Got back on sunday from the Akas hotel travelling with Inghams. The good news is Lapland itself is magical and in spite of the hotel and inghams we had a great time. The bad news is, the hotel itself is dreadful (think youth hostel circa 1970). The staff are at best indifferent and at worst downright rude and although (privately) the inghams reps agreed with us they are basically ineffectual as head office couldn%26#39;t care less. Other tour operaters were moving people to real hotels, but inghams didn%26#39;t bother. IF YOU HAVE NOT BOOKED YET AVOID THE AKAS LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!!!
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oh dear , sorry to hear of you bad experience. Its so annoying these big companies take your money and are happy at doing just that , then couldnt care less. To save up for the so called trip of a lifetime and be disappointed is so heartbreaking. Hope this hasnt put you off going with a different tour operator.
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Sorry you didn%26#39;t enjoy the Akas hotel (Snow Elf), we were there for 3 nights last week going with First Choice. We thought the hotel was nice and enjoyed our stay and encountered no problems. Mind you we did stay in an apartment which was lovely. The staff we encountered seemed friendly enough, dining room staff always smiled and cleaned our tables quickly and said thank you when we left. Reception staff could have smiled a bit more when we arrived and left but still.
With us only having 3 nights there we didn%26#39;t have much time to sample the evening entertainment - the first we were in bed at 8.30 due to being up at 3am in the morning, the last night was the gala dinner so we only had one evening free. We didn%26#39;t mind early dinner to be honest but it%26#39;s the only holiday we%26#39;ve never had showers and changed before dinner. We got out of ski pants etc but waited until later to shower etc. After dinner it was sledging time again! then sauna (in the apartment) and shower.
I agree there wasn%26#39;t a lot of selection for dinner but not being familiar with Finland I%26#39;m not sure if they normally have a vast selection as you would have say in Spain. We always had a clean table - but we were there at 5 and were sat at a table first. The dining area was ok we thought and we are very fussy, perhaps not the fanciest place but not the worst place we%26#39;ve spent time in.
We weren%26#39;t aware that you couldn%26#39;t use the lounge bit after 9 - we went over on our middle night about 9 to see what was going off as we had heard the music. I did comment to my husband that there were no British people there. We sat down for about 45 and had a couple of drinks and nothing was said to us.
Perhaps if we had been there a week perhaps we would have had time to encounter problems etc. I will do a review when I get a few moments to spare.
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A rather unfortunate post to read, if you have saved hard and are looking forward to your holiday of a lifetime and staying at the Akas Hotel!!
Everybody experiences everything differently, so what has not been great for you, may be fine for others.
It can%26#39;t be that bad, as most of the tour operators are still featuring it for 2008/2009.
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Hi
Sorry to hear you were disappointed with the Akas Hotel, we have stayed there for the last two years, once in the hotel rooms and once in the cabins.
Although I would not describe the hotel as the Ritz. Foodwise it was good wholesome food, again, not cordon bleu, but very acceptable.
It has always been very clean and tidy.
One thing though, we only ate and slept at the hotel, as most of the time we were out either skiing or snowmobiling, maybe if you were to spend a lot of time there you may have a different view.
This isn%26#39;t the first time the Akas has had a negative rating, but most guests seem to find it very acceptable for a winter holiday.
One other thing, it does surprise me, in that you claim the staff were downright rude, one thing I have found, is that Finns are very friendly and polite.
Fortunately Pelhams, you did have a great time as you say.
Unfortunately we will not be in Akaslompolo this year, but If we had been going we would happily stay at Akas Hotel.
Out of interest Pelhams, what would you describe as a real hotel?
And could you expand on your experiences regarding the hotel, so maybe people could make up their minds on where they want to stay, and, if things have changed for the worse,possibly contact their travel companies to get things investigated.
I maybe haven%26#39;t worded this very well, as I imply no criticisms to yourselves.
Trev.
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Hi
Am going to Akas hotel for the first time with my 7yr old son for christmas week, from 23rd with crystal.
Have been totally over excited about it and am now feeling completely sick with fear.
Am a nurse, this holiday has cost me a whole lot of money and supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, what happens now if its a total mess?
Pelhams, you say that some companies were moving people out, were crystal doing that?
Have just had a long chat with the company who deny all knowledge and refuse to take this review seriuosly because its a %26#39;personal thing%26#39;... aren%26#39;t all experiences personal?
They have given me a number to call if things are bad when I get there, through which I can arrange a transfer of hotel and refund, but are not prepared to investigate now to prevent the problem from happening.
So 1 week to go and totally scared poopless... anyone else know anything about this place?
Yes I%26#39;m panicking.. this could be the most expensive christmas disaster ever.. help!
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Hi Doobidoo
We are going on Sunday for a week and i looked at many reviews for this hotel before i booked and did not find anything other than very minor things that were negative.
I have looked at the hotel on their website and the rooms look very nice and certainly not like a 1970%26#39;s youth hostel.
As your tour operator has said poor service can be a personal thing and i am not worried about going to the Akas as i have stayed in hotels that have had both good and appaling reviews and found no problems when i was there. Also from what most people have said the Finns are a very friendly people and i am sure they will look after us very well.
So don%26#39;t loose any sleep, i am sure you will have a great holiday after all most experiences are what you make them.
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We%26#39;re going to the Akas Hotel for 2 weeks....leaving this week-end. This is the first %26#39;bad%26#39; report I%26#39;ve seen.... I%26#39;m now feeling a bit concerened !!! But Hey..... I%26#39;m going to enjoy it what ever.
There%26#39;s a group of us going which always helps if you%26#39;ve got to complain.
See you all there
James
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Hi YZFR6
Thanks so much for replying. I had checked all the reviews and piccies too, but this one is so recent! It is only the second poor review I%26#39;ve read of the Akas though, so fingers crossed!
Have taken a few deep breaths!! and figure its too late to change anything now, if there is a problem when we get there, then Crystal have reassured me that they will %26#39;switch%26#39; us immediately to a suitable alternative.
In the meantime, I still have a week of working and planning to get through.
I%26#39;m a single parent so the resposibility for my little boy%26#39;s christmas feels heavier without someone to share the load!.. hence the small panic!
I hope you have a wonderful holiday, are you totally packed and waiting by the door in your ski-suit yet?
Thanks again for your reassurance, let us all know how much fun you have.
Best Wishes
Doobidoo
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YZFR6, you have nothing to be afraid of. Why not read all other reviews you can find about the Akas hotel on the net. I%26#39;m sure they are not all negative as I have visited the hotel myself although I have not stayed in their rooms. I have seen before these %26quot;avoid like the plague%26quot; comments about other hotels I know from personal experience to be quite normal. It is sad if they really scare people. They are so easy to write. I personally take more seriously specific complaints like %26quot;the rooms were dirty%26quot;, %26quot;the pool was out of order%26quot;, %26quot;the food was served cold%26quot;. And even then I check for comments by other people as well and may sometimes contact the hotel in advance.
I am sure the pelhams have had some bad experience with the hotel, it is perfectly possible. What I know about this hotel is that it is the number one hotel in the resort and the only one with a pool and mini spa (that%26#39;s why, in addition to the restaurant, we have visited it). The next biggest hotel there is owned by the same chain (Lapland hotels), and is the cheaper of the two. By the way the same chain also own e.g. Sirkantahti in Levi and the Pallas, Olos and Hetta hotels. So I really wonder what the OP means by moving people to %26quot;real hotels%26quot;. Or maybe the OP has got the hotel name wrong as there really are some youth hostel type accomodations in the area as well.
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Hi Doobidoo
Yes the bags are packed and the ski gear is ready and my 8 year old is determined she is going down a red this year!!!! so stand well clear at the bottom.
I hope you are fealing reasured by the other replies and are still looking forward to your hols.
Will post when we get back and maybe stick up some photos.
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