Lapland Hotel Saaga

We stayed in one of the chalets as a couple at the end of January. I’m not sure it really qualified as a “chalet” as it was part of a much larger building, but it was still very nice. The private sauna was wonderful as was the included breakfast, which was among the best hotel breakfasts I’ve ever had. I agree with some of the other reviewers that it seemed weird to leave the balcony lights on all night when you’re trying to look out at the sky, but maybe there’s a good reason for that. It also seemed strange not to supply at least some coffee and tea supplies in the rooms, especially since the grocery next to the hotel is very limited. But overall this was a magical place with easy bus connections with the Kolari train and many great tour options. The spa within the main hotel was not included in the chalet price and we didn’t see that, but were very happy with the private sauna in the chalet.

Ok I may be jynxing us here but we fly back tomorrow so hopefully this will work out. Booked for mid January (its cheaper) NB as its low season its quieter (great for skiing with no queues) but it may limit options. We booked a 4-6 apartment room and it suited our needs well (2 adults and 2 teenagers) you get 2 bedrooms which hold 4 beds. If you have any more than that then the sofa converts to a 3rd bed to fit your party of 6 so this may become a little cramped with a party of 6 but you do get a cage in the basement to store all your ski stuff. You do get a Sauna in your appartment which also holds the shower and a toiler and also a 2nd toilet (we allocated the 2nd toilet for my wife with the 1st toilet being reserved for the neanderthals .....um I mean men) We were lucky we were on the top floor and the room nearest the lift which also made life quite easy when lugging our kit around. You can hire ski equipment from the hotel but its 5 Euro more each on the same equipment so we hired from Hill Sports. Whole process was very easy We went self catering and you need to be aware that the onsite mini market is very very basic so you will need to get the ski bus to akas to go to a decent supermarket which is very well stocked (Tip I bought some souvenirs from the market which were more expensive in the shop 100m (if that) from the supermarket so its worth checking) Internet in the hotel was very good , we were able to connect our amazon firestick via the TV and able to access all the usual stuff (netflix etc) however you will need a VPN to do that. I was able to stream the NFL playoffs via the internet (something I cant do at Prem Inn back home) Excursions We limited our excursions as we had been before and done Reindeer and Husyky farm etc so we took the Snowmobile excursion for the Myself , and the 2 teenagers and the ice hotel for me and my wife. Excursions are quite expensive so its worth doing your research before you go to identify what you want to do. Useful Apps Should be available on Android and Iphone but the Yllas 3d map is free to download and very useful to identify where you are in relation to the runs. We also downloaded an Aurora App to identify when there was likely to be a chance to see them and we were lucky enought to see them twice (NB the lights in the resort dont switch off so you will need to find somewhere away from the resort we went toward the forest following a path behind Hesenburger) Skiing The skiing is decent but not very varied but more than enough for our needs (If you go to the top on the gondola the only way down the Yllas side of the mountain is to go back down in the Gondola or tackle reds or black runs) We areok skiers and we were able to negotiate the reds with little issue but it may be intimidating for less experienced skiers) Apres Ski Taiga Bar was very friendly and we ate their one night cost 100 Euro for 4 people inc drinks. My son and his friend also went to the bar 2 doors down and they had darts, Jenga , Uno available to play. Due to it being low season if your expecting a party atmosphere like Les Arcs of similar you are likely to be disappointed. Anyway the long and short of it is that we had a good time here everything was pretty standard but definitely done well enough and it was worth the money. People were friendly and spoke good english despite my attempts to butcher the finish language. AT the very least learn Kitos (Key Toss) - Thank You and Hey (Hello) Hey Hey (Goodbye)

We have just returned from a 4 night stay 22-26th December. All I can say is wow, we have already rebooked to come back next Christmas for 7 nights in the same hotel we loved it that much. So we booked our package deal with TUI and blew from Birmingham to Kittila airport. We had a 6am flight and decided to stay in hotel Ibis at the airport the night before so we could get a couple of hours rest as we have a five year old little girl and thought it wouldn’t be fair to wake her up really early as we was travelling from Liverpool to Birmingham. The staff at the airport were amazing, dressed as elves and came over to speak to each child individually asking them if they have been good etc. Again the staff on the plane were amazing with the children and had them singing Christmas songs at the front and back of the plane and entertaining them with some games. The pilot dropped the plane a few times and said Santa had landed on the plane with his reindeers when we were close to landing. Upon arrival at the airport the whole process was really quick, we went through customs collected our luggage and was shows to our coach were we put our luggage and then walked back to a small building right by the coaches. This is were we collected our snow suits, boots and gloves etc. They gave us a large bag to put it all in and we pulled it along the snow back to the coach and off we went. In total it took about 30/40 mins to arrive to the hotel but it felt like 10 mins as the view was just unbelievable. When we arrived at the hotel we were lucky enough that our room was ready to check in straight away and wow what a view we had from our room. We were second floor so our door open straight into the slopes which was definitely a deal breaker for us as we could just walk out our room and play on the sledges on the slopes. We were bed and breakfast which was perfect for us as we like to try new places and not be tied down to bullet food. The first night we ate our tea in the hotel which was really nice food and reasonable price. I think it came to €70 to two adults and a child with drinks included in that price. The remaining nights we went for a meal in the local restaurants which were about 2/3 mins walk from the hotel. Again all the restaurants were really nice and reasonable price. The hotel is situated in a really great location right next to the ski slopes, restaurants, ski rental shop, tourist shop were you can book extra excursions. Although we arrived the 22nd of December and did not have extra excursions booked, surprisingly they had them all still available such as husky ride, reindeer ride, snowmobiling, so we just booked all this when we arrived. We booked private ski lessons on Christmas Day and also rented the ski equipment from the hotel which was about €40 each for the day. We had such a good time skiing and would highly recommend the slopes here as they have a huge variety of slopes. The spa- wow the spa area was much nicer in person than the photos (it still looked beautiful online but in person it was even nicer) they had armbands, swimming goggles, toys, floats etc all available free of charge for the kids to use in the main pool. I read some reviews online that the pool was freezing however we didn’t find it cold. The mini kids part was obviously a lot warmer and also they had two little hot tub areas, one of which was like a mini cave with colourful lights building into the ceiling. The pool didn’t open until 1pm which is handy to know as we went down in our swim clothes after breakfast and didn’t realise it wasn’t open. The hotel has free sledges for the children to use outside the hotel inside a box which is really handy as well our little one loved being pulled around on the sledge when she was tired. On the slopes there is a small kids area with an open fire to roast marshmallows and sausages etc and a kids playground which surprising the kids loved even in the cold my daughter was playing on the slide and swings and it was great for us adults to sit and warm up. They also had sledging areas located here which we all had sledge races and played for hours on end. Overall we had such a magical time and can’t wait to return in December for 7 nights.