Chasing Winter in Lapland, Finland
"The moment we turned onto the property, the verdict was in: Had I the training, vision, talent, and money, I’d have invented the Arctic TreeHouse Hotel myself. Picture a hotel deconstructed into its component parts. The main building is a five-pointed snowflake housing reception and the RAKAS Restaurant & Bar, with a massive fireplace at center. Upon entering I was handed a hot mug of glogg—the mulled-wine ambrosia native to Northern European countries—and encouraged to sit by the fire while my suitcase was delivered to my room. All around me, guests milled about and chatted, warming their hands by the flames, the glogg’s cinnamon-and-cloves scent mingling with woodsmoke. The rooms themselves are just a short walk away, a smattering of individual units tucked into the forest alongside a slope. Each is a self-sufficient box on stilts, two rooms apiece (bedroom and bath), with the north wall a single pane of glass, to best view the Northern Lights (which, alas, didn’t appear on my trip). They are tastefully furnished in minimalist Scandinavian fashion: whitewashed wood walls and floors, all-white furniture and bedding, and a pair of copper reading lamps flanking the bed. The bed faces the glass window. When I crawled under the covers for my inaugural nap, I felt as if I were actually outdoors, in the forest, but cozy and warm. Dear reader, I remained abed until dinner."
