Best Western Hotel Arctic Eden

I have had this hotel on my to-visit-list for a while, but there have been some newer options in Kiruna I wanted to try first. Much to my surprise, I secured a great rate at the BW Hotel Arctic Eden for two nights at the end of July, so here are my thoughts:||The hotel overall is as can be expected from an older property in the mid-range. I got quite a small room, and a bathroom that was really.....small. Taking a shower was indeed a challenge, but with enough tenacity, anything goes! Breakfast is included and I would use the word lacklustre to describe their food options at the breakfast buffet. Parking options are limited and in very high demand around the hotel this time of the year, so bear this in mind if you travel by car. ||My favourite thing about this hotel were the lovely people they have working in the reception. They are truly service-minded and solution-oriented. They also greet you consistently and seem genuinely interested in providing a stellar level of service. ||Would I stay here again? Yes, with a great rate, absolutely. At the same/similar rate as the newer hotels in the new part of town? Probably not!|||Bottom-line: if you can secure a good deal, go for it!

I stayed at the hotel for one night. The reception staff was friendly, helpful, and had good local knowledge of Kiruna. I was first given a large, pleasant room, but it had not been cleaned after the previous guests. I was promptly moved to a smaller room, which, oddly, cost the same. The restaurant had an appealing menu with local beers and pizzas, but after waiting 5 minutes to be seated and over 10 minutes without being able to place an order, I chose to eat at a nearby fast food restaurant instead. Breakfast was good. A highlight is the large gym in the basement, with several well-equipped rooms — very impressive.

Was a little bit skeptical when I booked this hotel because of the reviews but I said I’ll give it a try anyway. And everything was perfect. Friendly staff and nice breakfast. What makes our travel magical was when we were able to witnessed aurora just outside the hotel. It was fantastic and recommended hotel.

The rooms are nice and the breakfast was really good. Good location in the old city center, but a bit far away from the new center. But we saw northern lights by the hotel one evening which was really nice

The hotel is 20 mins by taxi or 30 minutes by bus from the airport (they sync them with the flight schedules) but drops you off 300-400m away at OK Parken (gas station) and during winter its not easy to drag with heavy luggage. Taxi costs around 400 SEK while the bus is 210 SEK for 2. We tried the hotel bar's veggies pizza (Vegana -159 SEK) and it was quite good. The flambeed pancake (lemon flavour-110 SEK) was provided with an icecream. There is a Thai restaurant too within the premises. The northern lights tour operators have a stop at this hotel. The breakfast options were sizeable (breads, meat, juices, Jams, pancakes, vegan cookies and breads, lactose free milk as well) The reception was quite good, friendly. The downside was the rooms (beds were somewhat okay, coat hangar space was present, snow shoes area seating space to put them ON or REMOVE was present, clean washrooms) but there was no heat and we were frozen on the first day. When we complained we got an extra blanket for the 2nd day, and it was quite clear the radiator was barely working and we also noticed a brick being placed in the window sill to stop somewhat the cold air squeezing in.

The rooms are small, old, dated, and not well kept (see the picture of the peeling fake-wood floor). However, what really makes this possibly the worst hotel I’ve ever dealt with is the fact that they shamelessly trick you into getting something different from what you paid for. I had a group of people, and two of the rooms I booked were supposed to have two twin beds. Well, they put my friends into rooms with one queen-size bed. When I complained, they showed me the small print that showed up after I made the reservation, in which, among many other things, they say they can’t guarantee room configuration requests (even though they allow you to pay for it). Now, here’s the thing: on Hotels.com, they can enter exactly how many rooms they have and the configuration, so when the rooms get booked, that configuration is no longer offered. In other words, they purposefully list rooms with one queen-size bed as having two twin beds. Picture yourself in this situation: you book a room that is listed as one configuration, and pay for it. However, when you arrive here, tired and looking forward to getting to your room, they tell you that what you paid for is not available, so you have no choice but to take what they will give you, or go through the hassle of cancellation, fight for a refund because you canceled in less than 24 hours, and still have to try to find another hotel in Kiruna. Would you want that? Well, that’s what you risk when you deal with this hotel. I’m in complete disbelief that I would run into this kind of dishonesty in Sweden, and even that Best Western allows a franchise to operate like this.

Stayed one night. Hotel was fine. Breakfast was good. Room was fine. Location isn’t totally ideal bc it’s away from the newer part of Kiruna but overall can recommend. No problems

The location is good, there is a pub inside the hotel and a restaurant in the same parking. Parking is free but after 17 00 is pretty full.