Treehotel

Treehotel in Harads, Sweden, a distinguished Michelin Key Selected property, offers a truly unique and immersive stay amidst the pristine beauty of Swedish Lapland. Guests consistently praise its innovative design, tranquil forest setting, and exceptional hospitality.

1. Overall Rating & Sentiment

The general consensus for Treehotel is overwhelmingly positive, with guests frequently describing it as a "magical experience," "unique," and "beyond expectations." It garners excellent review scores across platforms, with high ratings for location (9.3), cleanliness (9.2), comfort (9.2), and staff (9.2). The hotel is celebrated for blending cutting-edge architecture with natural surroundings and home comforts.

2. Key Highlights

Guests consistently laud several aspects of Treehotel:

• Unique Design: The individually crafted treehouses, designed by various architects, are a major draw, offering an unforgettable and visually stunning experience.
• Stunning Nature & Tranquility: The opportunity to sleep among the treetops in the middle of a pine forest, waking up to gorgeous views and complete silence, is a highly cherished highlight, providing a peaceful and rejuvenating escape.
• Exceptional Staff: The staff receives frequent praise for being welcoming, helpful, friendly, and stellar, often going "beyond expectations."
• Dining Experience: The food, especially dinner and breakfast, is consistently described as delicious, outstanding, and a highlight of the stay.
• Forest Spa: The outdoor jacuzzi and saunas are also highly recommended, providing a relaxing experience "in the middle of the forest."
• Activities: The hotel offers a range of prepared activities, from guided forest tours and snowmobile safaris to dog sledding and fishing, catering to adventure enthusiasts.

3. Room Quality

Treehotel features seven distinct treehouses, each with its own unique design and character, including the Mirrorcube, 7th Room, UFO, Bird's Nest, Blue Cone, Cabin, Dragonfly, and the newest addition, Biosphere. Rooms are designed to blend with nature, offering splendid views of the forest and surrounding landscape, often including the Lule River valley.

Each cabin is equipped with modern amenities for a comfortable stay, such as large beds, stylish decor, underfloor heating, electricity, air conditioning, a coffee maker, kettle, refrigerator, and free WiFi. Many also feature incinerating toilets and a sustainable Rukkamoika water system for handwashing. For example, the Mirrorcube offers a double bed with a large window and a rooftop terrace, while the 7th Room, the biggest and most luxurious, includes a net floor and views, and the UFO has a space-inspired interior with a starry sky in the ceiling, accommodating up to five people. The Cabin, a popular choice for couples, provides a balcony with seating. The Blue Cone is notable for its accessibility, featuring a ramp for entry.

It is important to note that while all rooms have a toilet and washbasin, showers are sometimes located in a neighboring building or are designed with limited privacy, which some guests have found to be a drawback. However, the Biosphere treehouse notably includes en-suite facilities, a private sauna, and a shower.

4. Dining Experience

Dining at Treehotel is a highly praised experience. Breakfast is served daily in the guesthouse building and features a hearty mix of traditional Swedish items like bread, cheese, cold cuts, jam, eggs, bacon, and smoked salmon. Dinners, also served in the cozy guesthouse with its 1930s-50s inspired decor and fireplace, are described as something special. The kitchen team focuses on wild game and locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, with dishes cooked with passion. Guests have particularly enjoyed three-course dinners, with options such as moose, Arctic Char, and reindeer steak, and the "chef's special dinner" comes highly recommended. Room service is available, but the hotel recommends dining in the main building for the full experience. There's also a bar/lounge for guests to enjoy.

5. Service & Staff

The staff at Treehotel consistently receives glowing reviews for their hospitality. They are described as welcoming, helpful, friendly, and stellar, often contributing significantly to the overall positive experience. Guests appreciate the staff's attentiveness and their ability to make visitors feel "at home."

6. Location & Accessibility

Treehotel is nestled in Harads, a village in Swedish Lapland, offering a serene forest environment. It's an ideal location for those seeking to connect with nature, enjoy quiet, and potentially witness the Northern Lights.

The closest major airport is Luleå Airport (LLA), located approximately 70-100 kilometers away, which translates to a scenic drive of about 70 to 90 minutes. Guests can arrange airport transfers with the hotel (surcharge applies), rent a car, or take a bus from Luleå bus station to Harads. The nearest train station is Boden, about 35 minutes from Harads.

Upon arrival, check-in takes place at the main guesthouse, which is also home to the restaurant and activities starting point. The tree rooms are a short walk away, approximately 500 meters, through the forest. Luggage assistance is provided, especially for rooms accessed via ladders like the UFO and Bird's Nest, where large luggage is stored at the guesthouse. The Blue Cone room is specifically designed to be accessible for visitors with reduced mobility, featuring a ramp.

7. Value & Pricing

Treehotel's pricing is often considered to offer "exceptional value" compared to the average hotel room in Harads, with an average room price around $651. For instance, The Cabin can be booked from 5200 SEK per night for two persons. However, some guests perceive the overall cost as high, particularly concerning additional services like the Forest Spa or certain dinner experiences, suggesting they might be "overpriced." Guests recommend considering the cost of activities and planning for additional expenses. Prices can fluctuate based on season, with October and February potentially offering cheaper deals.

8. Common Complaints

While reviews are overwhelmingly positive, some recurring issues or criticisms include:

• Shower Facilities: A frequent complaint is the lack of private showers in all rooms, with some requiring guests to use shared showers in a separate building or noting a lack of privacy (e.g., no curtains or blinds) in some treehouse shower areas.
• Mosquitoes: During the summer months, Northern Sweden can be notorious for mosquitoes, and while the pine forest environment at Treehotel may help, guests advise the hotel could provide repellents like Thermacel.
• Forest Spa Pricing/Quality: Some guests felt the Forest Spa was an "additional charge" that did not feel worth the price, or that the sauna was disappointingly cold due to an open floor.
• Remoteness and Transfer Costs: The distance from Luleå Airport (1.25 hours by car) and the associated high transfer costs (around 2,700 SEK per way) are sometimes mentioned as a drawback, with recommendations for the hotel to arrange transfers at a more reasonable price.
• Maintenance & Aesthetics: A few reviews mentioned a "dire need for professional decoration and maintenance" and that aesthetically, some areas "need some TLC," though functional aspects were fine.
• Checkout Confusion: One guest reported being misled about luggage clearance times, finding their bags still in the room past the instructed checkout.

Sources

1. booking.com
2. booking.com
3. booking.com
4. swedishnomad.com
5. thenordicnomad.com
6. hotels.com
7. treehotel.se
8. treehotel.se
9. agoda.com
10. rome2rio.com
11. kayak.com
12. booking.com