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Finding an ideal charming small hotel in Saariselka does not have to be difficult. Welcome to Hotel Laanihovi, a nice option for travellers like you.
For those interested in checking out Saariselka Reindeer Farm (2.0 mi) while visiting Saariselka, Hotel Laanihovi is a short distance away.
Guest rooms offer amenities such as a refrigerator, a seating area, and a desk, and guests can go online with free wifi offered by the small hotel.
Hotel Laanihovi features a sun terrace, to help make your stay more enjoyable. The property also boasts a lounge. If you are driving to Hotel Laanihovi, parking is available.
While staying at Hotel Laanihovi, you may want to check out Laanilan kievari (0.8 mi) which is a short walk away.
Hotel Laanihovi looks forward to welcoming you on your visit to Saariselka.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
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We flew into Ivalo airport, which was the second leg of our journey after the flight from London to Helsinki, and were collected from the airport for the scenic 30 min transfer to our home for the week, Hotel Laanihovi. Hotel Laanihovi is situated just a 5 min drive from Saariselka centre and just at the edge of the cross-country ski tracks, a great location for anyone who wants to make the most of the beautiful nature and scenery that surrounds Saariselka. The hotel itself is a small, friendly, family run hotel, with a large bar and restaurant area, the buffet breakfast which was included, was a great start to the day and filled us up for our days of cross-country skiing. The rooms are basic, but very clean, with fresh paint, a fridge and coffee and tea facilities, but it is the lounge, in the bar area with it’s huge open fire which really makes this hotel feel like home, we spent many hours reading and warming up here after our active days. The two large saunas were open every evening and helped to relax our aching muscles. We were lucky enough to catch a display of the Northern Lights on two occasions and with Hotel Laanihovis location being slightly away from Saariselka, we were able to enjoy these moments in their full glory away from the bright lights, it was truly unforgettable. The activities, Laanihovi provided on top of the skiing facilities, were a surprising bonus. We decided to take a snowmobile safari and husky safari on our two free days. If you come here I would highly recommend these as they are something that you will experience in very few places in the world. The guides were amazing and really made the day, full of local facts and enthusiasm for the area, we really did learn a lot and felt like we were getting to the root of the area, rather than just passing by, which you do in so many other destinations. The only slight hick-up we had, was a short delay at Helsinki airport before boarding the flight to Ivalo. All in all this was an amazing trip and an unforgettable experience, I highly recommend it.
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Date of stay: January 2011
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed 1 week in the Laanihovi hotel near saariselkä, and we had a wonderfull time there spending our winter holiday. The hotel has everything what we needed, clean and spacious rooms, but not very luxurious. If that is what you are looking for, Laanihovi is not the right place for you. But we needed a comfortabel bed, a healthy breakfast and a good dinner... and that was exactly what we found in Laanihovi. Also very nice was the free use of the cross country skis, the snowshoes and the sauna. You get a small discount if you book your safari's at Topsafari in saariselka. The owner of hotel didn't always look very happy, also his English was not very good, but the staff was very friendly and helpfull. Laanihovi is the right place if you love cross country skiing, if you like real lappish food, if you want to spend your holiday in the woods and not in the town, and if you want to get value for your money.
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Date of stay: February 2014
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed in this place for 2 nights in December and genuinely wish we had stayed for longer. First of all, Lapland is amazing beyond words and I think Christmas time was the best time to visit. Not only was it winter so good time for the northern lights, it was also so incredibly beautiful with 360 degrees of knee deep snow and little houses with fairly lights, Christmas trees and snow covered roofs. Ah, I'm a grown up but Lapland was just magical! So back to hotel laanihovi : Getting here - train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi (overnight) followed by bus (station right outside the train station) from Rovaniemi to Saariselka. The bus unfortunately drops you on the main road (highway) a good way away from the hotel. So prepare yourself with light reflectors and torches to stay safe. The hotel was very pretty with all the Christmas lights and snow when we got here. The staff were very helpful. The don't do direct bookings for activities from here but the check in woman very kindly called the activities (top safaris) company for us to organise things. The room was very cute, well heated and the view outside the window was just spectacular. There was free breakfast in the mornings which was excellent (do try the lingonberry juice!) and dinner (not free) was also very nice. There is free cross country ski equipment for hire and illuminated track is right outside the hotel. Being a 10 min drive from the main Saariselka town (which is quite touristy), we did find it very peaceful and relaxing. We took a taxi back to Saariselka (10 mins drive, 16 euros) for our return journey as the bus didn't stop at laanihovi. Overall, we had an excellent stay and apart from the transport situation, we loved it!
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Date of stay: December 2013Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Went here for a meal only, as part of an après-ski tour group, and found the elk, mash and root vegetables (with pancakes and cloudberries to follow) excellent. Learned with some dismay that we might have secured our place in history as probably the last UK tour group to visit, as the place is rumoured to be closing soon. Didn't see the rooms or facilities but it's likely that the 1970s feel of the building, dodgy WiFi and distance from the town centre have finally done for it. A pity.
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Date of stay: February 2015
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Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We are a family of 2 adults, 2 kids (age 9 and 6). Coming from a hot country, we were excited but yet concerned about the cold. It's been around -15 degrees, it's really cold but Top Safari team esp owner Ilona and Daniel ensured that we got the right thermal suits as soon as we arrived. We joined the 3nights 4 days winter package, with meals provided. As I am writing now, we just completed Day 2. For lunch we had traditional lappish Salmon soup & Reindeer soup, which I thought was really tasty (even though I am not really a soup person). My kids loved it too ! And for dinner, we had the most Amazing Salmon steak with rice - the skin was crunchy ! Really top class food quality. The next day, we did the Reindeer sleigh ride which was an awesome experience in the magical pine forest, all covered in white snow. The Reindeer man and wife was really nice and she ensured to keep us warm. She further covered us in a Sami costume and had another blanket over us. The experience is truly magical, like in a fairy tale set in the snow filled pine forest. We saw many wild reindeers and one male reindeer came really near and was following us for a few minutes. The entire ride was about 45min and I must say at the end of the ride, crossing the frozen lake, with pine trees encircling us, feel just like we are in some movie set ! After that, we tried skiing, but we are still learning :) (all ski equipment are provided by hotel for FREE). The ski trail is just a short 3-5min walk from the hotel and its well lighted. Its so convenient. Our boys had a fabulous time shoveling snow just outside the hotel. This was their first experience and they thoroughly had a fabulous time. Fantastic family time. Everyday, at 2-5pm, the hotel is abuzz with great relaxing atmosphere where people will come to the hotel to dance, and enjoy the band singing. Lovely couples will be dancing away just at the foyer. The band sang some lovely Finnish songs. The highlight of the night was seeing the Northern Light ! Ilona and Daniel checked the weather daily to ensure good chance of spotting the aurora. On Friday, it was cloudy so little chance, we did not go out. Then, on Saturday noon, Ilona & Daniel asked us if we want to do the aurora hunting tonight or Sunday night. We chose tonight (Saturday) naturally, as we we are all geared up for it and that's what this whole dream vacation is all about. After dinner, we set out at 8.30pm. Daniel brought us to the high point at Kaunispaa which is just a few minutes drive. That proved to be the RIGHT decision. Immediately we saw a very large aurora display, just like a big green rainbow from left to the right side of the horizon. It was amazing, amazing ! We saw it danced and changed formations just right in front of our eyes. Daniel persuaded us to go up the tower to have a better view, which at first we thought it was too cold. We were glad that we went up the tower, it's entirely a different feeling of awe ! We kept running in and out of the car just to keep warm. I must say, all credit goes to Daniel, he is really patient, and he spent almost 2 hours out in the cold with us. We are so lucky, the Aurora went on and on and Daniel said he will stay as long as we want ! What an amazing person ! We saw 2 tourist buses but they saw and all left within 10mins or so - strange. I thought as the aurora display was so strong and big, there is no need to "chase" it. Cuz it could just disappear. After we went into car for about 15min, chatted with Daniel and then came out again, to our surprise, the aurora had moved just above us ! The lights came to us ! We saw an even more amazing display - curtains like and we even saw some red aurora for very brief moments. The only mistake we made was not having the right camera. My iPhone 5 cannot capture anything at all but fortunately my husband fiddled around with our "budget Lumix" camera and had some photos as memory :) But really we should have bought a better quality camera to capture those shots. We had a FANTASTIC time at this hotel and all the sincere gestures & warm hospitality made our holiday extra special. We will be moving hotel to try the Glass Igloo hotel tomorrow, hope everything is just as good, if not better.
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Date of stay: November 2013
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This hotel is pleasant enough but the bedrooms are small. The bar closes and one is virtually locked out of the hotel and confined to ones room. The staff are friendly enough and the food is acceptable. There is one major drawback if you do not have a car because it is quite a walk from the bus stop and with luggage and snow it is difficult to put it mildly. The hotel website says that it is near a bus stop - don't believe a word of it. The dog sledding and the snowmobiling are very exciting and hard work
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Date of stay: December 2015
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Hire a car
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed here for a week in over New year in 2014/15. We had arranged a week of activities with Top Safaris (which owns the hotel). The package was seamlessly organised with the hotel, so that meals were at times around the activities, and the staff always knew what time our next activity was.
We had all meals paid for as part of our package, and the food was much better than we expected. We had hearty soups for most lunches, and delicious dinners (lots of reindeer), plus a fabulous buffet for New Year's Eve.
The hotel provided free cross country skis and snow shoes, and was about 3-4K from town, so we ski-ed into town a couple of times, a great way to see the countryside.
We managed to see a fantastic show of the northern lights - the hotel staff knew we were keen, and came and fetched us from our rooms when they started at 5pm, much earlier than we had thought they might happen (the only non cloudy day we were there in our week).
The staff were really friendly and helpful, waxing our skis, providing snow shoes and suggestions of where to go, helping us with washing, all sorts of small touches.
The rooms are fairly basic (the hotel was built in the 70s, and it was a bit 1970s motel-like) but very comfortable, well heated and with everything we might need.
The saunas (one each for men and women) were nice as you would expect in northern Finland, and available each evening.
The wifi is fairly weak, which is probably reasonable given its location, but not as good as the rest of Finland.
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Date of stay: December 2014
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Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Although we did not stay in the hotel itself, when staying in the nearby Panimo log cabins (Saariselka) we went to the restaurant attached to the hotel. It was the most delicious meal I've had in a long time! Elk steaks, creamy mash, seasonal Finnish vegetables and a delicious jus. Reasonably priced bar too, with a toasty open fire :)
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Date of stay: January 2013
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Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
we got to Laanihovi by mistake, butoverall it was a nice experience. The hotel is located at 3.8km from Saariselka and that is a minus. The taxi fare to downtown is 15-20 EUR, depending on the hour. The rooms are OK, quit spacious and comfortable. The biggest plus is the personnel: very friendly, helpful and always ready for a joke or a smile. The restaurant serves very good food, but you have to announce the chef in advance if you want dinner (sometimes he may leave earlier if the hotel occupation is not that high). Breakfast is decent, including besides the usual hotel breakfast, salmon and arctic fish, We had dinner once there and I had the best raindeer steak in Saariselka. In other places they serve combination of raindeer dishes, buit here I got just a medium-rare juicy raindeer steak! My wife had a soup and a fish dish which she enjoyed alot. They also have a very good salmon soup! Even if you do not choose this hotel because of location, I recomend visiting the restaurant (it is a 30 minute nice walk/ski walk from Saariselka).
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Date of stay: February 2014
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Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:if you are a couple, ask specifically for matrimonial beds. We had twin beds put together, but...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
A cozy hotel, although this is an old hotel, furnitures inside rooms are tidy, looks new and clean. If you love ski, this is the right hotel, as ski track is just behind the hotel. Staffs are extremely helpful, especially we need to catch the airport bus in very early morning, but dont know why the bus did not show up and we were about late for flight, when I ran back to the hotel ask for help, a guy from hotel drove his car and send us to the airport. Really appreciate. Hotel included breakfast and food are good. My friend had dinner there and she said the food was good too. This hotel is away from the village, but if you want to have a quiet stay, this should be the one, and I guess is dark enough if want to see northern lights.
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Date of stay: December 2013
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Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Saariselka area.
LOCATION
FinlandLaplandSaariselka
NUMBER OF ROOMS
25
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