Scandic Rukahovi

Reviewed Jan 22, 2024 This is a great place to stay in Ruka. The location can't be beaten - right in the middle of Ruka Village and literally a few yards from the Gondola and ski hire shops. We've stayed here four times now and picked the superior rooms to get access to the balcony, as the views on to the skiing area are spectacular. The rooms are comfortable and large, with a sizeable modern bathroom, a drying cabinet for ski gear, a fridge, a safe, a desk and chair and ample wardrobe space. The "double" rooms are actually twins with two smaller beds pushed together, in the European style. The refurbished room mattresses skated around a lot on the bed bases, but were really comfortable. The rooms are well-heated, even when it's well below zero outside, and we made use of the screened vents and the balcony door to moderate the temperature. Bathrooms are great with hot showers and big mirrors. There's a 50 inch TV with local and a small number of international channels, along with good information and some extras like workout videos. There's good quality Wifi, and the usual things like a kettle and tea and coffee. We got a refurbished room, which was a mixed blessing - the beds and furniture have been upgraded, but the TV didn't allow the use of the HDMI ports, which are blocked by the entertainment system. In previous years we've used a Chromecast but this year we were told we couldn't use it - after two weeks of Finnish adverts we were terribly bored of the TV and really missing the Chromecast. Noise was noticeable at night in the deluxe balcony rooms, but not extreme- the IHKU nightclub under the hotel is good fun but kicks out after 3am, so there's a background of thumping dance music and some screaming and shouting at kick-out time. Didn't bother us a lot, but during the light festival there was also loud music from the TV screen at the Piste restaurant, a droning synthesiser piece that repeated and repeated all night, and eventually interfered with our sleep. You'd think it would be turned off overnight ! Although we didn't use them, there are Sauna facilities. Breakfast is wonderful, a great mix of Finnish and international breakfast food, served in a separate area at the back of the hotel. There's a great restaurant and bar at the front of the hotel that serves local dishes at a cost. We usually book the half-board option, and the hotel has listened to feedback over the years. We've eaten some great choices there with a local flavour - reindeer salad, lamb stew, white fish, pickled vendace, alongside some more conventional salads, nuggets, pasta, meatballs and vegetarian selections. The hotel has clearly made a lot of effort on the half-board menu, adding in local food, desserts and choice, which is great to see. The quality of the food is excellent, although some fruit for dessert would be nice. The staff are all great - courteous and really helpful. They can't do enough for you. The rooms are kept spotless and clean, as are the

Just back from a week at this hotel booked through Crystal Ski. Very nice hotel. We booked a superior room with balcony overlooking the ski slope and village centre, cracking view! Room very spacious, comfortable bed, tea/coffee making facilities, heated cabinet to dry ski gear, spacious bathroom, good shower with plenty of hot water. A super nice room. The hotel staff are all excellent, very helpful and friendly. Gave good recommendations for trips out…. much cheaper than through Crystal Ski. Food was all buffet style, breakfast and dinner. We enjoyed the food, lots of choice and good quality… particularly the fish offerings. Stunning views from the residents dining room. Comfortable lounge/lobby/bar area. Spacious ski lockers. Sauna. All in all, an excellent hotel right in the village centre, literally a few steps from the gondola. We highly recommend this hotel for a winter break. We loved our stay!

I had the opportunity to stay in the newly renovated room. The experience was excellent. However the breakfast room had run down and should be renovated to fit into to the level of the hotel

The room was clean, the staff very friendly. It was still quiet and peaceful. There is no entertainment or anything to do in the hotel room. You can't connect your own computer or phone to the TV, or watch anything in your room at night. That's a big drawback. The soap used in the hotelrooms is very strong-smelling. It smells like old Old Spice perfume, and that's not a good thing.

Stayed at Scandic Rukahovi twice within a couple of days and it was one of the worst hotel experiences I’ve had in a very long time. The first night was in a Standard room, which was incredibly run down, like straight from late eighties, and had no sound proofing at all. It sounded like the man next door was in the same room with me. The second night was in a Superior room with sauna, which was better except for the fact that the sauna didn’t work. The receptionist said that there had been issues with the sauna in that particular room before and there’s nothing she can do. The room keeps being sold though as a Superior with a sauna. The hotel is badly under-staffed and in a desperate need of full renovation. I would not recommend.