Skýra Retreat: Lapland’s Dreamiest New Winter Hideaway Arrives Just in Time for Christmas

If your idea of a perfect Christmas involves snow-dusted forests, candlelit saunas, and the soft hush of Arctic winter, Finland has just delivered an early gift. Opening December 2025, Skýra Retreat—a small-but-mighty newcomer on the shores of Lake Norvajärvi, just outside Rovaniemi—feels like it was designed with festive escapism in mind. Think Nordic cabins, mid-century soul, woodland stillness, and a pace of life that nudges even the most hurried among us to take a deep, pine-scented breath.

A Finnish Schoolhouse Gets a Second Life (And a Sauna, Obviously)

The heart of Skýra Retreat is a beautifully restored 1950s village schoolhouse, the kind of building that practically radiates wholesome nostalgia—if your childhood classrooms had log walls, private saunas, and freestanding bathtubs, of course. When founder Susanne Hulbekkmo took on the project, she didn’t just renovate; she peeled back decades of wallpaper and post-war cardboard to reveal the original logs beneath, turning what was once hidden into a centrepiece of contemporary Nordic coziness.

Design comes courtesy of Marjo Saarinen, who knows her way around Finnish colour palettes and materials (translation: warm woods, soft hues, and wallpapers so charming they deserve their own Instagram account). Architects UKI Arkkitehdit, led by Johannes Jutila and Enni Hukka, stitched together old and new with elegant restraint—log suites tucked among ancient forests, a spa that’s basically an elevated homage to the Finnish thermal cycle, and sightlines designed to pull you constantly back toward nature.

The result? A retreat that is fully Finnish-owned, thoroughly Finnish-designed, and already making design-world waves as the first Finnish property to join Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

Suites Made for Slow Living

Skýra isn’t trying to be a mega-resort. Its scale is intimate—cozy, even—with four room categories that feel equal parts cabin fantasy and hygge handbook.

• The Grande Suites (in the Old Schoolhouse): Restored log walls, private saunas, deep soaking tubs, and a champagne button. Yes. A button. For champagne.

• Log Suites: Modern, timber-swathed villas with fireplaces, private saunas, terraces opening straight into the forest, and lofts ideal for yoga, journalling, or gazing dramatically at the snow.

• Teacher’s Chambers: Quirky, character-rich apartments once used by school staff, now outfitted with curated book selections and the kind of nooks that demand long reading sessions.

• Private Lakeside Villa: For the traveller who appreciates seclusion (or travels with children, friends, or a personal chef). Three bedrooms, a lakeside sauna, and direct access to the ice hole for bracing morning dips.

A Culinary Philosophy Rooted in Nordic Purity

Meals at Skýra Retreat are unhurried, seasonal, and quietly indulgent. Mornings begin with à la carte breakfasts; afternoons bring pullakahvit (the delightful Finnish ritual of coffee and pastries), and evenings revolve around a shifting three-course dinner that blends Nordic simplicity with French technique.

Expect dishes built on local producers, clever zero-waste details (fruit peels become cocktail bases), and nostalgic touches—like a new take on blueberry pie inspired by schoolchildren who once delivered berries to the kitchen each summer.

A Spa That Feels Like an Arctic Exhale

If there’s one thing the Finns know better than anyone, it’s how to sauna properly. Skýra’s open-air Nordic spa taps into the age-old rhythm of heat, cold, rest, repeat. This includes panoramic saunas, outdoor Jacuzzis steaming in the winter air, cold plunges, and the ultimate Arctic badge of honour: a wild swim in Lake Norvajärvi.

For a full cultural immersion, the Private Folklore Sauna layers in ancestral practices—incantations, birch whisking, and guided cold plunges with a sauna host who seems to have centuries of knowledge tucked into their wool socks.

Treatments continue the theme of Nordic wellness, from the deeply calming Brain Relief therapy (a Finnish neuro-physiological method) to the Herbal Embrace, where guests choose their own seasonal herb blend—meadowsweet, sweetgrass, lavender, calendula, rose, or lemon balm—for a massage that feels like a long exhale.

Daily wellness activities, creative workshops, sound baths, and forest bathing keep things serene. For more adrenaline (or Instagram cred), the team can arrange snowmobiling, reindeer safaris, and other Arctic adventures with trusted local partners.

The Perfect Christmas Escape? Absolutely.

With its intimate scale, design-forward sensibility, and deep connection to place, Skýra Retreat lands just in time for travellers seeking a holiday that’s more soulful than showy. December in Lapland brings the Northern Lights, twinkling forests, and a magical atmosphere that makes even adults vaguely believe in Santa again.

Whether you’re craving a quiet festive escape, planning a wellness-led New Year reset, or simply dreaming of a cabin in the snow with someone you like enough to share a sauna with, Skýra Retreat might just be the most compelling new opening of the season.

Skyra Retreat opens to guests in December 2025, for bookings visit: https://skyraretreat.com/en/signature-retreats