Santa's Lapland - Farnborough

Adam A.

By far the best operator for this kind of trip. I simply can't thank the staff both UK and in resort for all the help, assistance and at times patience they showed and provided throughout the journey from start to finish. I'm a single dad with three children under 8 years old one of which being on the autistic spectrum and as difficult as that can be and was at times the staff are truly remarkable people that clearly love thier jobs and enjoy bringing pleasure to others. This review is not enough to show my appreciation and I will be in touch shortly to locate and communicate our thanks to those individuals in particular who have literally given us the most magical priceless memories forever.

Thank you sooooooo much

The Andersons 😊❤️

Clinton S.

We have just returned from Saarieselka Hotel Riekonlina on a 2 night 3 day trip. I cannot fault Santas Lapland staff and Reps. They helped us every step. We crammed in so many activities that our timings sometimes did not run according to schedule but staff just adapted and fixed it for us making everything work!
We have done the exact same trip in 2016 at the same hotel with TUI, if you need a comparison based on first hand experience , book with Santas Lapland, by far the better operator.

Paul M.

Just got back from an absolutely amazing time in Lapland. Santa's Lapland were fantastic from Start to finish. The staff are brilliant! Everything is organised with precision and I cant recommend them enough. We absolutely loved it.

We were half board, the food is ok but could be a better for the price you pay but its all still ok.

If you are thinking about going. You 100000% should.

Coaching O.

Some of the trip was magical - the husky ride, the reindeer ride, the snow and the darkness. The staff keeping us entertained as we queued for seeing Santa did a great job but it does not negate the fact that you are queueing outside with small children for over an hour in -20 degrees.

The lunch food on the Santa excursion day is chaotic and incredibly basic. Spag bol for all, like it or not, no dietary requirements catered for. Get there as early as your slot allows in order to get a cramped seat!

We signed up for the extra reindeer experience at a cost over over £300. The trip left before we arrived (we were on time) due to them immalgamiting with a previous event and Inghams/Santas Lapland/Esprit are not willing to refund our money. We asked for CCTV fromt eh hotel to prove our arrvial time and of course the CCTV is not working! With no one being able to prove our arrival time, Santas Lapland have chosen not to offer a refund. I am appalled.

I would seriously consider the value of what you are getting before paying such significant amounts of money for the whole experience.

Donna S.

We loved it! 😍
It is alot of money and I was worried it would be super commercial when we arrived but it wasn't.
Attention to detail was fabulous.
There is entertainment even on the flight there! The elves at the airport was fantastic.
I loved that you were taken to get the artic wear immediately.
One major memory for me was that when we got kn the plane to leave, the elves were jumping yo say good bye from the other side of the fence! That was lovely!
Please excuse the typos. Google isn't letting me see as I type!
The activities were great but I will say, there is alot of waiting around and so when you think you jave booked a 2 hour activity, it is less than half of that time after the waiting and preparing etc. That was a shock.
Also, the accommodation is very poor. I thought we were in a hotel but it was like a side Alex so we still had to leave amd go into the cold to get to the actual hotel for food. But the room was very warm. But no milk, so had to get some from the main hotel. Shower was god. If I was there for a week I wouldn't be happy but it as fine for 2 nights.
You need more space so you can get all the snow stuff off without getting all the floors wet.
The santa activity day was brilliant. And not over packed at all. There was also plenty of staff to just throw snowballs at kids! That made us happy!

It was a really good experience.

I would say if you can update the accommodation you really should.

Dominic M.

We have just got back from a weekend at Lapland and staying at the holiday club and was not expecting to be disappointed by the stay.

There were just so many issues and things that you wouldn't expect when you had spent that much on something that is supposed to be magical.

Everything was badly organised and even going on the snowmobile excursion it was an hour from meeting outside hotel to getting our safety demo.

When we went on the husky ride we were told to go inside for 5mins as too cold. But santa wait was 2 hours at -18 when it would have been much better with time slots like with the husky ride.

We had a 2 hour time slot for lunch and only just managed to get in at the end of the time and for all the money spent all you got was some basic spag bol. I cant get spaghetti due to food intolerance so just had a plate of bolognese. No dessert no drinks included.

Then for meals in our hotel (we stayed at holiday club) there is not enough seating for amount of guests and other guests are abusive, stealing for table and banging into you so you are covered in food. If they had enough seating for guests i doubt there would be this problem.

On the first evening you have about 3 minutes to try on snow suits before the time slot for your welcome meeting with rep. You then cant hear her as its a big room and then you wait for her to come around to each table, she then came around to everyone but us.

A lot of the holiday rep staff (called rangers) are not very good at their job and are very scripted. I spoke to some and they had been there less than 3 weeks and you could tell. Because ask them anything and you wont get a proper answer.

On the night we walked to the gala dinner with a rep, he took us the long way which included over some ice that many had complained about earlier in the day and quite a few people hurt themselves a lot falling on it. If he was clued up this wouldn't of happened.

The rooms are okay but lack storage and the stairs up to 2nd bedroom are a health hazard and the roof space is very low you need to crawl to bed. The sofa was comfy and the room spacious.

We wished the hotel food was better. It felt like they had made the cheapest food they could, which we found rather disappointing with how expensive it is. We also expected more Finish food and it was really lacking.

The reps recommend lunch across the road at Annie's but it doesn't open until 2pm just 2 hours before half board dinner is served which seems pointless. Everyone is looking at 12noon hoping for it to open.

Overall it doesn't feel christmasy enough (got more xmas spirit at airport on way home) thought there would loads of decorated xmas trees, loads of decorations and loads of xmas songs to really get you in the mood for xmas but feels like they have just added a few excursions in a snow area.

Its very expensive for what you get and i find you get much better value for money in other holiday resorts.

Even the hotel gift shop was way more expensive than what we paid for gifts at the airport.

On the plus side the sauna was nice, the people that ran the snowmobile excursion was nice and it was nice for the kids to play in some snow and do some sledging. But if i wanted snow again i feel somewhere in the alps would offer much better value for money.

And also had the chance to see the northern lights which was beautiful.

I feel big changes need to be made to make lapland the magical place that people deserve for the money they have spent.

Samantha C.

We went to Saariselka with Santa's Lapland in 2016 and it was amazing. We were really lucky with the weather, it was very very snowy but not cold - for that area, obviously we were icy! The flight was fine, we left from Bournemouth and there was a colouring competition for the kids and some effort was made to entertain them. We arrived and were greeting by eleves and then a reindeer outside the airport. Transfer to the hotel took a while but when we got there we got kitted out with snow suits, boots, socks and gloves. Hotel was nice, lots of food choices, and every day there were fries so even fussy kids had something. Bedrooms were basic but warm and the views were just lively. We did the northern lights trio but didn't see them and the kids found it a bit dull, I'd do it again though! The rest of the time we spent mostly sledding, which was so fun. The day we saw Santa was great, Santa was lovely and even gave my 14 year old a present. The warm Berry juice served everywhere was lovely and the kids enjoyed trying the snow mobile, the husky ride and the reindeer. It really was one of the best, if not the best holiday we've had and even three years later the kids talk about it!

Dawn W.

Have just returned from a 2 night Santa's Magic trip, overall had an amazing time & really enjoyed ourselves. We were 5 adults & 2 children, the Jet2 flight from Manchester was great with activities & lots of laughter. Transfer from airport took about a half hour & the stop to collect snowsuits etc was very slick & quick. Hotel great, warm & comfortable & swimming pool fab. Activity day starts early & loads of well organised activities. Huskies are the only timed activity so you can do everything else whenever you want & returning to hotel is flexible. Gala night lovely & a bit of time on last morning to do souvenir shopping etc. We went to same place with same company 12 years ago & had a fab time, its twice as big nnow & didn't disappoint! Rep's work hard to make it fun.