Ilulissat

Travelers' Takes

Rates and Deals

Hotel Arctic Ilulissat

More Photos
  • Add to Trip Check Rates
  • Box 1501
     Ilulissat DK-3952
    +299 944153
  • Not quite right? Change PhotoUpdate Address
MikeInTown
MikeInTown
First Reviewer
4 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
1
Review
9
Photos
Editor Pick

Hotel Arctic

  • August 17, 2008
  • Rated 4 of 5 by MikeInTown from Norristown, Pennsylvania
Hotel Arctic

Our hotel accommodation in Ilulissat was the Hotel Arctic. It's a nice hotel that sits on a hill located about a mile from the center of town. The hotel provides an hourly complimentary shuttle to transport guests to/from town.

Our modern room consisted of a queen-sized bed, iron, and small snack bar (expensive!) among other things. From our room, we could see the harbor, the colorful town, and the iceberg-filled Disko Bay. The curtains were not very good at blocking out the 24-hour sunlight. I always felt we were just laying down for an afternoon nap when we turned in for the day.

We needed to insert our key into a slot near the entrance of the room to turn on the electricity. Doing this prevents wasting energy while not occupying the room. On the other hand, you run the risk of locking the key in the room if you forget to remove it from the slot when you exit. This manner of conserving electricity also meant I had to reset the alarm clock every evening before going to sleep.

Our room had a flat screen television but there was not much of a channel selection. There was one Danish channel and a closed circuit channel on which the hotel showed two American or British movies per day over and over. There was one channel that showed a very informative program about Greenland culture and history over and over. It was very nicely done. The hotel has a free internet terminal in its lobby.

There is a boardwalk behind the hotel that leads to some metal igloos that overlook the bay. These cost a little more to stay in but we had no desire to stay there - especially after the hotel let us take a look inside one. For one, the sun shines into these metal pods all day. This makes the interior as hot as if you left your car windows closed during a hot summer day. Secondly, although there is a bed, bathroom, and television inside, there is no shower - only a hose attached to the sink. I was a little confused over the appeal of these metal igloos. Furthermore, Greenlanders never lived in igloos.

The hotel has two restaurants, the upscale Ulo Restaurant and the Brasserie Takanna which is more like a bar & grill. Our dinner at Brasserie Takanna turned out to be our best meal in Greenland. My wife had king crab legs for her first course and turkey kebabs for her second. I had baked halibut over cous cous. The place seems to attract a lot of smokers in late evening so plan on an early dinner if the smoke bothers you.

Our vacation package included a Scandinavian breakfast buffet, a welcome dinner, and a farewell Greenlandic buffet at Restaurant Ulo. Unlike the Brasserie Takanna, Restaurant Ulo normally does not have a menu – just the specialty of the day. In the case of our welcome dinner, our first course was a creamy seafood soup (very good) and roast duck for the second course (ok). The farewell dinner was a great opportunity to taste Greenlandic specialties. The restaurant also does a weekly Greenlandic barbeque but we missed it because we decided to try Restaurant Mamartut in town.

I found the staff to be very friendly and accommodating. They spoke English fluently. They even opened the breakfast buffet an hour early for those of us who had early flights on the morning of our departures. Our stay at Hotel Arctic was a great experience.

From journal Ilulissat – Summertime in the Arctic

Compare Ilulissat Rates

1. Enter travel information

City

2. Select websites to compare rates

Each selected website will open a new window.

Ilulissat Travel Deals