Unusual Hotel of the Month: Hotel Kakslauttanen

The beauty of a frozen landscape is undeniable, but imagine enjoying it from the comfort of your own snow igloo. Wouldn’t it be even more exciting? Glistening lights embedded in ice illuminate your igloo, and the peaceful surroundings lull you into a deep sleep while you are sleeping in the cocoon of a toasty warm sleeping bag just 250 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle.

Hotel Kakslauttanen in Finnish, Lapland is home to a famous Igloo Village with unique glass and snow igloos for your pleasure. It also has the world’s largest Snow Restaurant. Other attractions within the area include the world’s largest smoke sauna and a beautiful stream where guests can pan for gold.

Perhaps the biggest attraction to Finnish, Lapland – other than the unique accommodations – is the chance to view the Aurora Borealis, which are visible in the night sky from late August to late April. The Midnight Sun shines for two months here and the nights are clear and bright from May until the end of August.

The hotel boasts 32 log cabins, 20 snow igloos, and 20 glass igloos. From December until April, visitors can stay in one of 20 snow igloos within the Igloo Village. The village also has an Ice Gallery, a bar made of ice, and an Ice Chapel, which is quite popular for couples looking for a truly unique destination wedding. The Igloo Village also has five glass igloos, which allow guests to sleep under the sky and admire the mysterious northern lights in comfort.

Each guest is provided with a down sleeping bag, woolen socks, and a hood. The hotel guarantees that visitors will never feel cold because the temperatures inside the igloos always stay between -3c and -6c.After a night in your igloo, you can head to the sauna to warm up. Real thrill-seekers can take a dip in the ice cold water of a nearby river if they really want to shock their systems awake.

The Glass Igloos are built from a special thermo glass and remain at a normal room temperature. They are perfect for viewing a starry night sky and, I’m sure, are most interesting during a snowstorm.

Every year the best ice sculptors of the world come to Kakslauttanen to participate in an international ice-sculpting event. The event takes place in December and takes place at the Ice Gallery in the Igloo Village.  Guests are also welcome to try ice or snow sculpting.