Lapland Hotels Bear´s Lodge

Excellent service from the hotel staff. Breakfast has more quality then quantity. Hotel is a little bit out of the way especially if you drive a rented car as most of the roads have no street lights and you will have to depend on the high beam from the car to lead you through..it can get overwhelming esp if the first time you are driving in the snow. 10am to 3pm is the only period you can drive anywhere safely as beside the lights, there are stil icey roads to tackle

We travelled to Bears lodge at the start of December, however like many I was sat in Tui the day before we travelled in tears due to the snow melting. We flew just after 6am from Bristol so it was a very long day for our small children. We arrived at the hotel to what I can only describe as chaos. Lots of people arriving at the same time all crammed in a very small space. Luckily after queuing for half an hour we were told our lodge was actually ready early. The lodges are in the most beautiful location and were spotless. We had a small kitchenette which was handy for preparing snacks for the children. I couldn’t fault it at all. My main gripe was the food. It was poor. As a vegetarian one night the only option was soup as dishes were not replenished (even if you asked). I asked for some bread to accompany my soup and after 45 minutes gave up. I have a very fussy 4 year old who hardly ate a thing the whole time we were there. When I asked if there was something else she could have I was told a blunt ‘no’. The reason I asked as a previous reviewer said the staff accommodated a fellow fussy child. One night the chips were so overcooked they were not even edible. The festive finale however was lovely (just no veggie gravy but that’s fine) I had a carrot gratin which was really tasty. Waiting staff were rude, dismissive and muttered under their breath. I always treat others as I wish to be treated so always act in a polite way so I found it rather odd that they were so rude at times. We did a walk around the lake in daylight and in the dark and toasted marshmallows by the lake. We spent a day sledging down onto the lake which was so much fun. We also ventured out to SCV, very commercialised but ticked the boxes for our little ones (reindeers, Mrs Claus, sending postcards to family). All in all an amazing trip and amazing memories for our children. Special thanks to the lovely handyman/groundsman who despite limited English was so friendly and helpful.

We brought our Granddaughters (aged 5 & 7) here and their mum and dad for a 3 night stay. We booked through TUI, as we wanted everything taken care of from start to finish. I have to say the holiday reps at the Lodge were superb from start to finish. Nothing was too much trouble and they made it magical for the children that were there. They put on a Christmas show on the last night which was great for the kids. Many memories were made over those few days, and we got to see the real Santa! In our opinion Bears Lodge was perfect, great location in the middle of the forest, with a fantastic frozen lake to either walk on, or walk around. The hotel was warm, and the food was just what you needed after a full day out in the freezing temperatures. Hot soups, crusty bread, salad, chicken, salmon etc... The bedrooms were fine, dated yes, but clean and warm. A hotel where we felt comfortable whether in our snow gear normal clothes - and the Northern Lights paid us a visit on our last night! If we were going back, we would definitely stay here again.