Holiday Village Gulo Gulo

The buffet restaurants were delicious, and the hotel’s activities were fun for adults and kids alike. We stayed in one of the villas, which was beautiful and very comfortable. The zoo is close by, with Arctic animals that were amazing to see and seemed well cared for. It’s a fantastic experience for children. We had a wonderful stay and highly recommend the place.

A rental car is a good idea if, like us, you want the freedom to come and go. Ours made grocery trips into town easy, so we could cook at least one meal a day. The property itself is beautiful and peaceful. We arrived late, checked in quickly, and found our cabin without trouble. Everything was neat, tidy, and thoughtfully provided, so there was no need to leave. I’d stay here again. My one suggestion is to provide robes and slippers for the cabin sauna. We only got one bath towel per person for the whole stay, so those would’ve been nice to have.

The only downside was the on-site restaurant being closed, though we knew that when we booked. Getting a ride to The Artic Fox Igloos for breakfast meant an early start, around 7 a.m., which isn’t how I usually want to spend a holiday morning. Now that the restaurant on site is open, this shouldn’t be an issue.

The cabin stay was pleasant apart from three things. First, breakfast arrived at 4 p.m. the evening before. For one person it was an apple, 200 ml of milk, a croissant, yogurt, a ham and cheese sandwich, a smoothie, a mini butter, and a bag of oatmeal, for €10. I’d skip it and use the money at the bakery in Ranua, 2.8 km away. We added a day to our stay without breakfast. Even though that meant less work for staff, we weren’t given fresh towels or new dry firewood for the stove. Those would have cost another €10. If we’d checked out and booked another cottage instead, we would’ve had firewood again for the same price. There was also a cute stuffed polar bear on the sofa that our child wanted. It was completely overpriced, and felt like a nasty psychological trick. By the end, I felt we were being ripped off. Zoo tickets were around €20 per person, and the zoo wasn’t that special to me. I think $10-15 would’ve been appropriate.