Retreat to a Swedish Treetop Hotel

If you have been caught in the grip of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy and the unfolding WikiLeaks drama surrounding Julian Assange, then this unusual treehouse hotel in Norrbotten, in the remote north of Sweden, may well appeal with it’s James Bond-like futuristic characteristics.

The Treehotel, which opened last year, is a new eco-friendly design hotel with seven rooms perched high above the ground in the pines like avant-garde birds nests surrounded by forest, water, wilderness, and absolute stillness. Each room is the creation of one of Sweden’s leading designers and architects who jumped on board to support the owners, Kent and Britta Jonsson-Lindvall, in their wild concept. “The idea was to create a comfortable, well-designed hotel which allows visitors to live in harmony with nature amongst the trees,” says Kent Lindvall. The inspiration came from the documentary film “Trädälskaren” (Treelover) by Jonas Selberg Augustsen. It is the story of three men from an urban environment who look to get back to their roots by building a tree house together. It is a philosophical film about what “the tree” means to humans, both historically and culturally. Lindvall says, “It has been our inspiration to expand the idea into a hotel, with the added dimension of innovative modern design.”

Treehotel consists of a group of uniquely individual rooms created in harmony with the natural surroundings and Lindvall’s ecological values. Currently, there is the Tree Sauna, the Birds Nest, the Blue Cone, the Cabin, the Mirror Cube, the UFO and A Room With A View, but there is a plan to build 24 new rooms in the next five years. “It is important that we find another way to value the forest, rather than to cut the trees for industrial use. This boreal forest is one of the Earth’s lungs. We need to look after it.” Thankfully, the Lindvall’s have saved this beautiful spot from just such a fate when they wrestled it out of the hands of a logging company.

Treehotel is located in the beautiful village of Harads, approximately 60 km south of the Arctic Circle, and is a one-hour drive from Luleå, which has the largest airport in northern Sweden. Activities include walking, local Sami cultural visits, hot tubs in the treetops, horse riding, forestry work with a horse, Husky sled safaris in the boreal forest, snowshoeing, sleigh riding, speed sensation-skijoring behind a horse and ice-fishing on the Luleå River. Wandermelon is already a huge fan.

Rates: Approx US$550-650 per room for two guests (buffet breakfast included). Become a Treehotel Facebook Fan and enjoy a 30% discount for the month of April. (Offer valid from 1 April to 30 April.) For more information, email: info@treehotel.se or phone: +46 (0)928 104 03.