were 'Indifferent' to our disappointment and to the distress of our 8yr old daughter. This was very hard for us her parents to watch and accept. This expereince totally spoiled our whole trip. We couldn't believe that a company such as Esprit who had left a letter in our hotel room stating - 'We know that for many of you staying with us, this is a once in a leftime holiday expereince and we want to make it a magical and memorable time' - had let us all down. Yes it was our fault we had slept in but it was Christmas Eve and we were the last Lapland group in the hotel for that season and year. On a separate note Christmas Eve is the day they celebrate Christmas in Finland - which made it feel all the worse for us.

The hotel and food were disappointing to say the least including the gala evening. Primitive and basic come to mind if i am asked to describe the hotel.Tvs have to be paid for at a rate of 22e in advance and there was no safe in our room which was a big loss. However, we could have tolerated all this if Esprit had treated us better than they had.

The activity day was poor. Santas cottage was sparsely decorated and we were literally in with him less than 2 minutes. It was very 'conveyor -belt like'. There was no Elves workshop or post office, Santa house etc and food on the activity day again was quite poor.

This whole trip costs us £3,500 to book. A complete disappointment and things could have been so different had Esprit and Lapland Safaris just looked long enough at the disappointed and hurt face of an 8yr old girl through no fault of her own had missed out. The whole thing beggars belief really!! Both companys are making huge amounts of money from these trips so a little decency wouldn't have gone a miss!!

Our travel agent has since contacted Esprit but they remain defiant that their reps made the right decision!!! A ruthless despicable company. Obviously not one we will be recommending as a reputable, decent, trustworthy or family orientated company to our wide circle of family, friends or work colleagues.

We went the 1st week end of December, nobody's fault lack of snow but great excuse for all the rangers for a let down time. Hotel basic, rooms and food, had to heat evening meal up in microwave provided. Breakfast awful, 2 slice toaster for the whole hotel. Adventure day only 5 activities for the whole day to entertain the children, I had to wait over 1 hour 3/4mins for the santa visit. Our 4 year old cold, tired and bored. By this time the magic had disappeared. Our visit complete darkness,. Totally disappointing for the adults, not so bad for the children. Do not have high expectations for this 2 day trip. Never worth the money not unless you expect a local attraction venue.

If you are thinking of going to Lapland, we would highly recommend it and the Holiday Club is a great base. We never stopped from the moment we checked in (but that was our choice), we decided to do everything as it was going to be a 'one off' trip. The hotel itself has great facilities, the swimming pool area is fun for all, the room we stayed in was on the second floor and it felt like it was miles away (especially when carrying luggage and snow suits) but it was managable for 3 days (the rooms also have a decent hairdryer so no need to bring one!)! The food is adequate with 2-3 choices, tea/coffe/water available and no waiters mithering you to buy extra drinks...if you want alcohol then you go and get it yourself! The 'Santa' day was great...no queues, no professional photographers, no souveniers...you just do what you wan, when you want! We did a couple of extra trips - the Northern Lights tour (we didn't see them and I guess you wouldn't really see them at the time of the trip as they are only visible in the early hours!). We also did the extra husky ride - we loved this as it was pitch black and you could only see by the relection of the snow! The trips are pricey but Espirit give the prices on their website so at least you can budget for them before you go! We also sleged down the toboggan run at midnight and that was well worth it!!! We would love to go back!

We, family with 2 children stayed at this hotel first week of December 2011. We travelled with ESPRIT holidays for a 4 day 3 night Lapland trip.
The hotel was very warm and the rooms were just about big enough to accomodate us all, though it was tricky getting dressed in all the thermal layers and suits in the space. Rooms had a kettle with tea and coffee along with an iron, mini fridge and drying unit in the bathroom. This was brilliant for drying gloves,hats and swimming costumes.
The bathroom was well equiped but did not have a bath. We didn't mind as we did not even use the shower!. The lovely swimming pool was a great way to relax at the end of the day and the slide, lazy river and wave machine kept the children happy. Shower facilities here even included the shower gel. We used these showers and then returned to the hotel room in the robes provided. It was a litttle wiered walking through were everyone was eating in the robe but so many people were doing it we didn't care!
Food (we were half board) was plentiful and a mix of Finnish and traditional english stuff. Chips for the children etc. Best check on the breakfast time because there was a bit of a mix up on the weekend when the reps said that it would be served until later than the hotel did!
Beware if you like a drink bring your own. Wine was 38euros a bottle and beer 7euros for less than a pint! it was not much cheeper in the supermarket. We brought chocolate bars and crisps with us so used them to keep energy up during the day.
The activity day was great.Well organised and Plenty for the children to do all day. Husky ride on ice lake was fantastic as was the raindeer ride and mini skidoos. It was also magical because it snowed for most of the day.
Father Christmas looked fantastic. My 7 year old and 5 year old were in awe that he had their letters and they also had a nice little pressie.
We did an extra skidoo safari and husky safari. The huski safari was a bit dissapointing because it was very dark, there were no lights onroute. Would have been more enchanting with some small candle lighting and we might even have been able to see the dogs.
The Esprit reps were fantastic as were the flight attendants on the Easy Jet flight (home) played games and danced with the children on the plane!
The hotel provides free toboggans and the run near to the hotel is fantastic No need to bring loads of clothes as the thermal suits are very warm and keep you dry. Also the hotel is very warm and no need for anything posh, not even for the gala dinner. Don't forget swimming costume, though you don't need them for sauna or steam room, you must go nude!!!
There are limited shops in the resort so don't need much money.
The only thing we forgot was a small ruck sack to carry some drinks and chocolate bars around.
This is an expensive trip so it is nice to have great photos. Beware because of the lack of daylight some of the photos were dark and also batteries run down fast in the cold. We wished we had invested in a better camera before the trip.
ESPRIT was an excellent company to travel with and everything it said it was going to deliver it did. We would recommed and if we win the lottery go again!!