Customer Review

I loved the holiday and seeing the lights on two nights was the 'icing on the cake', but even if we hadn't seen them I would still have loved everything about my trip. The organisation, the hotel and staff and the guides and outings were all fantastic and everything ran so smoothly with no hitches. A superb experience. 

Everything about the holiday was fantastic - can't really fault it. The food at the hotel, and the hotel staff, along with our guide (Tom) were the icing on the cake. 

Peter, the tour rep, was enthusiastic and informative. He was flexible in rearranging our Aurora Camp night as the conditions looked good on our night off. However we did not have much luck that night so the following night (now our night off) he arranged for us to use the hotel's shelter and fireplace by the lake. Noora, one of the excellent local guides, then chopped us wood for a fire and arranged for a kettle and juice to be taken down ready for us.

The whole holiday worked without fault. The hotel in Inari was excellent - good room and facilities, excellent food and really helpful staff (even to the extent of asking one of the cleaners how to get the @ sign on the communal computer!). Our guide, Timmi (?), was very friendly and understood the Brit sense of humour, and explained how things worked clearly, waiting for those of us less quick at picking things up. As we didn't drive, he drove a more powerful snowmobile with us in a buggy behind, even though we think it was probably a bit more tiring for him.

Unfortunately, Luosto was totally cloud-covered for most of our stay. It was clear on the first night though, and my camera picked up a faint Aurora (using a 20 second exposure), even though we could see nothing with the naked eye. Nevertheless, we had a terrific time - all the activities: snowmobiling, husky sledding, snowshoe walking, cross-country skiing, ice fishing, amethyst mining...  they were all excellent first-time experiences. Hosts Peter and Lorna were really friendly and helpful - even if Peter did try to trick me into ice-bathing!! All the food was super - especially the reindeer and the smoke-cooked salmon on the last night. Now looking forward to trying again next year....

My wife and I have just had a fantastic holiday in Finnish Lapland in the resort of Luosto. You are in the wilderness surrounded by breathtaking scenery. The Hotel Amethyst Spa is extremely comfortable and our hosts Peter and Lorna couldn't be more helpful and welcoming. You have the chance to relax and take in the surroundings or take part in a range of activities which are with guides to instruct and inform you of the history of the area. We want to go back and would recommend this trip to anyone. Thank you. Paul & Helen Rowse.

The trip was absolutely fabulous, a dream come true!!! A bucket list spectacular. The staff and arrangements were absolutety spot on. Everything was catered for. Personally I had a slight medical problem and before setting out I was interviewed by the staff to check that I was able to undertake the task. They had already been briefed before my arrival. They made contingency plans by getting one of the staff to follow the group for 15 minutes at the start and when we stopped they checked I was ok, which I was. This was both a sensible and very much appreciated safety check. All was OK for me throughout the trip. Also must mention the pre-trip customer service, which was also excellent. Very good with questions and in my personal case, when I injured my leg before the trip, they were able to advise me and the staff in Finland. I give you my special thanks, my dream to do this was hanging on a thread but you assisted in making it come true. WELL DONE!! Overall, words cannot describe how much we loved our trip, due to the expense for us (I am retired), this was worth every single penny. With much thanks.

Fantastic holiday, wonderful scenery, warm welcome from all staff and guides. Guides very knowledgable and able to share that with us. Hotel comfortable and useful being able to walk through in snow/ice-covered clothes. Food good, not haute cuisine but tasty and plenty of it, all hotel staff helpful, even being told that they wanted to go (at 1am) was done very politely. Guides as enthusiastic as us about seeing the Northern Lights and knew what they were looking for and where there was a good chance of seeing them. And as a bonus the Northern Lights showed up on the last night.

An excellent holiday absolutely crammed full of activities. If you want a relaxing holiday this is not it, but for anyone who never wants to be bored and wants to do as much as possible in a short space of time, then this holiday is fantastic. We were lucky enough to see the Northern Lights over several hours on one evening. Our guide Scotty continually went above and beyond for every single member of the group.

WOW - out of this world; if you haven't done this then you simply must. A fantastic experience action-packed into a memory that will last me a lifetime. The staff are brilliant, nothing is too much trouble and they work so hard to make your break amazing. I want to go back next week. I miss the huskies so much, you really do bond with the dogs on this overnight safari and when you get back, relax in the Jaccuzzi, with the open sky above and we watched the sunset. Simply amazing....

This was absolutely the best holiday ever. The information beforehand was comprehensive and reassuring. From the moment we were met by Emma at Kittila airport everything went swimmingly. The activities were very well organised and just the right length of time. Our guide Toini was stand-out amazing. Her knowledge and enthusiasm were inspirational and she was attentive, caring and great fun. We also hired skis for a day and again, nothing was too much trouble and the whole process was very easy. I've been pining for Lapland since we left and we want to go back ASAP!

We were thrilled with the whole experience from booking through to getting home! 

We have never been anywhere where we have honestly been able to rate every category as excellent! The whole experience was awesome. In fact, we want to phone you to say how really outstanding the location is, how outstanding the activities were, how outstanding the guides were, and how caring everyone was. It was also really wonderful being so un-commercialised. Please keep it that way. We would rate this holiday 20 out of 10! Great meeting so many genuine Sámi people also.

Best holiday we've ever had! Saw the Aurora on two nights! 

An amazing holiday experience. Could not fault anything, it was perfect. The Wilderness Lodge Hotel at Nellim was idealistic. Perfect setting, lovely staff, amazing guides. We looked at so many trips before booking this one, we can't believe this trip could have been beaten.

Well, we didn't get to see the Northern Lights (too cloudy) but we had the most wonderful time. Hotel was warm and friendly, food tasty and plentiful - no complaints. The support from Peter and Lorna was first class. But what really made the holiday was the breathtaking beauty and peace of Luosto and surrounding area and the fantastic activities. Snowmobiling to the amethyst mine was great - fascinating, beautiful and fun. And, yes, we found our amethysts (or they found us, according to the talk we had). Night time walk to the lake to find the lights was great - our guide was fantastic and taught us so much. And the biggest highlights? Driving our husky team and the husky farm (fabulous) and the wonderful evening at Kuusiranta - ice fishing, sauna and traditional Lappish meal, served with incredible hospitality and warmth. Truly magical memories to cherish. And the lights? Well - we'll just have to go back again, won't we?

What a fantastic trip; the Northern Lights on our last night were magical. Don't think we'll ever be able to top this holiday. 

This was one of the best holidays we have experienced. Everything that was promised was delivered, the Aurora hotel was excellent, the food, service and the general ambience was perfect.

A fantastic holiday which was organised as a surprise for my partner for his birthday. We very much enjoyed the experience with the husky safari and enjoyed driving a snowmobile. I would say that the staff at the hotel were very friendly as was the husky tour leader Miku. The food at the hotel was also very good and I was pleasantly surprised in the standard of accommodation overnight on the safari. The Northern Lights are very temperamental so any activity is a bonus. It should be borne that these things may or may not happern but there are so many other activities available even if you do not see the lights. I would recommend booking this trip.

The hotel staff were brilliant - particularly how well they catered for my mum's very restricted diet. It was great that we were able to keep the snow suits, boots and mittens throughout our stay. I really loved the holiday and the way the activities were spread out. It was even more special as we did get to see the Northern Lights. 

Fabulous week in Luosto. We went hoping to see the Aurora, unfortunately the skies were cloudy most of the week. We booked the Aurora Chalet, which I think is now called Santas' Aurora Chalet. Hotel was welcoming, helpful and food was good. The activities included in the package were fantastic. They were completely professional and generous with their time and information. If we had read the instructions properly we would have know that we got full thermal suits and gloves and specialist equipment when necessary. We paticularly loved the huskies and snowmobiling and would do these again. Extra activities were available and easy to book so we tried cross-country skiing.  You are given a mobile phone which provides an Aurora alert but it is worth checking anyway as inspite of the cloudy forecast the skies cleared and we got at least an hour of Aurora. The photos are more intense than the real thing on a cloudy night so if you want photos make sure you have a camera that you can operate on manual settings. We were often able to take a photo and see the building of the Aurora which was obvious with the naked eye. The experience has made us keen to search again for the Aurora but based on this current we we will always look for activities to do too.

What an absolutely fantastic holiday – it was like visiting "Narnia". All the people and guides were incredibly friendly, all travel went very smoothly and everybody was reliable and punctual. The Abisko Mountain Lodge is a special place and Mina was a fantastic hostess and all the staff incredibly friendly and knowledgeable. Every single trip was fantastic. Thank you.

The trip to the Husky Farm was the best. The 4km ride through the Forest was a white knuckle ride with my daughter at the helm! The Amethyst Mine was also very good. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. Our last evening at Kuurisanti was magical.

The guides were all superb - clearly determined to give us a good experience. Very kind and knowledgeable. The hotel staff were also fabulous and couldn't do enough to make sure we had a great visit. 

The guides and local people were really lovely, and one thing we appreciated was the simplicity of things, and the fact that we were not offered souvenirs or anything like that. No one tried to sell us anything other than the beauty of the place.

Have just completed the questionaire but wanted to say that we had, frankly a fab Christmas, thanks to Harriniva, the staff there, your rep Cary (best rep I have every had on a holiday) and the guides. The weather was unkind - v. v. v. cold, minus 35 - but the Northern Lights were v. v. kind and we saw them on Christmas Day. Magical. Staff at Harriniva could not do enough to make us comfortable that night, really, really great. If I had a criticism it would be that the hoiday was advertised as no kids - but the hotel was full of a french party with their kids, and they were rather disruptive. Hotel and Cary did their best to make the problem less intrusive, and succeeded to a point - we as a group made a joke of it in the end - but something for you to think about in the future. We had kids running around corridors early and late and food times were sometimes a little chaotic as a consequence. This very small issue aside, in my top 5 holidays ever…. mostly down to customer service - something I value and would like to mention to you.

Thank you so much for making our holiday memorable - we had an amazing time and were thrilled it went so smoothly - fantastic organisation! I've attached some of our pictures - if they come in use for your next brochure that would be great!!!! I've recommended you to everyone!!!! 

Hotel staff were very friendly and helpful, as were the guides. We really enjoyed the holiday, and it was a great way to celebrate our Silver Anniversary, (thank you for the champagne!). The holiday exceeded our expectations, and we would recommend the holiday to our active, fit friends. Thank you for recommending Nellim to us, we loved it! 

The local guides were absolutely brilliant. The hotel was very good and the food was excellent.

Hi all. We just wanted to let you know that we have just spent an amazing week in Harriniva where we saw the Northern Lights twice on our 2012-13 New Year holiday. This picture is from Friday night just after we got engaged! Many thanks for the superb organisation and programme, brilliant activities and helpful staff, in particular your rep Cary who helped me organise the special event! Best regards, Richard and Jazmin