Reviewed 24 Jan 2011 by Peter Varnes
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
The 2 day dog sled plus 1 day snowmobile.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Make sure you have enough warm clothes i.e layers. Dog sledding is hard work but fun. You need be fit, otherwise aching mussels. You need to help with feeding dogs and collect firewood, but wilderness cabin is a great experience. Open fires warm it up, is cosy.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Yes I spoke to many people who were local and wouldn’t be employed were it not
for the tourist industry. They were conscience of the environment.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Very good. Jeris resort is quiet away from crowds, good resting place after long
active days. Good overall package, good food quality and quantity. Friendly staff.
Reviewed 31 Mar 2008 by Janet Anderson
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
The sheer range of thrilling activities in the beautiful snowy Lapland landscapes.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Don’t try and pack too much in to each day - you'll be exhausted. Go for one exciting activity a day and use the rest of the day to hire snowshoes or x-country skis from your hotel to explore the surrounding trails and local cafes... or simply chill out in the hotel sauna - especially if they have a traditional 'smoke' sauna running during your stay.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
All the hotel staff, activity leaders and taxi/bus drivers were friendly local people who really cared about what they were doing and about their beautiful country. Whilst ski-dooing and taxi trips between the hotel and activity centre weren’t exactly 'environmentally friendly' it was clear that these are appropriate for the location and the climate and give visitors the chance to really explore and understand this artic region, it's traditions and culture in a land that is under many feet of snow at -20 celsius for half the year!
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Excellent! - We managed to pack in a taster of most activities during our 4 day stay and found time to explore on our own too. Jeris Hotel where we stayed is friendly, comfortable, welcoming and is in the most beautiful setting on the lakeside. The food was good and they coped with providing a vegetarian/fish diet admirably. The only down side was that it was cloudy every night so we didn’t get to see the aurora borealis... which is an excellent excuse to go back some time!
Reviewed 04 Feb 2008 by Carolyn Neville
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Overnight + the sauna at the wilderness hut.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Keep going outside in the late evening to catch the Northern Lights - we missed them!
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
The company employs local guides for the activities.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
A good all-round winter activity experience; value-for-money.
Reviewed 04 Mar 2007 by Rowland Cleverley
We went to Jeris in Finland and stayed at the hotel there on the shores of Jerisjarvi. We spent 8 days there and I went with my 8 year-old daughter.
The most exciting part of the vacation for me was seeing my daughter enjoying cross-country skiing and becoming very comfortable with it, but this only just beats seeing the Northern lights - twice. For the second time a whole bunch of us sat in the middle of the frozen lake and enjoyed the amazing show as the lights traversed back and forth across low in the northern sky. I will never forget that. However, for my daughter I suspect the best bit was making friends with some British children in the hotel! Of the activities I would say that she most enjoyed the husky safari, which was very exciting. Those dogs are just amazing!
For anyone doing this vacation in the future please make sure that you take a balaclava with you. The equipment that they provide for you to keep for the week is excellent and cannot be faulted, but a thick balaclava would have helped. Also, make sure that you are prepared for the cold the minute that you step off the plane. At Kittila you have to disembark down the steps from the plane and, when we arrived, it was minus 29!
I would also suggest that you take some sort of entertainment for the kids, if you are taking any. Jeris is really in the middle of nowhere - you have to rely on amusing yourself around the hotel. Having said that, there are loads of toboggans to use on the toboggan run outside of the hotel, and the hotel has a laptop with wireless internet access that they lend to residents. My daughter and her newly acquired friends spent ages on the thing but not once did the hotel complain about them 'hogging' the machine.
Take something for yourself too. The activities do not take up the whole day and there was only so many times I was prepared to drag a toboggan up to the top of the hill. So, a good book is essential as there is literally nothing on the telly (not much in English anyway). But it certainly wasn't boring; it really made a change to be cut off from civilisation, to be away from shops, crowds and cars. It was simply a stunning place to relax.
I am sure that the vacation benefited local people if only by providing local employment where I can imagine that employment is a bit thin on the ground. I guess that it could be argued that the snowmobiles have a negative impact on the environment but it is minimal as they have very small engines and you really do not see that many around. On the whole I think that it is an extremely environmentally friendly vacation because most activities started out from the hotel meaning that there was no need to call on the use of transport. When we did have to travel we did not have to go far in a very efficient people-carrier.
All the activities such as cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and snow-shoeing were along established trails and tracks that were also in great use by the local people, so it wasn't as though we were tearing up the countryside and spoiling it. The only regret is that we have to fly there and, obviously, this has a tremendous impact on the environment.
Finally, I would give the vacation **** - four stars. It isn't the best vacation that I have been on but it was an unforgettable experience all the same, and this experience was ensured by the fantastic organisation by the hotel itself - they really could not be faulted and it could possibly be the best hotel, for service, that I have ever stayed in abroad. Nothing was too much trouble and there was always a smile present. As for the hot chocolates when it is minus 20 outside....just bliss!!
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