Treehotel

The honest review

The Treehotel in Harads is the only hotel in Scandinavia (possibly in Europe) where the rooms themselves are the attraction rather than the landscape they enable access to. Seven architect-designed treehouse structures — each commissioned from a different architect with a different concept — are suspended in the pine forest: a Bird's Nest that appears as an oversized natural nest from the ground, a Mirror Cube whose reflective glass exterior makes it visually invisible in the trees, a UFO on stilts that looks exactly as named, a Biosphere sphere of mesh and glass.

For families, the Mirror Cube and Bird's Nest are the two that produce the strongest response in children who see photographs — which is usually the driving motivation for the booking. The Blue Cone accommodates a family group. The Bird's Nest, which appears as a 4-meter-diameter nest in the canopy and opens to a modern interior with en-suite bathroom, is the appropriate first choice for families.

The location in Swedish Lapland (110km north of the Arctic Circle) gives northern lights viewing from October through March — on clear nights, visible from outside the treehouses or through the skylight windows. Husky sleds and snowmobile tours depart from the property in winter. In summer, the midnight sun (complete darkness never falls between June and July) and moose safaris are the draws.

The practical limitation is family logistics: rooms accommodate 2 people. Families need to book 2 adjacent rooms, which significantly increases cost. The Blue Cone is the only room with family-appropriate capacity. Plan accordingly.