Lapland Hotels Yllaeskaltio

We spent Christmas 2024 here and found the hotel clean, tidy, and accommodating. The reception and bar staff, all the gents who helped us, were polite, professional, and spot on. The meals were great every time, with good quality and plenty of choice, and the rest of the staff were brilliant too. The main drawback was the very steep staircase in the duplex room, which was tricky to use. Our room was clean and usable, though it could use a spruce-up, as could the communal areas. I'd definitely recommend staying here, and we'll be back.

The food was the highlight of our week. We were one adult and two children, aged 9 and 7, staying half board, so we ate breakfast and dinner at the hotel every day. The buffet had enough variety for all of us, from meat lovers to my daughter's preference for vegetarian food. Everything was tasty, full of flavour, and nicely presented. The dining room also has large glass windows looking outside. Our bedroom was cosy, warm, and spacious enough for us, even if it was a little dated. Everything seemed well organised, and the staff were friendly and helpful. We also got an unexpected bonus: guests at Kaltio can use the swimming pool at their sister hotel, something we hadn't realised when booking.

The frozen lake is just a few minutes' walk away and is a great spot for looking for the aurora. The hotel is reasonable, with decent food and a sauna in every room, though the rooms feel a little dated. Ski slopes and the ice hotel /snow Village aren't too far away, just a short bus ride.

This was a pretty horrible stay. The rooms feel like they're from the 1980s, and compared with the same hotel chain's other place across the fell, where we had paid less for a very nice room, this felt like a complete rip-off. On our first night the room was far too hot, even with the heating turned down to minimum and the window left open all day. Other guests were complaining about it too, but we were told nothing could be done because the weather was tricky. The toilet leaked and couldn't be fixed, leaving the bathroom floor wet for our entire stay. Then, after a full day wandering in the fells, we came back on the last night and staff complained about our water bottles in the lobby bars, saying guests weren't allowed to bring their own drinks. The premises are outdated, and the poor service attitude made the experience worse.