A trip to Lapland to view the Northern Lights called for extra special accommodations. And that meant finding one of the “glass igloos” that the Nordics are famous for. After much online searching, I zeroed in on Wilderness Hotel Inari. Why this hotel, besides the glass igloos, of course? My research suggested that the Inari area offered the best chance of seeing the aurora. I paid €260 per night for a glass-roofed “Aurora Cabin”. As a frame of reference, prices haven’t changed much since then, with the same dates now running €20/night more. Note that late October counts as shoulder season; expect to pay a LOT more in mid-winter.
Note: this post is part of my trip report series about my trip to Finnish Lapland in October, 2022. Click here for the trip report index and introductory post.
Wilderness Hotel Inari
- Inarintie 2, 99870 Inari, Finland
- Website: https://wildernesshotels.fi/wilderness-hotel-inari
- Features: on-site restaurant, group activities for a fee, sauna, airport shuttle (fee)
Location
Right off the main highway (E75), on the south side of the village of Inari. If you fly to Ivalo, the hotel does offer a shuttle service for a fee. Otherwise, you can drive yourself, or take a train to Rovaniemi and a bus from there. The train to Rovaniemi is Finland’s famous “night train”, so that might be a fun way to go. But that also means 17 hours of total travel time from Helsinki.
From Ivalo airport, the drive is 40-60 minutes depending on weather. You can try to drive from Helsinki – but remember, you’re WAY up north, so it’s a good 715 miles.
Dates of Stay: October 21-24, 2022
Check-In and Common Areas
The layout of the hotel’s common areas is remarkably simple. Upon walking in, the check-in desk is to the right, with a sitting area to the left. The sitting area has a large fireplace on one end, providing an inviting place to stay on a cold Arctic night. While the hotel offers WiFi, it doesn’t reach to the aurora cabins in the back. So I came here in the evenings to catch up on the world’s happenings. Don’t expect cutting edge technology, though. While good enough for basic tasks like e-mail and web browsing, it’s not strong enough to reliably run a FaceTime call. Then again, I sure hope nobody plans to come all this way to work…
There’s also a TV in the lobby if you get tired of watching the lights.
On the other side of the fireplace is another small seating area.
Beyond the lobby and reception desk is the restaurant’s hotel, which I’ll cover a little bit later.
As far as accommodation types, at the front of the hotel grounds are standard hotel rooms, dubbed “Wilderness Rooms”.
If you’re traveling with a larger family, there are a handful of log cabins, featuring kitchens, private saunas, and beds for 6.
Finally, overlooking Lake Inari are the Aurora Cabins. In terms of amenities, these are actually much more basic than the log cabins. But you do get the famed glass igloo experience. Also note, these cabins are quite compact, and so are ideal for 2 people (or 4 in a pinch).
Speaking of Lake Inari, it makes for a beautiful setting, especially in winter. (And yes, winter starts early this far north.) The area received its first snowfall of the season the night I arrived, leaving behind a winter wonderland the next day.
The faint glow of an Arctic sunrise late in the year certainly is interesting to see.
Should you have trouble finding your cabin, the hotel has a helpful map in front of the lobby building.
Wilderness Hotel Inari – Guest Rooms
I alluded to this earlier, but the Aurora Cabins are decidedly cozy, measuring 29 square meters. Upon entering, there’s a closet to the right, and a decent-sized desk to the left.
At the back are two single beds and a sleeper sofa, providing room for 4 in a pinch. And, of course, the huge glass roof directly over the bed. I expected the bed to be hard, but found it surprisingly comfortable instead. The extra warm bedding certainly helped, and I slept very soundly all three nights. It certainly helped that it stayed dark until after 9, too.
The big draw in this cabin, naturally, is the unobstructed view of the sky thanks to the glass roof. The roof is heated, so even in extreme cold or snowy weather, it stays clear. If the aurora shows up, you can look up from the bed and enjoy the light show. There’s really nothing quite like it. Just make sure to shut off all the room lights for best results.
I found the bathroom reasonably sized for such a small room. It includes a combo handheld and rain shower, and most importantly, a heated floor for those cold Lapland nights. The one issue I had with the setup – there’s not an actual shower door or curtain. So unless you remember to aim the shower head at the drain, water gets everywhere. They do leave a squeegee to clean up afterwards. Which you want to do, lest you fancy a slip and fall hazard when you need to use the bathroom at midnight.
Wilderness Hotel Inari – Food and Beverage
The hotel does have a full-service restaurant, Restaurant Ukko, located behind the lobby. All guests receive free breakfast in the morning, and the restaurant opens for dinner between 5 and 9. The restaurant is quite spacious, with plenty of seating for both breakfast and dinner. Meanwhile, the design, like the rest of the lobby, evokes the same “rustic log cabin” theme. Interestingly, the candleholders somewhat resembled Finnair’s Business Class glassware.
I found the breakfast spread pretty extensive, with a variety of hot and cold options. Hot options included scrambled eggs, baked beans, sausage, and bacon, among other items.
There’s also a pot of oat porridge, which I didn’t try.
Cold options, meanwhile, included cold cuts, yogurt, cheese, cereals, pastries, salad, and fresh fruit. Perhaps a little surprisingly, I didn’t see any fish items on the cold cuts tray.
As far as beverages go, options included coffee in a large pot and a variety of teas. I found the coffee OK; reasonably strong, though pretty generic. You can also order espresso drinks, and I did order a cappuccino one morning. I also found that decent, if unspectacular.
There are also several fresh fruit juices available, including blueberry juice, of course. The juice dispenser setup is similar to a Coke Freestyle machine. Just pick what you want, and it’ll dispense into your glass.
I also ordered dinner one night. Since reindeer is a Lapland specialty, I tried the sauteed reindeer with mashed potatoes. I thought the dish was ok; decent flavor, but the reindeer was overcooked.
As an appetizer, I ordered a Finnish cheese plate, which was good. The presentation struck me as a little off, though. I think it was the plate, which was way too large for the quantity of food.
I also decided to try a long drink, which I enjoyed more than I expected. It drinks almost like a cider, with the grapefruit not terribly overpowering.
The restaurant also offers a three course prix fixe menu for 59 euro, which includes soup, a fish main course, and dessert.
Activities
Wilderness Hotel Inari offers a variety of group tours, somewhat similar to a cruise line. But with relatively few tourists heading this far north, you’re talking about small groups. My first full day there, I decided to do the visit to a husky farm. Similar to interior Alaska, dogsledding is a big thing in Lapland in season. Late October is still too early to go sledding, but you can still head to a farm to visit the dogs. This tour took us to a farm about a half an hour from Inari. The dogs were especially happy to see the first snow of the season that day. And yes, you can pet most of the dogs.
In case you’re wondering, the huskies in Lapland are primarily Siberian huskies. The variant seen in Alaska, the Alaskan husky, is descended from the Siberian, but isn’t actually recognized as a separate breed.
One thing to note – the dogs, while friendly, like to jump on you. If you’re skittish around dogs, this probably isn’t the tour for you. (Yes, I’m a crazy cat guy, but we also had dogs growing up.)
There’s also some highly adorable husky puppies you can play with at the end of the tour.
Inari is also a center of Sami culture. The Sami are an indigenous people native to northern Finland, Sweden, and Norway, with settlements dating to the 16th century BC. On the north end of Inari is the SIIDA museum, or Sámi Museum and Nature Center. This museum showcases the history of the Sami people, and is a must visit if you make it to this area. The hotel does offer a tour of SIIDA, but honestly, you can easily tour it on your own. In the afternoon, I did just that, exploring the large compound.
The main building features several exhibits about the natural history of the area, along with numerous Sami artifacts. To me, though, the most interesting part of the center are the outdoor exhibits. The first is an exhibit with replica fishing/exploration boats used by the Sami.
A self-guided trail behind the main museum leads you to a variety of Sami settlements, from rustic tents to more modern log cabins.
There are also exhibits specific to the house building Sami of the 19th century, along with a traditional burial mound.
It’s well worth the 15 euro admission cost if you make it this far north.
Among other activities available at the hotel, the ice fishing certainly looked cool, though I was about a month and a half too early. If you’d rather do something on your own, there’s also several scenic road trip options in the area. I took a trip to the Arctic Ocean coast in Norway, or you can just head out of town in the night for a better view of the lights.
Speaking of the Northern Lights, if you don’t get the Aurora Cabin, the hotel grounds themselves provide good viewing opportunities. The lakeshore in particular is far enough away from the main hotel that it gets plenty dark for aurora viewing.
Final Thoughts
Wilderness Hotel Inari offers a variety of options, ranging from lower cost hotel rooms, to luxury log cabins, to the more basic glass igloos with the premier views of the Northern Lights. The lights certainly delivered, but there’s also lots of other things to do in the area. If you decide to head this far north, it offers a solid value.
