Soppela retreat at the Arctic Circle

Tania the host was absolutely fantastic. Our car broke down while we were there and she helped us out every way she could. Even made us some food and pastry for when we were finally on our way. 100% recommended

Go in the summer! Room was lovely and warm, outside wasn't!

Soppela Retreat is an excellent lakeside accommodation for enjoying with a larger group. This facility, an old school transformed into a guesthouse, has a nostalgic charm. I stayed in a room resembling a geography classroom, complete with a large world map, a map of Finland, and, of course, a chalkboard on the wall. The host was Timo's mother, Tanya (if I recall her name correctly). She was incredibly sweet and welcoming, and despite her limited English, we communicated effectively. My heart melted when it was time to leave, we hugged each other, and she blushed as we said goodbye. The accommodation offers hot water in the large school shower rooms, a small sauna, and beautiful surroundings. We enjoyed a walk on the frozen lake just outside the property. A car rental is necessary to reach this location, and the price, compared to others, was very reasonable during the season I traveled. It's just 95 km away from Rovaniemi and 10-15 km from Kemijarvi.

Please consider this not as a wholly negative comment, but as constructive feedback. If possible, the owner might consider replacing the old school pipes, as there is a noticeable smell of methane (or rotten egg) when first entering the building. This was the only minor detail I found less than satisfactory. On a personal note, I sensed that Ms. Tanya might be feeling lonely in that place, she needs more care :)

Shower water pressure was good. There is a very small sauna in the shower room, but we didn’t use it.

Cleanliness was not up to standard. The room felt dirty, there was hair on the carpets. As soon as you walked into the building it smelled bad. At night, I went to the bathroom, and on the hallway something hissed at me twice. I felt like I couldn’t make a lot of noise because the owners dog would start barking. The phone number on the listing was out of use.

Great location and value for money. Very approachable to Rovaniemi which is exceptionally priced during the holiday season. Good host.

The location was far enough from the town of Kemijärvi for it to be completely quiet and give you a feeling of remoteness, but at the same time it was still only a 15-20 minute drive by car away from the main station. There were a beach and some nice places to hike nearby, overall the setting was idyllic and very beautiful. The apartment was quite spacious with comfortable beds and reasonably fast internet. The lady running the place was very nice and even offered us a lift to town when we were leaving.

The floor wasn’t clean, it seemed as though somebody had extreme hair loss of their short stubble. In the kitchen, everything was technically there, but there were no lids at all for any pots, making cooking unnecessarily difficult sometimes. From the outside especially, the whole place looked deserted and gave an air of negligence and being past its prime, although the apartment itself was maybe not spanking new, but still fine. The description said three single and one double bed, but when I arrived there were only two single and one double bed. Furthermore, the lady wanted to shoo us out of the place earlier and we had to show her our booking and the she called her son, because she thought we were staying one night shorter then we had booked it for. Not a biggy, but quite unprofessional.

Everything

This is a great budget place for everyone looking for a comfortable, nice and inexpensive place to stay. We arrived very late and probably woke up the owner. However, she had no problem showing us around and welcoming us, although she spoke little English. The lady was so kind, even brought us free pancakes in the morning :-) the room was clean and comfy, felt like being in the 20is. It had everything one needs. Very charming and spacious.

Spacious, rural setting, nice caretaker/manager!