Holiday Club Saariselkä Apartments

“Great location, great food, clean and friendly!”

We couldn’t have been happier with our stay. To be honest, based on reviews we were expecting an average experience. The hotel decor was pleasant. The room was clean, a good size and had good storage. We had a view over a lovely snowy courtyard (no guest access, so just a nice view). The shower was… more

We couldn’t have been happier with our stay. To be honest, based on reviews we were expecting an average experience. The hotel decor was pleasant. The room was clean, a good size and had good storage. We had a view over a lovely snowy courtyard (no guest access, so just a nice view). The shower was good. There wasn’t a cleaning service mid week, but that was fine with us. Our rep advised we could request it, but didn’t feel it was necessary. All staff we encountered were helpful and pleasant. And we thought the buffet was great. There was a great selection at breakfast from porridge and yogurt & fruit, to bread, cheese & ham, and then bacon, sausage, eggs. Oh and pastries. And even more! Then each evening meal there was a lovely soup, an excellent selection of salads, and usually two meat and one vegetarian main. I also saw gluten free products and there was an abundance of non-dairy milk options. And dessert each night too. Every night was something different. We didn’t use the sauna or spa so can’t comment on that. Location was also great with easy access to shops, pubs and the bus stops. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.

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“Great base for hotel in apartment”

We stayed in the apartments which are behind the actual hotel. These were great. You have a small kitchen, a sauna and heated drier which are particularly useful for warming up and drying snoods and gloves and there is lots of snow hills for sledding outside and only takes a couple of mins from the… more

We stayed in the apartments which are behind the actual hotel. These were great. You have a small kitchen, a sauna and heated drier which are particularly useful for warming up and drying snoods and gloves and there is lots of snow hills for sledding outside and only takes a couple of mins from the hotel to the apartments. All the beds were comfy including the sofa bed and the extra space was appreciated with the children. We were on a ground floor apartment but there was a second floor which you would need to negotiate stairs for. The apartments were warm, quiet and clean with everything we could need. We travelled as part of a Tui package with breakfast. Breakfast was chaotic at certain times. Whilst there is two restaurants you can eat from there isn’t enough tables and it can get very busy with lots of people needing to eat in the lobby on the tables. There was options for all our family but it wasn’t the warmest but did a job but would benefit from more seating areas. The hotel is in an excellent location, with restaurants walkable (Fieno was delicious!) and a supermarket. There is a great sledding hill a 5min walk away. On a side note- Tui were fairly invisible at this hotel and I didn’t find them particularly helpful with information other than when on the buses when they would give updates on times for planned activities or times for gala or departures. To compare- Santas Lapland company reps were seen most of the time at their desks in the hotel and available for queries for their guests. Tui Taster day was great, could go round to activities at own pace and in order we chose, although short they were enough for everyone to get an idea and this was probably my favourite thing we did with Tui and we spent the whole morning here until the last bus left. Search for Santa for the children was good and took a trail through the woods after arriving on a snowmobile but When the elf was taking info from family’s to personalise (children were taken away for hit berry juice) we were told to lower expectations and Santa would have 15 seconds per child and if a child tried to come over to a parent the elf told them to loudly go back to the group and they couldn’t come over so older children could likely guess what was happening with the adults (luckily ours didn’t) Our Santa visit was not personalised with any info that was given to the elf and lasted about a minute. although he was very realistic and the children loved it so that was the main thing. The festive gala food was better than expected but again being at this hotel we were given the last time slot of 8-10pm and food had stopped being replenished shortly we arrived at 8pm and the singing and entertainment are in a lecture auditorium- although Christmas themed the environment was very unfestive. Northern lights hotel has great options for booking activities such as kids snow mobiles and hot tubs and at reasonable prices and is a 15/20min walk and staff very attentive and can be booked even if not staying at the hotel via the website. The airport for departures was awful and there was a complete lack of information and those left at the back of the queue were pretty much ignored and left to queue for an hour with no updates or offers of the cups of water they were seen taking up to those at the front of the queues. Enjoyed the hotel but if I could book again would book activities independently or with another company.

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“Good location, poor ‘hotel’”

A very poor hotel. Check in is 4pm , check out 10am. Tea and coffee in room served in paper cups which isn’t restocked for you entire stay. Even though this is a hotel there is no maid service ( bins are not emptied, no fresh towels or beds made) for the entire stay. For our entire stay the pool wa… more

A very poor hotel. Check in is 4pm , check out 10am. Tea and coffee in room served in paper cups which isn’t restocked for you entire stay. Even though this is a hotel there is no maid service ( bins are not emptied, no fresh towels or beds made) for the entire stay. For our entire stay the pool was closed, we were informed prior to arrival but no compensation was offered. The food is beyond poor so it’s best to eat out. Positives are, this is a fantastic location.

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“Satisfactory for room only, terrible for food”

Stayed here when we went to see Santa with Santas Lapland. The hotel was satisfactory for a place to put our heads down, however the food was terrible! Little and weird choices for breakfast and dinner, food never warm enough. I would have rather stayed for room only and gone and spent my money in … more

Stayed here when we went to see Santa with Santas Lapland. The hotel was satisfactory for a place to put our heads down, however the food was terrible! Little and weird choices for breakfast and dinner, food never warm enough. I would have rather stayed for room only and gone and spent my money in local restaurants at meal times. It’s all well and good advising us to fuel up for an active long day at the Artic Circle Centre but at least give us the choice of fuel that will do the job!

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