Hotel White Reindeer Reviews

having never been on a winter holiday and always on the beach this was a magical holiday. we stayed here dec 9th 2007 and have to say it was fantastic. having booked on last minute we didnt get the excursion package and had to pay for these seperately. we did the reindeer ride and on the lake it was -20!! i couldn't feel my hands even though i had tons of layers on! the only draw back was the food. having a son who is a fussy eater, i would advise getting down to dinner early as once the food had gone it was only refilled a couple times and then you were left with the scraps! also there wasnt a wide choice of meals for the adults but overall a great holiday that we are booking again this year.

Our 4 day 3 night stay at The White Reindeer/Crazy Reindeer in Levi started as soon as we got on the plane at Manchester all the air crew were in the xmas mood wearing hats etc even though it was 6.30am, greeting the children (and adults)with party bags containing xmas goodies including your own headware (antlers)to get you in the mood. The flight was carefully planed with a couloring competition and song sheet for all to sing along with the old favorites as well as free headsets made the 3 hour flight pass in no time.

Arriving at Kittila airport was wonderful the scenery as we descended got the adrenalin pumping in anticipation of the holiday ahead. Although only a small airport we had collected our baggage and were on the coach to the hotel within 30/45 mins. The temperature when we landed was -5 C but didn't feel to bad but i would recommened wearing some walking boots and plenty of layers as the temperature can vary so much and you can always remove layers if needed.

Once on the coach we were introduced to our Elf ours for the duration of the stay was Mistletoe (more about her later). transfer to our hotel was approx 30 mins. The baggage was unloaded and the room keys brought to you on the coach to save you queing in the cold, all very slick. Once we dropped the bags off in our room it was off to pick up are thermal suits. First choice provided everything needed the only extras you needed to take were thermal socks and spare gloves and hat as well as thermal underware. We stayed full board as did most of the guests on this trip and meals were buffet style and there was always plenty of choice with a seperate childrens menu with the usual chicken nuggets, chips etc. Meal times were Breakfast 8-10 lunch 11-5 and dinner 6-9 so you could more or less always get something to eat or drink. Back to the room to try on the thermal clothing, explore then to the welcome meeting where you were introduced to the reps Clare and Pauline who were excellent. In Levi town there is a Spar supermarket where we stocked up on snacks and a fews bottles of beer for the room (beer for daddy)and a sledge a must if you want to get anywhere quite quickly with kids!! Due to there only being 2-3 hours of daylight my body clock couldn't make it's mind up so it was early to bed - 9pm.

Day 2
Tasters for the husky dogs and snowmobiles Which were long enough as it was -23 on this day although with the proper clothing it was n't bad. This is were Mistletoe our elf came into her own playing with the kids getting them to chase her etc to keep them warm. The rest of the day was free to do as you pleased. Levi is also a ski resort and the ski slopes were about 5 mins from the hotel with a seperate area for sledging which for us took up most of the afternoon.

Day 3
Santas workshop for half a day which was a picture postcard setting here we did reindeer sleigh ride, sledging, made xmas decorations, cookie baking, kick sledes, snow mobile round the forest in a sledge, horse sleigh ride, and dinner provided! After this we had paid for an optional excursion to a reindeer farm and sleigh ride, fed reindeers etc and the highlight for me was the 25 min sleigh ride around a snow covered forest - magical. The optional extras are quite expensive ours cost £120 for 1 adult 1 child but to go all this way and not experience a sleigh ride in the snow made it worth while. This was confirmed back at the hotel when i asked my little boy Jake if he had had a nice day ";daddy"; he replied ";this has been the best day of my life"; money well spent for those few words.

Tonight was the gala dinner where you were allocated a seat in the restaurant and called to the buffet by table number to save a mad rush - it worked well. Then the childrens first glimpse of the great man arriving in the snow on a sledge pulled by a reindeer the look on the kids faces was priceless. Each family had their time with santa to talk to and take pics etc.

Although i said before the optinal extras were expensive especially for a large family but you didn't have to do any extras as the kids had enough to do just playing in the snow. Mistletoe was brilliant never an unhappy face and always time for the kids even when you could she was trying to do 20 things at once but saying this all the other elves were just as good as were the reps. Maybe a little more entertainment at night but i'm just picking now. The only thing i could coplain about are the first choice planes not enough leg room and you can't get to the toilet once the stewardeses are in the aisle but i believe they are having some new planes in 2005 so hopefully this is being addressed. I would recommend both the hotel and first choice if you are thinking about going to Lapland even without children you would still have a great time and a magical experience.