We were in Rovaniemi for a few days to celebrate New Year 2008. Stayed at Rantasipi, so a few words on the hotel: + nice views (if you ask for the river view) + rooms are quite big (at least by European standards) - we were OK with my wife and daughter + rooms are cleaned and maintained quite well + the staff is nice and helpful + there is a travel agency rigt inside the building so you do not need to freeze before you are equiped with all nessesary warm clothes waiting for saffari + they have free sldges for kids at the entrance - the hotel is a bit outdated - ventelation system is a scandal - there is almost no fresh air and you can not get it anyhow - the restaurant and food is very basic (the restaurant is also rather smelly) - the lobby almost do not exist (at least you can not relax at lobby bar in the evening) - the pool is in fact rather cold and mainly is a splash pool for sauna rather than a place to swim - the fact that the hotel consists of actualy two buildings makes the daily trip to breakfast quite an excersise So, in fact we liked Rovaniemi and Lapland and for sure will be back one day but probably will stay at different hotel (SantaClaus was quoted to be nicer - and it seemed so from outside)

jUST BACK FROM THREE NIGHT STAY IN THIS HOTEL,with my husband and 6 year old grandson Room comfortable, twin beds but the third bed in room is a camp bed, this bed was not comfortable and not even suitable for a six year old. The bathroom had a very deep narrow bath with a shower overhead not suitable unless you are very agile!! Swimming pool was an added bonus and we did use this facility, but not for the faint hearted very cold. Breakfast was buffet style,with a good choice including a hot breakfast. Meals at night were fair priced and the reindeer steak was delicious but nothing on the menu for younger children The sledges which were free to borrow and my grandson had a lot of fun playing over at the skating area beside the snow igloo on this.

Well stayed at the Rantasippi which was obviously the place to stay 20 years ago but is now showing its age. That said was more than adequate for our four night stay. Agree with the comments about the rear view stunning at night looking over the frozen river. We were obviously fortunate that we had a bath with a shower at the one end. room was a fair size and the beds very comfortable. Its location in Rovaniemi is superb with everything , shops, restraunts etc within a 5 minute walk and a mcdonalds too. An average cost of a meal for three of us was £45 thats in a restaraunt not macdonalds. It appeared all the excursions were within 15 minutes of town so dont be afraid to venture out yourselfs, the time allocated to santa park is insufficent in the package trip so consider going on your own and spending an hour or so more there. Only because you dont have time to visit the ice bar, get the kids into elf school, meet santa and see the show which only runs every two hours we had an hour and half there and arrived just as the one show was finishing so had to leave before the next one started. Have a nice trip hope the review helps.

First of all, we were given a room for handicapped people which we didn't like at all, it looked like a hospital room; the beds were very much like camp beds; the toilets were almost dirty; I think the floors hadn't been well cleaned for a long time; the staff were not at all friendly. The stay at that hotel spoiled what should have been a delicious stay in lapland, which is really beautiful. We spent the first afternoon regretting the 161 euros per night and per room. I would not saty there again, I would try the Santa Claus or Scandic instead, they are really near.

We are family of four (children aged 5 and 2) stayed here for four nights, very spacious room by European standard, the river view is superb day and night. A little disappointed that there is only a shower unit but no bath tub in the room (hard to shower a 2-year-old). Food is okay but not great, few vegetarian choices. The swimming pool was cold, none of us could use it. Staff were generally efficient but refused to deliver extra towels when we requested them claiming our room is too far from the reception area and asked us to come down to fetch them instead. If you are booking a baby sitter at the hotel, they use an outside agency, our baby sitter turned out to be very young, 14/15, would not have been my choice and had me worried the whole evening out. But the kids seemed to like her at the end.