Holiday Club Saariselkä Review

Comfortable, central and surprisingly affordable

I’ll be honest – Holiday Club Saariselkä wasn’t somewhere I researched and selected from a shortlist of options. I booked it through my timeshare membership, which made it an easy decision from a cost perspective. But what I found when I arrived was genuinely impressive and by the end of the week I was telling other travellers to look it up.

I was there in January 2026 with a friend and we spent a full week in Saariselkä – snowshoeing, doing a reindeer safari, visiting Sauna World, exploring the village and watching the Northern Lights at stupid o’clock in the morning because the jet lag had other plans. Holiday Club Saariselkä was our base for all of it and it absolutely delivered.

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At a glance

• Location – Central Saariselkä, Finnish Lapland
• Accommodation type – Cabin-style apartments and hotel rooms
• Sleeps – Up to 4 per cabin (2 private + 2 loft)
• Sauna – Yes – private sauna in apartment bathroom
• Kitchen – Yes – full self-catering facilities including washing machine
• Parking – Yes – on-site
• Price – Budget-friendly to mid-range for Saariselkä
• Erin’s firsthand stay – January 2026 (winter)
• Best for – Couples, friends, small families, self-caterers, first-time Saariselkä visitors

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The accommodation – what to expect

Holiday Club Saariselkä is a larger property than it first appears. The main complex is split across two sides – the cabin-style apartments on one side of the road (where we stayed) and hotel rooms on the other. That variety is actually one of its strengths, because it means there’s an option to suit different travel styles and budgets.

We stayed in a one-bedroom cabin apartment that had a queen-size bed downstairs and a loft with two single beds upstairs. Perfect for two people who each wanted their own space – we each claimed a zone and settled in for the week.

Inside the cabin apartment

I’ve stayed in a fair few Lapland properties now and I was genuinely impressed by this one. It had everything we needed and nothing felt dated or tired. Highlights included –

• Private sauna in the bathroom – not a shared sauna, your own
• Full kitchen with everything needed for self-catering
• Washing machine – a genuine game-changer when you’re rotating technical layers
• Drying room/entry vestibule – a two-door airlock-style entry where we left wet gear to dry overnight
• Beautiful outlook – no complaints on the view
• Comfortable lounge area – great for evenings in
• Parking directly at the property

The drying room deserves a special mention. When you’re doing activities every day in Arctic temperatures, your gear gets wet. Having somewhere to leave it all overnight – boots, gloves, base layers – so it’s dry and warm in the morning is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. Holiday Club Saariselkä had this sorted.

Location – the real advantage

If you’ve read my Saariselkä destination guide, you’ll know that the village isn’t huge. Everything is built around a central hilltop and Holiday Club Saariselkä sits right in the thick of it. We were about a five to ten minute walk from the Kuukkeli shopping complex, which is the main hub for groceries, the café, the souvenir shop and the outdoor equipment hire.

On our morning walks (thanks, jet lag), we passed multiple restaurants, cafés, tour operator offices and other properties within minutes. Being central in Saariselkä means you’re also well-placed for Northern Lights viewing – the village is small enough that getting away from light pollution is easy and we spotted the aurora right from where we were staying.

How does it compare? Value in context

While I was at Saariselkä, I sat down for an interview with Jonne from Kuukkeli (located in the Lapland Lowdown) – the company that owns Holiday Club Saariselkä, among several other properties in the area. He was candid about where the Holiday Club sits in their portfolio – it’s one of the more affordable options because it hasn’t been through a recent full renovation, but there are plans to develop it further.

That context is useful. What you’re getting is solid, comfortable, well-equipped accommodation at a lower price point than many comparable properties in Saariselkä. Several people I spoke to during my stay had found it through Booking.com specifically because of the price-to-location ratio and they were happy with their choice.

For travellers who want to self-cater (which I strongly recommend as a way to manage the cost of eating out in Finnish Lapland), a full kitchen and washing machine are worth serious weight in your decision-making.

Who is Holiday Club Saariselkä best for?

• Couples or friends travelling together who want their own space
• Budget-conscious travellers who want to self-cater and save on food costs
• First-time Saariselkä visitors who want a central base to explore the village on foot
• Timeshare members – definitely check if Saariselkä is in your network
• Anyone who wants a private sauna without paying premium igloo prices

Who might want to look elsewhere?

• Travellers wanting a glass igloo or panoramic Northern Lights sleeping experience
• Those wanting luxury or newly renovated interiors
• Guests wanting full hotel services such as daily housekeeping and a restaurant on-site

Practical details

How to book

Based on what other guests told me during my stay, Holiday Club Saariselkä is bookable through Booking.com and likely other third-party platforms. It is worth comparing prices – direct booking is not always cheaper, so it pays to check multiple options.

• Hotel style apartments
• 3-bedroom wooden apartment

Getting there

Saariselkä is approximately three and a half hours drive from Rovaniemi (allow four to five hours if you’re driving in winter conditions for the first time, as we did). You can also fly into Ivalo Airport, which is around 30 minutes from Saariselkä. Holiday Club Saariselkä has on-site parking if you’re hiring a car.

Staying connected

I’d recommend picking up an eSIM before you travel. It kept us connected for maps, Google Translate (essential in Finnish supermarkets) and aurora app tracking throughout the week. Use HolaFly esim and get 5% off with the code: PARKERSFROMAUS.

My honest verdict

Holiday Club Saariselkä exceeded my expectations – which isn’t a low bar when you’re in Lapland and the landscape is doing most of the heavy lifting. But the accommodation itself was genuinely comfortable, well-equipped, in the ideal location and affordable relative to the rest of Saariselkä.

If you’re planning your first trip to Saariselkä and you’re not sure where to start with accommodation, this is a very solid choice – especially if you plan to self-cater, want your own sauna and prefer to be within walking distance of everything. I’d go back for sure!

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