Arctic Circle's SantaPark invests €20m in luxury hotel resort
SantaPark, the award-winning Lapland attraction and “official home” of Father Christmas, is nearing completion on 37 luxury accommodations and bistro-style restaurant and bar.
The €20m (US$22m, £17m) Arctic TreeHouse Hotel development – which is scheduled to open on 19th November at the theme park in Rovaniemi, Finland – has been designed by fledgling Helsinki architecture firm Studio Puisto. The rooms boast panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows facilitating views of forest and Arctic surroundings as well as the famous Northern Lights.
“There has been great demand for a unique accommodation in Lapland,” SantaPark’s experience director, Katja Ikäheimo-Länkinen, told Attractions Management. “We wanted to make something very different that honours the beauty of Arctic nature while offering comfort and luxury.”
The TreeHouse resort includes 32 double, twin and family suites, each with ensuite bathroom and some with kitchenette. The suites are designed in keeping with a “Morning Glory” and a “Morning Mist” theme. Then there are five Arctic Glass Houses, which have two bedrooms, a lounge with a fireplace and a private sauna – their inspiration taken from the slow burn of the fire, or the kekäle.
“We wanted to embrace nature with these beautiful full walls of window,” said Ikäheimo-Länkinen. “The large windows allow you to enjoy the natural phenomena of the Northern Lights or midnight sun from the luxury of your very own bed.”
Meanwhile, the restaurant and bar, Rakas (which translates from Finnish to “darling”), seats up to 130 guests and offers a continental and local menu. The design invokes “the Finnish smoke sauna with its dark panelling, and the easy manner of the Lappish people,” Ikäheimo-Länkinen said.
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