Wilderness Hotel Muotka & Igloos

We booked the adventure package at the Wilderness Muotka and added an extra night. The activities were enjoyable and well organized, with excellent guides and small groups. We were lucky to have two activities to ourselves. The sauna and river dip cost extra and were worth trying, though we thought they were overpriced. We also drove to Saariselka for the tobaggon run, which was great fun. We spent one night in an igloo room and the other three in the hotel. Both worked well, but we preferred the hotel room’s convenience. We could pop into the main hotel area without putting on all our winter clothes. We were full board and enjoyed every meal, along with cocktails by the fire each night. Our schedule was busy with activities, yet we came away feeling relaxed. It was a really fun trip, and we’d highly recommend it. It’s expensive, but we felt we got our money’s worth.

We really enjoyed the stay, and the igloo gave us amazing views of the northern lights. The food was good, but the choices were fairly limited, and the hotel tours were very pricey compared with similar trips on get your guide. One day there were french fries at the kids buffet. I love fries, so I took a few, but the waitress Antiopi rudely told me I wasn’t allowed to. I asked whether they could serve fries to all guests, and she said no without explaining why. A snack menu guests could order from would be a good idea.

The Aurora cabins cost more than 750EUR/night, which felt far too expensive for what we got. The price is like a 5* hotel, but the luxury, amenities, and service felt more like a 2* hotel. Our room was spacious, but lacked basic luxuries. The hotel seemed to maximize everything for profit, even charging €10/night for the aurora alarm, which should be free, as it has been at every other hotel we’ve visited around the world. Service wasn’t very friendly either. We mentioned at check-in that we were on our honeymoon, and the receptionist replied, "yes, everyone is honeymooning here". A congratulations would have been nice. When she asked about allergies, we told her ours, and she responded, "you can't eat that or you don't like this food". It’s an allergy, what do you think? We raised our concerns at reception and asked for a partial refund, or even to cancel the second night so we could book somewhere nearby with better service. The answer was disappointing: we could cancel our stay, but they offered no refund or other compensation.

The hotel’s setting in the wilderness really made it special. We stayed in the panorama cabin and loved it, especially the fireplace and sauna. The staff were super nice and helpful, and the food was good with a decent variety. The activities were fun, and the guides explained things well. The clothes provided were super warm. Most groups were small, but a few of the more family friendly activities had over 20 people, which made everything a bit slower. All in all, a very nice trip.