Stay in the trees with At Harads: Sweden’s luxury “Treehotels”
Sleeping in a tree house is nothing new, but Harads in Sweden offers an experience completely different from everyone else in the world.
There are so many fantastic hotels in the Nordic country Sweden. There is JumboStay at the airport in Stockholm for you who have fallen in love with the plane that flies over and forget to actually live in the fantastic buildings in Stockholm. There are the iconic ice hotels in northern Sweden, and there is Treehotel in Sweden’s northern Lapland.
Living here is like sleeping in another world. The thoughts behind this unusual hotel were Britta and Kent Lindvall who started the hotel in 2010 and built seven huts in the trees above. They were inspired by the film The tree lover. The rooms are suspended 4-6 meters above the ground and have fantastic views of the Lule River valley. Arrive on time and if you are lucky you may even see the northern lights.
The seven huts
- Northern Lights Season: From September to March
Each cabin is unique and various Scandinavian architects have left their incredible mark on the design. The hosts at Treehotel welcome all guests as a family. They try to take their guests away from the many stresses and demands of everyday life and create an unusual environment to relax in.
They combine ecological values, comfort, nature and modern design for an exciting adventure in Sweden’s sparse, hostile and yet captivating Lapland.
The seven huts are the bird’s nest, UFO, mirror cube, cottage, 7th room, dragonfly and blue cone. In addition, they also have a more conventional guest house. It is not possible to go into detail about all these amazing works of art, but they are all displayed on theirs website.
Bird’s nest room
The bird’s nest was created to blend into the surrounding environment and there you can feel at one with nature. Imagine sleeping in a giant bird’s nest that no one can look into!
To get hold of the bird’s nest, you have to climb a ladder and enter through a hatch in the floor. The room is a bit compact and has small windows but it is certainly bright enough. There are sliding doors that can be closed to provide separate bedrooms. There is also a toilet and padded seating by the windows.
It is popular with families with children and it can also be used by 4 adults.
- Capacity: 4 people
- Curved beds: Two of the beds are curved to follow the walls
- Tip: Leave large suitcases in the trunk – it’s hard to drag up and down!
- Size: 17 sqm
- Price for two: SEK 4,700 ($ 550) (depending on season)
UFO: t
When they made the UFO, they wanted to design the most unexpected thing in the forest – as everyone knows that the UFO only crash-lands in Roswell, New Mexico. What do they do in the forests in northern Sweden?
This floating UFO among the trees is made of high-strength composite material that makes the structure as light but durable as possible. The interior is as mundane as the exterior. It is a space-inspired world with a starry sky on the ceiling. When you relax in the UFO, you can feel it move when it is hung in wires and beams from the trees.
UFO has a capacity for five people, a double bed and three singers. It is the most popular family room. It is not suitable for 5 adults if all are long, the single beds are a bit short.
To get into the UFO, climb the electric, folding ladder up through the hatch in the floor (leave the large luggage).
- Capacity: 2 adults and 3 small people (small green men also work)
- Price for two: SEK 4,700 ($ 550) (depending on season)
Mirror cubes
Again, this is architecture when it is most imaginative. The cube measures 4x4x4 meters and is surrounded by mirror walls that both reflect and cause it to blend into its surroundings (like the mantle in Star Trek).
A tree trunk runs through the room and is enclosed by an aluminum frame – which forms the base of the room.
- Mirror glass: All exterior walls are covered with mirror glass
From the outside, it looks like the room is glass – just glass. But on the inside are the walls of light plywood with windows in three of them and in the ceiling. Perhaps one of the coolest things about this bizarre room is that there is a balcony behind a mirrored facade – you can walk outside the box and not be seen.
- Capacity: Two guests
- BED: Double bed
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