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The traditional log house used to be a village school but has now been lovingly renovated for it's new purpose, welcoming international visitors. We have ten bedrooms, seven rooms upstairs and three rooms downstairs, and can accommodate up to fifteen persons. There are lounges and balconies as well as a Finnish sauna heated with a log fire. Our kitchen provides fresh local food.
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In the guest house categories Pihlajapuu is a solid choice. Minna the hostess makes sure you enjoy and they cook nice traditional fresh food. We liked especially the canoeing arrangements ie 3 days of paddling. Very well arranged and easy to enjoy. Only disadvantage is poor sound insulation but that’s common in accommodations like this.
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Date of stay: June 2021Trip 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 booked a week of Guesthouse to Guesthouse Cross Country Skiing with Mina. Impressed with how well organised the week was. We stayed in 3 different Guest houses the last one being Minnas Majatalo Pihlajapuu / Aksyt Ammat Oy.
The facilities were great. Boot, Ski hire, excellent guiding, very friendly guest houses. Loads and loads of great mostly locally sourced and prepared / cooked food.
The smoked sauna experience was unique.
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Date of stay: February 2022
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip:Â all rooms were great
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.
I stayed here for three nights as part of a week long cross country ski tour arranged by Aksyt Ammat. The lodge is an old school that has been converted into a very well equipped activity holiday centre. The rooms are clean, the food excellent and the saunas excellent.
I would thoroughly recommend the week long cross country ski tour run by this company. If all goes to plan you stay in 4 different huts and ski about 120 km over 6 days, but if the weather does not completely oblige, as happened on our trip, there are lots of options that still provide excellent skiing. All the lodges are clean, staff helpful and friendly and everything runs with a relaxed smoothness.
I will definitely return.
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Date of stay: February 2016
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
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.
I've booked a women group travel over New year's eve in Minna's guest house and it was excellent! Minna is a lovely, warm-hearted, funny and relaxed host. The place is a house with history, with oven and sofa places for cuddling up during the winter hours and not to forget about the daily sauna sessions. Minna's program included playing Kykkää, cross-country skiing, hiking, snow-shoe hiking, visiting Nurmes and Kali national park, archery, smoke sauna with camp-fire barn, small Finnish lessons and serving every day more than mouth-watering, excellent Finnish-Karelian food! Her summer tour offer has now landed on my travel list for next year. Kiitos - Missä Minna!!
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Date of stay: December 2017
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
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.
We were on a Ski tour organized by the propietress, Minna, and booked to stay at her guest house for 2 days prior to the start of the tour. The tour also included this guest house as the third of four such places when we arrived from the north, via a 28 km route from Guesthouse Laitalan Lomat. This reviews both the Guest House and the ski tour.
The house was the largest of those at which we stayed and accommodated all 14 of the tour participants in the main building. The accommodation is next to a large sports hall, also owned by Minna, in which the skis can be stored and prepared.
Minna herself lives across the adjacent lake where on one evening we all went for a traditional smoke sauna, considered by the Finns to be a luxury, though we found the optional dips in the ice hole not to be something for which we would otherwise volunteer! Whilst some were participating in the sauna the remainder gathered around the fire in the Kota where the local salmon like fish was being smoked for our dinner back in the main accommodation. Again, food was locally sourced and traditional. A nice feature was the plentiful supply of fresh fruit.
The main house has a very large sitting and dining room with a large number of very comfortable sofas and armchairs, much appreciated after our 28 kilometre trek. There was also a sauna and we also took up the option of a 30 minute each massage, also something very much appreciated after a number of days of ski-trekking.
Our bedroom was upstairs, again with shared toilets and shower facilities. Our bedroom was large, although the sloping ceiling on my side of the bed was challenging. The room had plenty of storage space. The Wifi signal was strong in all areas of the house.
We had arrived two days before the beginning of or planned ski tour. There are no permanent prepared skip tracks in the vicinity, but Minna (or rather her husband) created two routes for us, with Minna accompanying us on the first day (we suspect to ensure we were safe!) but leaving us to follow the tracks laid that morning on our second day.
Which leads nicely to the ski tour. We were part of a multinational group of 13 participants. We spent two nights at each Guest House, except the last where we were for one night. Luggage was transported for us between the guest houses whilst we followed a freshly prepared track. A guide, Janni, led at the front with Mina bringing up the rear and all able to travel at their own place. Long days were interspersed with short local days, and the long days had a stop int he middle. For us who were used to the wide prepared classic ski tracks of the large resorts some of the narrow tracks were a challenge, but as we were under no time pressure we felt able to progress with care! The guest houses on the route are reviewed elsewhere but had in common a very welcoming hostess (for some reason never a host), locally sourced food and traditional meals. All in all an excellent tour includinging extremely welcoming guest houses.
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Date of stay: March 2017
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with friends
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 spent 2 nights here as part of a week's ski tour organised by our excellent hostess and guide, Minna - Cross country skiing from guesthouse to guest house ( also Nature Travels Cross country skiing in Western Karelia). The old schoolhouse is charming and comfortable, spotlessly clean with excellent food and comfortable chairs to relax in. We particularly enjoyed the experience of the smoke sauna across the frozen lake. The week's skiing was varied crossing fields,pine forests and lakes. Some days were strenuous but not too much with the option of a sauna at the end of every day. All the guest houses were good and varied. The food was delicious everywhere . Minna and Yanni are excellent hosts and considerate patient guides for less than perfect skiers from the far side of the world.
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Date of stay: March 2017
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled with friends
Room Tip:Â Ask Minna for advice.
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.
Spent a night here at the end of my week in Finland - the hostess, Minna, was charming and the guesthouse was lovely and clean - excellent breakfast. Minna also took us to her 'smoke sauna' by her house and we had a traditional barbeque in an amazing lodge with reindeer skins on the seats and a natural plunge pool next to the sauna.
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Date of stay: June 2016
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.
Finnish nature adventure. Vast forests ;clear lake baths. Good hospitality. The tour guides speaks multiple languages. Most beautiful sauna with barbecue hut adjacent. We need to come back in winter. Canoes available. My family stayed in the apartment. One bedroom, full kitchen and a living-room with one bed and a sofa plus AC. WC with wash basin. Separate shower and sauna in the apartment. Clean and practical. One hike to a nearby nature reserve. 10 or 5 k hiking ending with elk sausage’s over open fire.
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Date of stay: July 2024Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Â Parking spaces available. Can be rented for groups up to 12 people
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 had a great time on our ski week with Minna, and highly recommend it. The skiing was relatively easy, the guides were great, and the food was outstanding. it was a great Karelian experience which gave us a good feel for the area. We enjoyed the whole week immensely and recommend it to anyone wanting a nordic winter vacation.
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Date of stay: February 2019
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
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.
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LOCATION
FinlandNorth KareliaNurmes
NUMBER OF ROOMS
10
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