Santa’s Hotel Rakka: A Nature Getaway in Kilpisjärvi (Review)

Kilpisjärvi is one of my favorite destinations in Finland and I was so excited to return to stay at a gorgeous boutique hotel I found on social media a few months back!

Santa’s Hotel Rakka is stylish, has a delicious restaurant, and offers views of Saana Fell and the Käsivarsi Wilderness Area – literally everything you need when visiting this remote area of Finland!

I visited Kilpisjärvi at the end of March and was greeted with gorgeous wintry views, something that had left us weeks ago in Rovaniemi. This is a snowmobiler’s paradise (and I have been snowmobiling here before) – but I was really coming for a peaceful stay at Rakka and to enjoy some snow because I wasn’t ready for the winter to be over.

In this guide, I share my experience staying at Santa’s Hotel Rakka, including what I loved and didn’t love (it was only a small thing!) from my time there.

If you have any questions or want to share your experience at Rakka, please leave a comment below… thanks!

About Santa’s Hotel Rakka in Kilpisjärvi

Santa’s Hotel Rakka is located in the heart of Kilpisjärvi, Finland, just a stone’s throw from the main road that goes through the village and connects Finland to Norway.

The Kilpisjärvi accommodation offers a mix of chalets and rooms, all offering a view of nature. There are 42 rooms, 22 full-service apartments, and a restaurant/bar on-site.

The hotel rooms look out to the Saana Fell and the Käsivarsi Wilderness Area and there are two floors of rooms (I chose one on the second floor when booking). They were just built in 2023 and have a modern Nordic design with large windows looking out over Käsivarsi.

If the northern lights had been out when I was visiting, I feel like my room offered a pretty solid chance to see them if I had turned all the lights off! The rooms face northeast.

Breakfast was included in my stay and I also enjoyed dinner at Rakka on my first night (more about that below).

Why I Booked a Stay at Santa’s Hotel Rakka

Honestly… I saw it on TikTok! I was looking for places to go this past January and saw it on TikTok and booked it immediately.

Unfortunately, our trip didn’t end up taking place then for some unforeseen circumstances, so we postponed it until the end of March into early April. Santa’s Hotel Rakka offered me to change the dates and was really easy to work with.

I figured this trip would be just the nature escape I needed from Rovaniemi and would offer a nice getaway for two nights and it 100% did just that!

Highlights of My Stay at Kilpisjärvi’s Rakka

The Room

I booked the Superior Extra Room which was on the second floor of the hotel. It had two twin beds (they come pushed together but can be separated), a private bathroom, air conditioning, heating, TV with streaming service capabilities, a minibar, and more. The room was modern and offered tall ceilings, which I like!

The best part about the room is that there is a floor-to-ceiling window that offers views over the wilderness area behind the hotel. It was epic.

It brought in so much light (I visited at the end of March) and was fun to just gaze out of the room. The snow is too deep for anyone to be out there but we could see animal tracks around.

The floor-to-ceiling window would have allowed us to see the northern lights from right inside our room had they been active!

Honestly, I have stayed in so many glass igloos in Finland and this experience was far cozier and cooler than any of those stays.

Hotel Restaurant and Breakfast

On my first night at the hotel, I reserved a table at Rakka Restaurant to try out their menu. It offered everything from reindeer shank to burgers to a moose steak. Vegan and vegetarian options are also on the menu.

I opted for that moose steak and my partner got the reindeer shank and we were both blown away at how flavorful the food was! It is definitely a spot to book a table for dinner even if you’re not staying at the hotel as a guest.

They do not offer a lunch, but their breakfast was included in the room I booked. Honestly, it was pretty average. It started at 7:30am and when I was there at 8am, everything needed restocked (but wasn’t quickly restocked).

The cucumbers had dried completely out and looked like they were left open in a fridge overnight. I ate a piece of bread and left.

There were plenty of options available, so I do understand why people would enjoy it… it just wasn’t anything to write home about the days I went there (sorry, Santa’s Hotel Rakka!).

Proximity to Everything in Kilpisjärvi

Santa’s Hotel Rakka is close to everything! You’re a short distance from Lake Kilpisjärvi, within walking distance of Saana Fell, and near several trails.

You are also right behind the main shopping area where you’ll find a K-market grocery store, a sports store, and Restaurant Kilpis (one of the few places to grab lunch in the village).

You can walk almost everywhere in town from the hotel and that was really nice even though I had a car with me.

Wheelchair-Accessibility

The hotel is accessible and there is an elevator where guests can get to the second-floor rooms.

How to Get to Santa’s Hotel Rakka in Kilpisjärvi

Getting to Santa’s Hotel Rakka is pretty easy if you have a car. If you’re coming to Kilpisjärvi from other parts of Finland, you will need to head up the E8 and Rakka is just off the road. You can also take a bus up here but it will take you a very long time to reach from other parts of Lapland.

You can reach Kilpisjärvi from Norway pretty easily, as well (given it is situated near the Norway/Finland border).

I visited one time on a trip from Tromsø and I took the Best Arctic bus (winter Arctic route) that starts in Tromsø and ends in Rovaniemi. Needless to say, I got off at the Kilpisjärvi stop and didn’t head all the way home.

You can find more about this bus on Best Arctic’s website.

The nearest airports to Kilpisjärvi are Tromsø, Norway (TOS), Kiruna, Sweden (KRN), and Kittilä, Finland (KTT).

Do you have any questions about staying at Santa’s Hotel Rakka in Kilpisjärvi, Finland? Let me know in the comments!