Most hotels frame the view. This one removes the frame entirely.
At Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort in Saariselkä, Lapland, you sleep inside a glass igloo — a small, heated structure where the ceiling is not a ceiling. It is sky. On a clear night in autumn or winter, the northern lights move through it while you lie still.
That is the architecture doing its job.
A Structure Built to Disappear
The glass igloos at Kakslauttanen are not decorative. They are a specific solution to a specific problem: how do you build an enclosure that feels like no enclosure at all?
The answer is thermal glass. Each dome is fitted with heated, thermally insulated panels that prevent frost and condensation from forming on the surface. The glass stays clear in temperatures that regularly drop below −20°C. From inside, nothing interrupts the view — no fogged edges, no haze.
The form is low and round, pressed close to the snow. The bed is positioned at the centre, oriented directly upward. The proportions are tight by design. There is not much room to move, and that is the point. The space compresses everything down to one relationship: you, and what is happening above.
This is glass-igloo Lapland architecture at its most deliberate. The building is the experience.
What the Night Actually Feels Like
The resort sits inside one of Europe’s largest national parks. There are no urban lights. In peak aurora season — September through March — the sky over Saariselkä is among the darkest in Finland.
When the lights arrive, they move. Green, sometimes white, occasionally violet. They shift across the dome in waves. You are warm. The snow outside is silent. The structure around you has done everything it could to make itself invisible.
During summer, the dynamic changes. The midnight sun fills the dome with a long, low amber light that never quite fades. A different kind of spectacle. Still architectural in its logic — the same glass, the same orientation, capturing something else entirely.
Both seasons are worth understanding before you book.
Saariselkä, Lapland — and When to Go
The resort is located near the village of Saariselkä in the Inari municipality of northern Finnish Lapland — about 250 km north of the Arctic Circle. The nearest airport is Ivalo, roughly 30 km away.
Aurora season runs from late September to late March, peaking in winter. These are the months the glass igloo was designed for. The site also offers husky safaris, reindeer safaris, and cross-country ski trails — useful to know, but secondary to what you came for.
Summer visits work well for the midnight sun. The glass dome reads differently in long light — warmer, slower. Still worth it.
If the northern lights are the reason, aim for October through February. Book early. These rooms fill quickly.
Book Kakslauttanen
Room types include small glass igloos (the signature option), large glass igloos, and traditional log cabins and chalets if you prefer solid walls for part of the stay.
Check availability and book here!
