Seaside Glass Villas

La réception se trouve dans une grande maison décorée de nombreuses choses de Noël. Quand j'ai ouvert la porte de la chambre pour la première fois, il y avait une odeur de bois, mais elle a disparu plus tard. Je pensais que la salle de bain était assez propre, mais la douche était limitée à 13 minutes et il n'y avait pas beaucoup d'eau chaude, donc je l'ai fait. Je ne me laverai pas les cheveux pendant deux nuits. Le bacon au petit déjeuner est délicieux. L'environnement à proximité est très bon, proche de la mer et d'une petite forêt. J'ai l'impression que Kemi n'est pas grande et qu'il n'y a pas beaucoup de monde là-bas, donc j'aime beaucoup ça. Il y a un supermarché à proximité et de nombreux restaurants sur la plage. C'était étouffant à l'intérieur de la cathédrale. Je n'ai vu aucune pierre précieuse au Gem Museum et la place en face était un marché aux puces.

拍照蠻出片的酒店，可惜白天時間太短了，從這裏去坐破冰船更方便，還可以直接送至羅瓦涅米。

還是挺好的

Great location with beautiful white birch trees and water. We made a fire and cooked dinner, as the grill and firewood were provided. The outdoor ice castle and indoor ice sculptures were very nice. The town itself was a little grim, but easy walking distance from the hotel. Good access to markets, pharmacies, and restaurants. (Thai, Chinese, pizza, etc). Rooms were clean, with a nice kitchen area.

Stayed three nights at the Seaside Glass Villa in Kemi. We arrived around 8:50 pm after a flight from Helsinki. The property is not very far from the airport and is part of/near to the Snow Castle. Though the actual Snow Castle is only slated to be ready in mid-January. There is an in-door “snow castle” area that is reportedly opened all year. Breakfast was served from 6:30-9:00 when we were there. With the kitchen closing at 9 pm and reception at 10 pm. We ended up getting cup noodles at reception for a late dinner in the villa. We had one of the larger units that has a “living area” and a kitchenette with induction stove top, microwave, electric kettle and coffee maker. And no television set. The beds are in a loft above with a glass, albeit very low, ceiling. Note the stairs going up are rather narrow. Took a little getting used to but once you do, it’s ok. At least for us. The down side of the larger units it’s that it is further away from the sea but much closer to the centre. Temperatures plunged to -12C when we were around. So being nearer is good as one has to walk to the restaurant for meals including breakfast. No in-room safe and please remember to bring adapters for your devices if not from Europe. The “downstairs” is the coolest part of the structure but the sleeping area is fine. The instructions was not to change the setting for the air conditioner. The bathroom has heated floors and is cosy. There’s also a sauna. But needs time to heat. So plan ahead. There are a variety of activities that can be arranged. From husky rides to reindeer etc. Aurora hunt though that might be even more suitable a little further north. All sorts of walks etc. Contact Marko Varpo if you fancy any one of these activities. You can even walk into town. It’s not actually that far away. Other than shopping or eating, there’s also a cafe that you can visit on top of the City Hall building, the tallest in Kemi. Gives a bird’s eye view of the area. Taxis are available but do note it is not exactly cheap. The thing to do here is to get on a real icebreaking ship to go out on the frozen sea. The historic Sampo icebreaker was really something different to do as a half-day tour. A very different type of moving museum. On top of being allowed to walk on frozen sea in the Bay of Bothnia (ie the northern part of the Baltic Sea), one can even float in it. And as guest of the Glass Villa, there’s even a special discount. For us, this is a once in a lifetime trip especially going out on the Sampo. But we do highly recommend it.

We booked premium villa by the seaside. It was warm and clean. Waterheater was bit small because you can have warm shower only 13 min per hour. Beautiful view to the sea and sky. Good bed with comfortable linen. Kitchenette with fridge and microwave.

This accommodation is all about the views! We chose a front row villa, to have an unobstructed view. We stayed during the winter when the sea was frozen over, and it was great to look out over, particularly at sunrise/sunset. At night, we could see lots of stars (although no northern lights sadly). It is handily located and a short walk from Kemi centre. We did not try out the restaurant or sauna, but the breakfast was nice and had great views (albeit we had to brave the cold to get there). I felt there was enough space in the room, we walked into Kemi and got takeaway and brought it back to eat in the room and the table was big enough to eat from. The hot water does not run for very long, so hard for more than one person to have a shower. Entry is gained by inputting a key code. When we checked in, we were given a lanyard with the code on. A good idea is to take a photo of the code, just in case you accidentally leave the lanyard inside the room.

We stayed 3 days in this hotel, the small terraced houses with full windows on two sides and the roof to observe the northern lights are very particular. But these Finns are really strange, the shower is raised from the ground by an inch and therefore the water floods the bathroom .... however they provide the tool to push it back from the edge of the shower box in the drain., but be careful not to exceed 13 minutes otherwise the water becomes frozen and for any rinsing you have to wait exactly 1 hour. A non-existent reception, a dinner repeated all three nights (over 50 euros each for 3 courses) as the menu had no variations and evidently from the speed of the service it was already ready, just to be heated in the microwave oven. Then for breakfast in the dodestissimo buffet there was no hot milk, so you had to ask for it please extra. Moreover, poor quality food, we even asked for a variant as we both wanted to eat fish and we had half a portion, all pre-cooked and of poor quality. In summary recommended for the bad location the rest. By the way, the company that owns the hotel is also the owner of the Sampo icebreaker, at the reception they sell you the excursion for over 400 euros per person for 3 hours but the icebreaker has been stopped due to a fault since December 26th and therefore replacement with a small boat but no refund not even the lunch provided in the voucher ..... a real Finnish rip-off.

We loved the view and interior. Two walls and half of ceiling were windows. We saw arctic lights lying on the bed. The spring had melted the snow castle, but the ice sculpture exhibition was open. Breakfast was good and the staff very nice and helpful. Thank you Kemi!