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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Lapland

82 replies

LuckyAmy1986 · 22/08/2017 17:08

Yes IABU posting this hear but no one answered on Travel!
Just looking for any tips from people who have been. We are thinking of booking through Espirit/Santa's Lapland and staying at the Holiday Club Saarielska. Has anyone got any experience of this company or the hotel? Or does anyone have any good or bad experiences of other tour operators or hotels that I should look into or avoid? Thanks!

OP posts:
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user1471530109 · 23/08/2017 21:11

Sorry OP. You've properly inspired me damn it

CasparMum · 23/08/2017 21:12

We went to Hotel Sarriselka last year, the trip was amazing - the Santa meeting was fantastic & DS is still talking about how he met the real Santa.
We were disappointed with the additional husky trip on the last morning, we had real problems getting to the airport & the reps were useless.
As Domino said, think school trip accommodation not 4 star, although there is a swimming pool. DS loved the loan sledges & I wish we had taken him sledging instead of the husky trip on the last morning.

LittleMousewithcloggson · 23/08/2017 21:13

I went with thomsons as Espirit was £1500 more just for a room and we had a whole apartment. They do the same but thonsons taster sessions are 5-10 minutes whilst the others are longer. For the price difference though it was worth it as had the money free to book extra expeditions if we wanted to..
Ivalo airport only opens throughout the Christmas season and only tour operators can fly into it so if you wanted to go to saariselka indecently you would need to go via Helsinki,
I book every holiday independently too but decided this needed a package and was very glad I did as wouldn't have been the same.
It was -26 but is honestly a different sort of cold. They provide all clothes but we didn't use them - just took loads of proper base layers, snow suits for the kids and ski wear for us. Didn't struggle at all

LittleMousewithcloggson · 23/08/2017 21:14

Omg that should read independently not indecently Shock

EnglishGirlApproximately · 23/08/2017 21:15

I don't know where you can fly from OP but the Monarch package is better than the Thomson one, I'd also rate Inghams and Sovereign if you really want to splash out. (Haven't been loads, just spend a lot of time looking at them as I'm a travel agent!)

user1471530109 · 23/08/2017 21:21

Mouse, what was included in your trip? And I you don't mind me asking, which hotel did you stay in?

No husky ride. Did you do any other excursions? Anything in the evening so I don't get v v bored with dc on my own?

I've just sold my house (and have you to buy another as purchase fell through. I am so tempted to use a v tiny part of my equity after a v v shit couple of years)

snowplum · 23/08/2017 21:22

We went last year at Christmas with Thomson to Levi and it was fabulous. So beautiful and DD loved it. She was skiing in Kidsland and got quite confident.

The big day is Christmas Eve so some things were closed in the afternoon, but things were open on Christmas Day.

There was a feast and fireworks as well for Christmas. It was all done really nicely.

LittleMousewithcloggson · 23/08/2017 21:22

Just make sure you get the santa visit you want. We had to search for him in his log cabin and had an individual meeting. On some packages he just comes to the dinner or to the hotel. Not the same in my opinion

user1471530109 · 23/08/2017 21:23

Monarch you say...haven't looked at them yet. Thanks, English

LittleMousewithcloggson · 23/08/2017 21:27

Included
Flights
Clothes hire
Transport to and from airport
2 bed apartment with private sauna
Taster day - snowmobiles, husky ride, reindeer sleigh ride, tobogganing, lunch
Santa Day - hunt to find santa
Gala dinner with fireworks

We stayed in the apartment block at the riekolinna (thomsons call it the Snowflake)

LittleMousewithcloggson · 23/08/2017 21:29

Was entertainment there in the evening but mine were so tired after a day in the snow we just played some board games and they went to bed early!

user1471530109 · 23/08/2017 21:38

Thank you, Mouse Flowers

I am going to be calling tomorrow to find out arrangements over Christmas. Their website isn't very clear on the itinerary. But if it's like yours still I will find it v v difficult not to book.

NameNumber2 · 23/08/2017 21:41

We went last year and stayed at Holiday Club Saarielska. The hotel accommodation was really bad in our opinion, very very basic and cramped. The food is very basic in the hotel - we went to a local nicer restaurant and paid over £200 for three main course, two desserts, a glass of wine and a bottle of beer! The whole trip felt very tourist trip in coaches being ferried around and we felt like there were too many people, we had to queue to get to go and find santa. We went in early December.

But, Lapland is breathtakingly beautiful and our girls 7 and 5 at the time loved every single second.

Would I go again, no. But I am glad I gave our girls the experience.

It is very very cold, we have been skiing in -20 before but when we went to Lapland it was -40 in the day. We wore four thermal layers under the special snow suits they give you and still needed heat packs to defrost fingers and toes. Some younger children were in a lot of pain from the cold and just wanted to get back to the hotel, some families even skipped seeing santa as it was so cold!

fairgame84 · 23/08/2017 21:58

I went to Saariselka for 4 days over Christmas and it was fantastic.
There were fireworks and a gala dinner included on Christmas day.
We saw Santa on Christmas Eve and also did reindeer sleigh ride excursion.
I booked with Thomson. I think all of the tour companies over similar packages from my research into it. Thomson were good as they did Christmas songs and games on the flight.
You go on a coach to Santa's resort and so have to que to go on the quad ride to his hut. We were outdoors a lot at the resort and it was a bit too much for DS as one point as he struggled with the cold. He was 7 at the time.
I noticed that pre-school aged children seemed to struggle the most with the cold. Take loads of hand and feet warmers.
The best thing about Saariselka is the sledging run which is free to use. At the top of the run there is a lovely cafe that you must visit and the views are amazing. You can get the bus up to the top or go to the ski resort and go up via cable car.
All of the shops were open on Christmas Day and the buses were running.
We went 5 years ago and there was a lot of building going on so imagine the resort is busier now.

user1471530109 · 23/08/2017 22:00

name this worries me as my youngest is the size of a 2-3 yr old. She struggles with keeping warm at the swimming baths Sad

I just have no idea what -20+ feels like. Do they not have heaters in the queues?

user1471530109 · 23/08/2017 22:03

That is great fair.

So, rather than me worrying about future memories...I need to be considering if my little sweetie will cope with the cold. Sad

But v excited Xmas day is all go Wink

NameNumber2 · 23/08/2017 22:07

I am sorry I sounded a bit negative but had we known the negatives before we had gone we would have been more prepared and would have been able to enjoy the best bits more.

It is really really cold and when we went the queue to see santa was about 60 minutes, we took it in turns standing in the queue, there was no heaters for those queuing. Please don't underestimate the cold, our eyelashes froze!

user1471530109 · 23/08/2017 22:18

name it's really important. If it's -40 my youngest wouldn't cope at all. She wore a wetsuit all summer on the beach.

I eonder if I can look into how to cope with the cold. She is so so tiny for her age. She's under an endocrinologist because of it. I also hate that she'd miss out on something because of it!

Summersoul · 23/08/2017 22:22

Hiya
We went to holiday club last Christmas with santas lapland and can't fault anything. It was so well organised and the meeting santa was so magical I even believed afterwards x

fairgame84 · 23/08/2017 22:27

No there is no heating in the que. You are open to the elements. There was only the gift shop/cafe to warm up in until it was our turn to go to the dining hall. Needless to say the cafe was rammed. There was a bonfire outside Santa's hut so you could stay warm while waiting to go in and Santa's hut was heated.
The best way to stay warm is to keep moving. No chance of that in a que!

Wilberforce2 · 23/08/2017 22:33

My ds is almost 9 and dd is 3.5 so a bit of an awkward age gap with Christmas and believing. Can I just ask what the youngest age you would take a child is and would it still be fun if a child didn't believe anymore?

Thanks!

Elpheba · 23/08/2017 22:47

I think in terms of tiredness and dealing with the cold then aged 4/5+ is best. But having said that, the season I was there wasn't that cold- we had two days (coincidentally Christmas Day & Christmas Eve) of it being around -25 which is eyelash freezing weather... the rest of the time it was generally between -5 and -15 which was totally fine in the arctic suits you get given. I think it must have been a mild winter though so no guarantee you'd get the same.
With Esprit they didn't tell you which activity led to Santa in order to avoid ridiculous queues. Everyone would get to see him and have their special time but it wasn't publicised so that there weren't 60 min + waits. We were encouraged to divert people to other activities and help keep everyone moving, occupied and therefore warm. No one wants to queue on holiday- let alone in the cold!

Elpheba · 23/08/2017 22:49

Oh and yes- still amazing if a child doesn't believe. A phenomenal holiday in terms of experiencing all the activities etc but also they will still be blown away by the magic of santa in how they get the letter there and how authentic he is/his cabin etc. I saw teenagers stunned into silence!

Wilberforce2 · 23/08/2017 22:55

Brilliant thank you! We definitely won't be going this year but maybe next so dd will be almost 5 which sounds perfect. Glad to hear that ds would be ok as well as we are definitely on borrowed time with him believing Sad

It sounds amazing!!

craftsy · 24/08/2017 09:17

Do the Santas have real beards in Lapland?

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