Snowy Wilderness Lodge

Drive to hotel and restaurant was beautiful. The service and food were Finnish and incredible. A wonderful surprise. Gift shop also a pleasant surprise. A real shout out to our waitress. She was friendly, knowledgable and a pleasant to talk with. Pleasant surprise to see reindeers on drive down.

Lapland Hotel Pallas is a traditional Lappish hotel for hiking, mountain biking, skiing and cross-country skiing. This log hotel was built in 1948 and it is situated between several fells in the end of the road in Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park. It is easy to come here also by public transport. I took a night train from Helsinki to Kolari and then a train connection bus from Kolari railway station to Lapland Hotel Pallas. Nature, views and clearly marked hiking trails (both short and long) are the best part of this hotel. Reindeer are wandering around the hotel. Hiking trails (and cross-country skiing tracks in winter) start from the corner of the hotel. I especially loved hiking to Palkaskero, Pallaskero, Taivaskero and Laukukero. I will write more specific hiking recommendations in a separate review of Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park. The reception and the front door are closed after 11 p.m. So if you want to have a night hike under the midnight sun (as I did) you have to ring a doorbell or call and a night shift worker will open the door for you. The breakfast buffet was more than excellent. It included all normal items but also many local specialties, e.g. spruce shoot fruitie, lingonberry vanilla smoothie, reindeer live pate, beetroot hummus, dried cranberries, bilberry-blackberry powder, spruce tip powder and apple-cloudberry jam. There was a waffle station there, too, and you could make your own waffles there. Actually the restaurant of the hotel is one of the best restaurants in Lapland for dining. I will write a separate restaurant review of it. The weak part of this hotel is condition of the rooms. They are quite cozy but past and threadbare. Cleaning seems to be good but you see dents and other traces of use everywhere. Besides, my bathroom was very small and there wasn't any separate bidet shower there. I could hear water flowing in pipelines but otherwise my sleep quality was very good. A ventilation window with an insect nest was good. This hotel is very down-to-earth. You can stay here without any big problems and you can enjoy your stay very much but don't expect any luxury room. You may be disappointed if you have visited Lapland Hotels in big cities (Helsinki, Oulu, Kuopio, Tampere) earlier. They are extremely stylish and rooms are in good condition there. However, Lapland Hotel Pallas may also be a paradise if you don't expect too much.