Hotel Aakenus

The sauna was a plus, though you can get one at Lapland hotel or santas hotels too. Those places are much cleaner, newer and better, and the prices are similar. I wouldn’t stay at aakenus again. Even motels are better, in my view. The €30 dinner does fill you up, but if it isn’t included in the hotel price, don’t take it. Go to another restaurant in rovaniemi instead. I don’t know how they manage to charge these prices.

The location was the one real advantage of my stay in an Economy Triple Room. I expected an old, basic building, but didn’t know the shower was outside the room. There was a toilet inside; to shower, I had to go out in temperatures below -10°C. They also didn’t provide duvet covers or pillowcases. Staff said those cost extra, which was a surprise and a disappointment when I’d booked a hotel rather than a hostel or Airbnb. After the business replied, I checked the booking details again. I’d booked the cheapest room with a simple kitchen directly through the official website, but the listing gave very little information and the booking photos didn’t match the room I got. Before booking, all I saw was that it was non-refundable, had no breakfast, and had unclear information about the sauna. Only after making the non-refundable booking did I notice in the assigned room category that bed linen wasn’t included. That hadn’t been made clear beforehand. Future guests should double-check whether bed linen is included and whether the shower is actually inside the room. Those details weren’t clearly shown in my case.

The staff were helpful, and check-in and checkout were smooth. The hotel is handy for the city center, on one of the main streets, and has the usual conveniences, including a sauna. It was a little noisy. You can easily hear what the neighbors next door are talking about, or doing. The room could have been warmer, and the TV had almost only local Finnish-language channels.

The room was simple but comfortable. Still, the strong, bad smell coming from the bathroom made it hard to stay there. That smell alone is why I wouldn’t come back.