Seaside Glass Villas in Kemi allow the guests enjoy the Nightless Nights or the Northern Lights of Lapland along the year around snow castle.
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Since we visit Finland every year, we have made it a tradition to drive over to Lapland and visit some family in Kemi every summer. We have been visiting Kemi ever since I was a kid so I have gotten to know the town pretty well.
Usually we stay the night at our family’s house but this time we got an invitation from Experience365 to come and try out their new Seaside Glass Villas. And of course we were excited to do so since the villas looked amazing!
They are all located in the SnowCastle area of Kemi right by the seashore in downtown. The villas are special because they all have a glass ceiling, and the guests are able to view either the Nightless Night or the Northern Lights from their bed. They all have an ocean view.
We also got to experience the year-round snow castle which has since replaced the big outdoor SnowCastle of Kemi.
A NIGHT IN A SEASIDE GLASS VILLA IN KEMI
The Seaside Glass Villas were opened at Kemi’s SnowCastle area in 2016. They are small, log cabins, which offer an exotic choice of accommodation over the normal hotel rooms.
The villas have a glass ceiling, and two glass walls, so that the guests are able to enjoy the ocean view or the stars in the night sky. Now in the summer time, it is of course the midnight sun, but in the winter time you can see the Northern Lights if you are lucky.
We have seen some glass villas for example in Järvisydän Spa Resort but their Scenery Suites looked very different.
Next to the villas there is a caravan area for those who travel in RV’s.
Even though the villas are quite small, they have everything you need. Even a small kitchen. The villas were very clean and nice.
When I heard about the night in the villas, I was wondering whether there was a toilet or a shower in them. Well, I can tell you they managed to fit both inside. The warm water only lasts for 13 minutes though, but that was enough for both my and my kids showers.
There was also an A/C and a heater.
Because two walls are glass, there is a lot of light in the villa even when you close the curtains. They left us eye masks to keep out the light while sleeping.
After the sun turned away in the evening, we opened the curtains and were amazed by the beautiful the view. So tranquil!
We didn’t really have a reason to open the curtain in the ceiling since the sun was so bright, but we of course wanted to see what it would look like open. And I wanted to take a couple of photos for my blog.
At that point, I started wondering how to open it, since I couldn’t reach that high, and there was nothing in the villa that I could use as to help. I got some help for this from hotel reception. The curtains are opened with a special stick and you have to be very careful, since the paper curtains can break easily.
Maybe some other mechanism would be better since the whole reason to stay in a villa like this, is to look at the sky from the glass ceiling.
Very close to the villas there is a public beach, frisbee golf course and a playground. However, we didn’t have time for them since the Tivoli was in town. Tivoli is a carnival that tours around Finland and my kids had never been to one.
After that we walked to a restaurant area by the coast and had dinner.
After a good sleep in the villa, we woke up to a beautiful sunrise and headed to breakfast in Lumihiutale restaurant. “Lumihiutale” is Finnish for snow flake.
The breakfast was set up nicely and we ate on a balcony with the most amazing view of the ocean!
SNOWEXPERIENCE365: THE YEAR ROUND SNOWCASTLE OF KEMI
SnowExperience365 offers an inside space to play in the snow and ice in -5C temperatures (23F). It is located inside the main building, right next to the glass villas.
Most of the space is taken by the beautiful ice restaurant, where the tables are made of ice and the chairs are covered by reindeer fur. There are ice sculptures, an ice castle and a fun ice slide.
In order to slide on the ice, you should dress warmly. Our kids got in overalls, boots and a funny SnowCastle hat from reception to use inside. For adults they had some warm blankets.
The SnowExperience365 space is not huge, so it doesn’t take long to walk through it. However, our kids could have stayed there for hours just to do the slide.
The same building also has a reception, souvenir shop, Day Spa, ice cream bar and a restaurant.
When staying in one of the glass villas, you get to visit the SnowExperience365 for free. Otherwise, you will have to purchase a ticket from reception.
In the winter time, they used to have another huge SnowCastle outside in this area but they have since given up building it.
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We had a fun time in this beautiful place! I really enjoyed the Seaside Glass Villa we stayed in, and I would love to come back in the winter time, when you can see some snow, ice and maybe even the Northern Lights from the windows. But I think the kids enjoyed their “SnowExperience” the most!
You can book one of the Seaside Glass Villas from here.
Before heading back to my hometown Kokkola we drove all the way to Sweden side to visit the border town Haparanda, and to Santa Claus Village and SantaPark in Rovaniemi.
If you decide to visit Haparanda make sure to stop at the Kukkolaforsen which is a beautiful rapid with a nice restaurant area along the river.
Kemi is also a great stop if you are driving over to Arctic Ocean in Norway.
We hope will be able to return to Finland from California in the winter time some year, and visit Kemi again.
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🎅 Heading to Lapland? Here’s everything on Santa Claus Village and SantaPark in Rovaniemi.
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Gosh! This place looks heavenly! Love the look and feel of it. I’m sure you had a good time. 🙂
Thank you Renuka! We sure did. 🙂
Oh wow! What an amazing place. This is feeding my tiny house obsession. I can only imagine what it’s like to sleep with the Northern Lights above! And the spa there sounds so lovely. I’ve been to Finland but not to Lapland and you’re giving me great reason to go back! I’ve also been to the Icebar in Stockholm which is very similar to the SnowCastle. It was a lot of a fun but I must admit, I was so thankful for the warm gear they gave us! It wasn’t nearly as big as the SnowCastle since it didn’t have a slide. But I’m not even sure if I could sit on that! Haha!
Yes, if you visit Finland again Lapland is your place. Totally different from rest of Finland and it is interesting to see the Same people and their culture with reindeer.
Wow this place looks amazing! Love the Baltic birch wood planking inside the cabins…very homey. I would absolutely LOVE a place like this. To me, the more sunshine the better.
I’m there with you on the sun shine part but it would be amazing to be in one of these cabins and be able to watch the Northern Lights on the sky.
OMG we love unique experiences like this! A snow castle? A glass house? Yess, we will definitely add this to our bucket list. I can only imagine how amazing it must be to fall asleep to the Northern Lights shining above!
Cecilia, we have also visited the SnowCastle at the winter time and it is so amazing. I totally think this should be on every bucket list.
The Seaside Glass Villa looks cute. It appears small from the outside. But Looking at the interiors, it does not feel cramped. It’s amazing how the glass walls make it look spacious. The place looks immaculate too. It must be one-of-a-kind experience spending a clear winter night there especially if the Northern Lights shows up.
It didn’t feel cramped at all and we thought it was very nicely decorated from inside. All we need to do now is to return at the winter time so we can see Northern Lights there.
What a beautiful place to stay in this part of Finland! I think summer must be an interesting time of year to visit, as you only expect snow. It’s also great they left eye masks to help you sleep. I’m such a light sleeper, so this would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you Lisa! We really thought so too, it was very beautiful!
The seaside glass villas are such a cool idea. I wouldn’t mind that they are small as they as they had everything included like a toilet and shower. Getting free admission to the SnowExperience365 is a really nice perk that comes with staying in the villas. Even as an adult it looks fun to play in!
It was so much fun! We could definitely consider doing this again.
You won me over – this is stunning and amazing. I want to go now. The Seaside Glass Villas are amazing, so comfortable and I love the clean crisp decor and the views. My first stop would be the day spa then the icecream shop. Thanks for sharing this.
Ha ha.. thanks Jane! I’m glad you liked it because we loved it there.
This looks like such a great experience. I’ve never been to Finland so it’s high on my list, nice to get some more inspiration about visiting this place. I love those little glass villas with the glass roof – that must have been so much fun.
Thank you Paul. Finland is definitely worth visiting and this is fun place to stay at if you head up north.