Located near the small town of Harads in northern Sweden, the Treehotel is perfectly situated on the hills of the Lule River valley. Surrounded by lush pine forest, rocky outcrops and the wide, meandering Lule River, the location is truly spectacular.
After a stunning drive through the beautiful Swedish countryside, Amy and I arrived at Britta's Pensionat, ready for our night in the trees. The guesthouse is where you check-in and it has a traditional Swedish style to it: a real home-from-home. With photos of the family, beautiful paintings and all sorts of trinkets and ornaments, you instantly feel relaxed upon walking in.
After a warming meal, we sat down with Britta and the time we had both been waiting for arrived...which rooms would we be staying in!?
We had read and heard so much about the various rooms that we couldn't wait to find out. Britta slowly pulled the keys from her pocket and put the keys on the table...... it was the UFO for me and the Cabin for Amy. We couldn't wait to explore!
Britta also gave us the keys to the rest of the rooms, so that we could have a quick look at these, prior to the other guests checking in.
We strolled past the guesthouse, along the wooded path and into the green forest, filled with tall trees and luscious shrubs. With each turn, I wondered when we would see them. After a brisk walk uphill, we spotted the first one: The Cabin. The sight of it was far more spectacular than I could have imagined. Nestled high amongst the trees, a long metal walkway lead to your private door. Upon opening, the floor-to-ceiling window was revealed: the views from The Cabin were outstanding. The modern interior was beautifully laid out and you could happily sit staring out of the window for hours watching the trees rustling in the wind, or the clouds dancing across the sky, over the wide valley below.
After we managed to prise ourselves away from the window, we moved on to find my room, the UFO. Past the hidden saunas, as well as the aptly named Bird's Nest room, we followed the path through the trees until we spotted the large metallic object looming in the sky. It looked like something out of E.T. and I couldn't wait to have a peek inside. And so the fun began...
Britta had told us about the intricacies of accessing both the UFO and the Bird's Nest: 'Put the key in the tree and turn'. Hmmmm, sounds interesting I thought! After finding the little silver box on one of the trees, I inserted the key and turned. The UFO's door slowly opened and out popped a compact metal ladder (sadly, no little green men though!). As the motor gently whirred away, the ladder began to drop to the ground. I couldn't quite believe where I was and what I was seeing - it definitely wouldn't have been out of place in a Hollywood film! Eventually the ladder rested on the ground...touchdown!
I grabbed onto the ladder, peering into the alien abyss above and began to climb, all the way thinking to myself that this was the oddest, yet most enjoyable entrance to a hotel room that I had ever encountered.
Although there weren't any flying controls, or aliens running back and forth, the inside of The UFO was brilliant: with a large bed, breakfast bar and sofas around the outside, it had everything that I would need for the night. I collapsed onto the sofa and peered out of one of the windows, down onto the forest floor, feeling like I was about to lift off into space.
Out in the trees, with no sound but the wind, thoughts of what the forest and the various rooms within it look like in winter came to mind: bright, crisp snow capping the tops of the trees, with a path carved out of snow drifts, lined by lanterns and weaving through the magical forest up and into the rooms in the sky. I felt incredibly privileged to spend a night in the Treehotel and I think I definitely need to start planning my next trip here to see what it has to offer in winter...no doubt it is a beautiful place to be.
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