Treehotel in Harads, a small village in Swedish Lapland near the Arctic Circle, is a hotel made of rooms hung in a pine forest, each one designed by a different Scandinavian architecture studio. A mirrored cube, a giant bird’s nest and a flying saucer share the same hillside above the Lule River valley.

Treehotel’s UFO room, a flying-saucer shaped cabin among tall pine trees in Harads

How Treehotel began

The story starts with a film. Kent Lindvall, a former vocational guidance counsellor, and Britta Lindvall, a former nurse, ran a small guesthouse and restaurant in Harads from 2004. In 2008 they watched Trädälskaren (The Tree Lover), a documentary by their friend Jonas Selberg Augustsén about three city people who build a treehouse in the forest. The film had been shot at their 1930s guesthouse.

They began by renting out the film’s treehouse as an experiment. Guests loved it, and the idea grew during a fishing trip in Russia that Kent led, when three Swedish architects were among the group. Treehotel opened in 2010 with its first rooms, and new ones have been added since.

The rooms and their architects

Every room is a stand-alone piece of architecture. The current collection includes:

  • Mirrorcube by Tham & Videgård Arkitekter (2010): a cube clad in reflective glass that mirrors the trees around it, with a plywood interior and a pine trunk rising through the middle.
  • Bird’s Nest by Bertil Harström of Inredningsgruppen (2010): a room wrapped in a tangle of branches, sleeping four and reached by a retractable staircase.
  • UFO, also by Inredningsgruppen: a composite flying saucer wedged among the trees, entered through a hatch in its base.
  • The Cabin by Cyrén & Cyrén (2010): a capsule hanging from the trees, reached by a long bridge, with big windows over the Lule River valley.
  • Blue Cone by Sandellsandberg (2010): clad in birch shingles and set on stilts with a gentle ramp, which makes it accessible for guests with disabilities.
  • Dragonfly by Rintala Eggertsson Architects (2013): almost 20 tonnes of timber and rusty metal sheeting carried by six pines, with two bedrooms, a lounge and a bathroom.
  • 7th Room by Snøhetta (2016): the tallest and largest of the rooms, built of charred timber, with a net terrace where you can lie above the forest floor.
  • Biosphere by BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) and Oasis by Nadén & Lind, the newer additions to the collection.
A raised room and walkway reflected in the glass walls of Treehotel’s Mirrorcube

Choosing a room

Because each room comes from a different studio, they feel very different from the inside. Mirrorcube is all about reflections and the trunk in the centre of the room. The Cabin and the 7th Room are the ones to pick for views across the valley. Bird’s Nest and UFO suit families and small groups, while Blue Cone is the practical choice for anyone who wants to avoid stairs.

Look at the floor plan, bed arrangement and bathroom layout on the official Treehotel website before booking. Meals are served at Table by Treehotel, and there is also a conventional guesthouse on site.

Treehotel room raised among the pines in Harads, Swedish Lapland
Treehotel architecture in the Harads forest, view two
Treehotel architecture in the Harads forest, view three

When to visit Harads

The rooms are open all year, and each season gives a different stay. Winter brings snow on the pines, short days and a chance of the northern lights over the forest, one of the main reasons guests come. Summer is green, with long, light evenings for walking, fishing and time on the river.

A few minutes away on the Lule River is Arctic Bath, a hotel and spa that opened in 2020, where half of the accommodation and a circular spa with an open-air cold bath float on the water. Pairing a night in the trees with an evening at the spa makes a fine Swedish Lapland weekend.

Treehotel architecture in the Harads forest, view four
Treehotel architecture in the Harads forest, view five
Treehotel architecture in the Harads forest, view six

For another Swedish experience, this time underground, our Stockholm metro art guide takes you through the city’s painted stations.

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