Finland is quickly becoming a hotbed of tourist activity, as travelers are continuing to seek out non-traditional destinations, and not surprisingly, unconventional hospitality as well. Finland and its many picturesque cities are filled with unique hotels and B&B options, and here, I’ll highlight some hotels that are worthy of your consideration and your Instagram posts. One thing to keep in mind – given Finland’s distant/remote nature, hotels are priced to a premium, so brace yourself… sticker shock is coming.

Arctic Treehouse Hotel – Rovaniemi – $600/night
(Hotel Website | TA Link | Booking)

Less than a 10 minute drive away from the Rovaniemi Airport (RVN), the close proximity was much appreciated (especially given the 17 hour transit from Hong Kong). As we were planning on driving throughout Finland, we rented a car (super affordable through Rentalcars.com, and we even got a free upgrade to an Audi). The check-in was breezy, and we were quickly ushered into our treehouse suite (parking was right next to the room). The room was pre-toasted for us, and even the soft color palette helped thaw our icicle toes. For awhile, we did nothing – just lounged around, watching the snow fall.

We really liked that this hotel was close to the main “town,” which had a small mall and some interesting restaurants. We ate at Ravintola Roka, which served the local delicacy – reindeer sandwich. Yes, it was delicious. The hotel was also within vicinity of husky sled and snowmobile operators, which worked perfectly for us (check out my post on Husky Sledding in Rovaniemi, Finland).

But what made the hotel extra special was in how the beauty extended beyond the hotel rooms and how well it complemented its surroundings. Everywhere I looked, it seemed as if we were in a snow globe.

Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort – Saariselka – $800/night
(Hotel Website | TA Link | Booking)

If you look up “Finland Igloos” on Google, you might have seen this hotel pictured. The hotel actually has several types of accommodations on offer, but its notoriety was driven by the Glass Igloos. We bit the bullet and stayed for just one night for the experience.

The interior is quite a tight fit, and if you want a bit of privacy from passersby, you have to set the curtains. There’s not much around the hotel, or in Saariselka to be honest (there is a small town ~15 minutes to the North), but we enjoyed the unique experience.

Wilderness Hotel Muotka – Sodankyla – $500/night
(Hotel Website | TA Link | Booking)

A 15-minute drive from Saariselka, Wilderness Hotel Muotka was probably one of our favorite hotel stays. Aside from it being a unique yurt/tent/igloo hybrid, the room had a private dry sauna room! Staring up into the night sky from our bed was not an issue with the heated igloo windows that melted away the snow that built up during the day.

The hotel is in a remote area, and not much was around it. The one benefit to the location was 1) the close proximity to Ivalo airport (where we departed from), and 2) we were so far north by then, which was perfect for hunting northern lights (post on that trek coming soon). And being deep in the heart of a forest, it was particularly amazing to rent snow shoes (complementary) and just stroll around the trails after a night of snowfall, taking in the nature around us.

By our last night, we were both quite sad to leave, but made some great memories and vowed to come back at some point in our lives.