Here is my trip advisor review from 2013. We stayed at Hotel Tunturi, but the review talks a lot about the Santa's Lapland trip.
We travelled in December 2013 with Santa's Lapland, on their 4 day break. My daughter was 8 at the time & we felt this would likely be her last year believing.
The break was well organised and the magic started at the airport with some naughty elves and a Reindeer. Everyone collected their snow suits, gloves, boots and socks at the resort before being dropped at the hotels. The clothes supplied were good quality and did a great job of keeping us warm. I would recommend you take an under layer as the natural materials can be quite rough on skin. The Esprit staff were friendly and wanted to get you to join in but respected your wishes if you didn't. We often did excursions with the same families you travelled from the airport, so the kids (and parents) got to know each other well.
We specifically choose to upgrade to the Gielas wing on the recommendation of friends who had travelled previously. This wing certainly felt more modern/upgraded from the main Tunturi Hotel. The general feel of the Gielas wing was lovely with a large reception/bar area, open fire and large windows for the view of the main (and only) road. The rooms were a good size (plenty of room for the three of us) and were well equipped with large bathrooms, safe, tea/coffee facilities, drying units etc. The real bonus with the Gileas wing was the steam room. We used this every day. We were surprised to find ourselves using the balcony on many occasions too.
We had read about the cost of food and drink in Lapland, so paid to upgrade to a full board option. Breakfast was served in the Gielas Wing lobby/restaurant area in main entrance and was a standard continental standard - bread, cold meats, fruits, cheeses, etc, although there were scrambled eggs and bacon each day too. Service was slow on the refills of the food, but you could tell this was because it was freshly prepared, so didn't mind. Evenings meals were served in the main Tunturi Hotel and were of an average, self serve, buffet quality. Nothing special but okay for 3 days. The food was, not surprisingly, Finnish! Lots of fish, cold meats and a couple of hot meat dishes, beg and potatoes. The children's menu was the standard chips, nuggets, sausages etc but there was no issues with them eating from the adult selection (or vice versa!). The cheeses were lovely. We also ate lunch at the main hotel on our last day - reindeer soup for me and steak for my husband. Both meals were delicious and much more of the standard we would expect, however not cheap.
We had concerns about not being in the main hotel, but the walk was only a few minutes and it actually wasn't too much hassle to put the snow suits on and then leave them at the cloakroom for collection later. The cloakroom also had bags so they could take your hats, gloves, scarves etc There were signs saying there was a charge for the cloakroom but we were never asked to pay.
The resort itself consisted of one road in/out, with hotels along each side. Hotel Tunturi is the last hotel in road, and therefore closest to the toboggan run! There was a pizza place, pharmacy, small supermarket, indoor soft play zone, café and a couple of bars/gift shops. All the children were pulled around in toboggans by their respective parents constantly and these were on good supply, free and dotted around the resort. We only left the hotel once where we were unable to immediately find a toboggan.
We paid for a couple of extra excursions. The private ski lessons were worth every penny (we had never ski'd before). The instructor was patient, encouraging and by the end of the lesson, we could all turn, had confidence getting on and off the button ski-lifts and in the little ability we had. It was exhausting however, so we ended up having lunch in the chalet by the main ski slopes. This was not cheap. €45 for 2 x chicken and chip baskets, 1 x soup & 3 x cokes. Also, be warned that it is a good 20-30 minute walk downhill from the hotel to the ski school, and is very tiring doing the same walk, uphill going back. We discovered later that there is a bus which runs every 20mins for a charge. Having said that, we did stop on the way back to build a snow man and complete a number of snow angels as it was completely fresh, untouched snow.
We also did the Northern Lights excursion. We were not fortunate enough to see the lights, but the experience itself was worth it. Parents rode 2 x 2 on skidoo's. You could switch drivers at the stop point. Children rode in long sleighs 2 x 2 behind company employees on extra powerful skidoo's. The were covered with a blanket, but it was quite cold for them. Some adults chose to ride in the sleighs with their children and this was not a problem. The skidoo's for the adults were great fun & included heated handles for your hands. The trip was a 20minute ride to a stop point, a large open fire to warm up at, hot berry juice (which was yummy), a toilet break and then swap parents if wanted, for the trip back. The stars were absolutely amazing here in the open, no light pollution part of the country.
The main focus of the holiday was the Magical Search for Santa day. This was without doubt the absolute magic of the break. A short coach ride away, there were regular coaches to get back to the resort. We were on the last one back and were disappointed to leave then! The day included lunch and access to free of charge water, tea, coffee and hot berry juice. Lunch was a good quality, though the restaurant was small for the number of people to serve, so either go early or late for a better experience.
The search for Santa section was great involving the same elves we saw at the airport. A sleigh ride took us across a frozen lake to a sole cabin the woods. The elves played games with the children before taking them to meet Santa. The turnaround between families were done well - only the adults had an awareness there were other families around. Santa was very traditional, believable and we did not feel rushed, hurried or on a clock.
There was a short reindeer pulled sleigh ride to the igloo's. Could only ride 2 in a sleigh at a time which was a shame for the 3 of us, but the igloo's were great. A bar in one serving alcohol, soft drinks & chocolates and the Elves' show in the other. The Elves' show was interactive, amusing and the children were given a small gift afterwards.
There lots of other activities to do including ice fishing, snow walking, ice hockey, kids skidoo rides, tandem ski-ing and a small toboggan run. There was also a traditional Finnish hut which served more of the hot berry juice.
The highlight of the day though was the Husky ride. You were scheduled for a set time, sorted into your families and then allocated your dogs. They were beautiful. Happy to be petted (after the ride) and willing to pose for photo's!! The trip was a good 20 minute journey, with a short stop so parents could swap drivers. The rest of the family rode in sleighs behind. I can not do it justice here, but it was the highlight of ours, and many other families we got to know, break.
The last evening included a gala dinner (part of the half board option) There was named seating, party games for the children, 3 course meal, crackers, silly hats etc and your Arctic circle certificate. As everyone arrived at the dinner for the same time, there were long queues for food. We compensated for this by eating in reverse order - desert forst and then the traditional carvery style roast. Much more pleasant.
Flight was an early morning flight from Bristol. Easyjet flight - cabin crew were good and clearly a very family full flight!!
This is NOT a cheap holiday. It was absolutely worth every penny for a fantastic family experience. We would not go to this 4 day break in replacement of a summer holiday, but we will definitely be going again.