I stayed at Aurinkorinne with my husband and daughter two weeks ago during half term. Firstly, Ruka is only about 25 minutes' bus ride from the airport which is good. We stayed in D3 which is right next to a drag lift so if you are organised and can ski a bit already, you could ski from the door. We, however, were beginners and really the apartment was not particularly convenient for us.

As others have noted, it is a steep uphill walk to the village, taking 5-10 minutes, depending on whether you decide to scramble up the 'cat's ladder' (see photos) as we called it, or whether you go the long way around. You then have to get a gondola from the village to the other side of the mountain for your ski lessons, and the gondola doesn't go if there is more than a breath of wind, meaning hanging around for a pretty unreliable bus. Getting ourselves to the nursery slopes on the other side of the mountain, with all our gear, every day , quickly became very tedious indeed. I would definitely stay in the village next time, or Ruka Valley (the side of the mountain where the nursery slopes are), as the hassle of getting to our lessons every day really detracted from the enjoyment.

As for the apartment itself, it was really lovely. Everything was new and clean. There were plenty of towels and it was really warm. The sauna was a fun addition and the clothes drying cupboard was useful, (although to be honest, just hanging your clothes on doors would dry them out as it was so warm). There is a washing machine, fridge, freezer and cooker. I don't think I saw a microwave or a dishwasher. One thing that was really missing though was an adequate supply of saucepans. There was one medium sized saucepan and considering that D3 is supposed to be a 6 bed apartment, one medium sized saucepan really doesn't cut it!!

I would say that although it is marketed as a 6 bed apartment, really any more than four people would be very uncomfortable. The second bedroom is tiny, and whilst it has bunk beds purportedly for 3, it would be a very uncomfortable squeeze with 3 people in there and there would certainly be no room for all the luggage. And having someone sleeping in the living room would make life difficult too. I would definitely not recommend this apartment for more than 4 people (ideally two adults and two children).

There is a TV but the range of english speaking channels is extremely limited. Luckily we took a couple of box sets with us, but otherwise we would have had slim pickings! The wi-fi was really good however, and free.

Just a side note, as it was half-term in both the UK and Finland, the slopes were jam-packed with people. Advanced skiers were whizzing past beginners, and snowboarders and ski-jumpers were all using the same slopes. It was a bit disconcerting. We would def go outside of school hols next time.

Overall though the apartments are lovely, warm and well equipped for the most part. If they were only more conveniently located, we would definitely stay there again, but next time we will definitely be staying in the village.

Location is perfect! We stayed in block B which was right on the slope next to drag lift so it was literally ski in and ski out. You could also do this with blocks A, D and E. The others may involve walking a few steps. The apartment was really cosy and warm and the sauna was a welcome luxury after skiing. Well equipped with everything you need for a weeks stay including dishwasher tablets etc. Loved the log fire but really didn’t need it due to how warm the apartment was. We had dinner included and was able to take the drag lift up and ski back down the easy blue after dinner right to our door without any fuss. We took our Amazon Fire Stick so could watch anything from home on the TV using this, (except BBC). Great showers and drying closet a bonus. Overall excellent value for money and perfect location for skiing.