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Our Story

Our Journey Begins

At the beginning, all I had was a dream. While I was studying the hotel and hospitality business in the early 1990s, I got the idea of setting up my own safari business. I loved the outdoors, driving snowmobiles and skiing. That was probably because my home village is about 25 km north from the hotel and there was nothing much else to do in my childhood. The nearest pizzeria was in Oulu, 160 km away.

I was lucky enough to meet my lovely wife Katariina at secondary school. She was from a much bigger place, the neighbouring “city” of Taivalkoski, a village with 5,000 inhabitants. We got married and together we moved to Helsinki to study the hotel and hospitality business. I studied restaurant and hotel management in Helsinki and Katariina tourism in Porvoo.

Early Days as an Entrepreneur

The work to build our dream began back then. I established my first safari business and I thought Iso-Syöte was just the place, as there were no safari services available at that time. I remember thinking back then, how lucky we were, to be able to come back to our roots to build a business.

Together with my great friend Jorma Jokela, our safari business saw the light of day at Iso-Syöte on 1 December 1995. The idea was to offer snow mobile safaris and skiing trips to foreign tourists. Business was slow to begin with, so I needed another job. That job was found very close by, as I was hired as the sales manager, bartender, receptionist, waiter, you name it, at the local Iso-Syöte Hotel. There was an endless amount of work to do, I was happy to accept the challenge and the next thing I knew, I had become the hotel manager. A year later, in spring 1997, I leased the hotel and started running it as if it were my own.

The Rise 1998–2018

I was a young hotel manager with a dream. The idea was to expand the hotel business by investing in an activities programme that would attract the interest of international guests. In 1995, we had not had a single foreign customer.

But what we may have lacked in sense we made up with our enthusiasm and drive. I still vividly remember how Jorma and I sold our very first large safari. Suddenly we had to come up with 130 snowmobiles, which was a challenge if you think that at that time we owned none. Somewhere, somehow we managed to get hold of enough snow mobiles and the experience was a huge success, not perhaps financially but it did bring us good publicity and gave us faith that we were doing something right. If you don’t believe in yourself, who will?

From Dream to International Success

A New Chapter of Growth

When I acquired full ownership of the hotel in 2007, it freed my hands to put all my ambition into developing the business. We built the Fell Top Cottages and remodelled the hotel and added new luxury suites. People were fascinated by the unique location, staying in cottages and being able to find all the services they needed in one place.

Building an International Reputation

Building an international reputation, I accumulated an impressive number of travel days and flight miles: we appeared in trade fairs, built contacts with tour organisers and worked hard to build the Iso-Syöte brand. The number of visitors grew steadily each year and then – a lightbulb moment occurred during a flight: Pudasjärvi is known for its eagle population, and a live eagle nest cam had gained wide popularity among the online community. This gave me the idea of a new boutique suite that I named the Eagle View Suite.

The Eagle View Breakthrough

The Eagle View Suite became our flagship, and it brought us plenty of publicity and an influx of international guests. The British newspaper Daily Telegraph named it the fourth most romantic suite in the world, and it was usually sold out for the entire season before the season even began. Encouraged by this success, we opened another boutique suite in 2018, Bear Cave Suite.

Success Is a Team Effort

Each project must have a leader but for us it is essential to understand that we work best as a team. Thinking back to those years, the dedication of our staff is always at the top of my mind: it was they who, with their professionalism and commitment, made it happen. My crazy ideas suddenly made sense, and we would move on to the next, even crazier idea.

The Team Behind the Success

I could not have achieved any of this without my lovely wife Katariina, with whom we have together built our dream. She is the strength and wisdom behind it all. Jorma, my best mate, with whom we started our first safari business. Heikki, who made it possible. Vesa, the previous hotel owner, who allowed us to spread our wings and have a go at running a hotel. Gerralda and Remco – the Netherlands’ gift to the Finnish travel industry who fell in love with Iso-Syöte and joined us to help make it the international success that it has become. Arto, Terttu, Sanna, Soili, Matti, Jyrki, Ilkka, Antti, Jaakko, Lari, Pertti, Hanne, Anna, Timo, Jonna and Janne, Jorma and Tarja … the list goes on.  

 By the time the winter season 2018–2019 began, I was managing a hotel that was fully renewed and fully booked for the entire season. More than 80 per cent of our customers were from abroad, from all corners of the world. I felt like a winner, almost.

The Fall  21.12.2018

The Darkest Night

Shortly before Christmas 2018, I became a hotel owner whose life’s work had burnt to the ground overnight. The timing could not have been any worse, it was the peak of the high season and the hotel was at capacity. The material losses were enormous, but happily we were able to get every customer and staff member out of the burning building in time. In the midst of all that chaos, that was the only thing that really mattered.

What the fire took

The fire that started from the old fireplace in the Bear Cave Suite, destroyed the restaurant, the reception, the office and the Arctic Spa. The hotel rooms and the Aurora Suites suffered extensive smoke and water damage. The Eagle View Suite was the only part that survived unscathed.

Rising from the Ashes

Surrounded by these smoking ruins, we made the decision to roll up our sleeves and together designed a hotel on top of Iso-Syöte that would be even better and even more extraordinary. I owe the biggest thanks to our customers, staff, designers and builders. I will also forever be in my family’s and friends’ debt, as they supported and helped me through the darkest hour.

A New Beginning 2019–

Feeniks – The New Beginning

I was now a hotel owner facing a new beginning. I am writing this story in the Phoenix Suite, which was built to commemorate the fire and to symbolise a new beginning. We never doubted for a second that we would rebuild the hotel and make it even better than before. We wanted to create something memorable and out of this world, such as the SkyWalk roof terrace with sweeping fell top views.

When the World Stopped

The hotel was reopened in stages from autumn 2019, and the new chapter in our story began. But as soon as we had turned a corner, new challenges awaited us. The whole world closed down in late spring 2020 because of the global coronavirus pandemic. At the time of writing this, we still don’t know for sure how long the pandemic will last and what its consequences will be. But we have no choice except to keep going, onwards and upwards – once again.

A Landscape That Touches the Heart

When I first climbed the Syöte fell as a little boy, there was nothing here except a fire lookout tower and a rocky path leading up to it. The transformation is breath-taking, and it certainly has not come easy. I know we are in the right path when I see a guest leave with a tear in their eyes. And let me tell you, those tears were not because of a bad service! They were tears of friendly farewell after experiencing something in this majestic landscape that touched their heart.

We will continue our work to give our customers at the Arctic Hilltop Boutique Hotel Iso-Syöte unforgettable experiences and moments of happiness. I hope that as our valued guests you will find peace, enjoy the serene atmosphere, the stunning fell-top environment, delicious food and the friendly service of our dedicated staff.