Levi Finland hotels

[drspouse]

We are considering this for skiing but the only packages with half board and any kind of family room seem to be at the Crazy Reindeer which has awful reviews especially food!
Anybody got any experience?

I'm staying at the Crazy Reindeer in a month's time, I've stayed there twice before Covid. It's an unapologetic 3 star. The food is fine , but it's fairly basic (meatballs, stews, fish). The 'kids' food isn't a big variety, very many hot dogs! It's a bit of a walk from the front slopes, but it is very handy for a ski bus stop, and the cross country trails.

Some friends always stay at the Levi Hotel Spa and they were happy with the food there.

Have you had a look at Ruka for a ski resort? It's a newer resort, so the accommodation is newer. The village is much smaller than at Levi though, but there's a supermarket and stuff. I've only been B&B there at the Ruka Village Appartments, but it was nice enough. There is an option to get half board added to Ruka Village stays (not tried it) or there's half board at the Scandic (not stayed). There's also some brand new apartments in the Valley, again with Crystal an option to upgrade to evening meal included.

Staying on Valley side initially looks a bit bleak, but you can take the gondola over the top to get to the village for a beer/coffee/subway if you have a weekly ski pass, and you are just on the doorstep of the ski school and some nice easy blue slopes.

We went in 2009 for my son’s make-a-wish, when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. He still talks about the lovely mousses and excellent chips. (Unhelpful, sorry) Have a fabulous time.

Thank you! DS has ADHD/some sensory issues and doesn't like hot dogs so that doesn't encourage me... I'll have a look at the Levi Hotel Spa and Ruka, and the valley. I'm more likely to do cross country and I think I might be able to persuade DS that the lack of a helmet makes that a good option for him too.

Hmm, Ruka with Crystal (or indeed anywhere in Finland with Crystal) isn't showing past the 5th Feb. Inghams don't do Ruka. I have a new work contract which means that this year I can take half term, which previously I haven't been able to do (so we used to go very early Jan), but DS is in secondary next year and DH doesn't want him to miss school term time this year or going forward...

The Crystal/TUI flights to Finland must now all be full at half term - they only run one flight from Manchester per week and maybe one from London I think so they do fill up quickly.

I've also stayed at the Yllas Saaga Hotel in Yllas - it has better food than Crazy Reindeer, and is ski in ski out, but it's very cut off from Akasompolo village. Another downside is that it seems to be windier in Yllas than Levi so they have a lot more closures affecting the ski-over route that links the slopes and their ski bus service is much less frequent.

Inghams is still allowing us to book from Manchester though? Odd.

Different planes and destination airports.

Crystal - Ruka flights go to Kuusamo airport and from Manchester use TUI planes.

Inghams - Levi flights go to Kittilla airport, and from Manchester use chartered Jet2 planes.

Ah! light dawns.

im just back from the crazy reindeer. The food wsd terrible but the accommodation was totally fine and clean.
we're going back next year and would maybe stay again if I can't find a decent lodge instead. It's a nice short walk to the slopes.

Just back from Crazy Reindeer so writing it up here for future searchers. Rooms still clean, but a little dated. They have tried sprucing them up a bit, fitting new bathroom cabinets etc.

Food in the Taivas restaurant (where half board people go) was still the same

• Really nice fresh bread
• Hot breakfast options quite limited, only really bacon/mini sausages/meatballs or scrambled eggs. Decent selection of meat/cheese for the cold buffet.
• Evening meals - delicious soups, salad bar was ok, but a voyage of discovery as nothing was labelled. There was usually one meat/one fish and one veggie dish on the evening. The veggie stuff really didn't look great. Meat dishes were more 'stew' style cuts of meat. Kids food seemed limited - there were usually 3 'kid friendly' choices listed on the menu but as very few children there at the time, they chef seemed to be cooking on demand. Seemed like pizza/hotdogs/pasta/nuggets type things.
• Dessert was usually 1 x cake , 1 x mousse or ice cream.

We are going next week to Levi and we are staying at Lapland Hotel apartments with half board.