What’s new in Åre, Sweden for the 2008/9 ski season?

Visit Sweden 1 November 2008

Visitors to the popular ski resort of Åre in northern Sweden this winter will have more accommodation to choose from, with a new design-led hotel, a great value hostel and a charming chalet opening for the 2008/9 season. What's more, technical advances, more facilities for families and a new restaurant mean that there has never been a better time to visit.

Åre - an international resort
Åre in northern Sweden has long been the top ski resort for Swedes but since its injection of £23 million into the World Championships in 2007, it has raised its profile amongst international skiers, with visitor numbers up by 20% in the 2007-8 winter season year on year. Skistar Åre has adapted the resort's facilities to cater for the international market by ensuring all signage in the ski area is in English and introducing pictograms to avoid any misunderstandings. What's more, Åre hopes to become more accessible with the frequency of chartered flights direct to Östersund from the UK expected to grow.

Technical advances
The snow-guns at Störtloppet (the downhill run) have been made more efficient for this season to enable the production of more snow in a shorter time in the Åre Björnen, Åre By and Duved areas. The Skistar snow guarantee ensures that if fewer than ten pistes are open between 12 December 2008 and 1 May 2009 visitors can be refunded.

Skistar Åre has introduced an innovative map system on its website for the 2008-9 season so that visitors can see where the various accommodation is located in relation to the slopes, bars and restaurants to make it easier to pick the perfect place to stay.

Accommodation news
Copperhill Mountain Lodge is being built at the very summit of Mount Förberget by the same architect who designed Bill Gates' home, Peter Bohlin, and is due to open on 8 December 2008. Already named as a member of the prestigious Design Hotels group, the lodge will be the first design-led offering in Åre and will boast 112 rooms and suites styled by interior design firm Koncept. The design throughout the hotel has been inspired by the area's copper mining history, with the exception of the spa which has a Sami theme. The hotel offers ski-in ski-out facilities, bars, restaurants, conference facilities, a helipad and its own ski lift. Double rooms start from 922 Euro per week, based on two sharing.

Also new for this season is the great value Hotell Åre Torg in the main village square. Ideally suited to independent travellers on a budget, each hostel-style room has four beds which can either be booked together as a room for four people or separately for individual travellers. The hotel will only accept guests aged 20 or over and its location on the village square and just three minutes' walk from the nearest lift makes it ideal for groups of skiers who want to ski in the day and party at night. The hotel offers guests breakfast for 50 SEK (approximately £4) per person and also a ‘Dagens lunch' (daily lunch) from as little as 80 SEK (approximately £6.40) including a choice of two main courses, salad, bread and coffee. Accommodation prices this winter start from only 240 SEK (approximately £20) per person per night.

Tour operator Neilson is the only UK tour operator to include Åre in its 2008-9 programme and has added a brand new chalet for this season. The Swedish-style Chalet Snowvilla, which sleeps 8 to 11 people, has a cosy, homely atmosphere and is in a prime spot just 500m from the centre of the village and 600m from the nearest lift. After a long day on the slopes, guests can relax in the chalet's private sauna and enjoy a gourmet dinner served by the chalet's live-in staff. Breakfast and afternoon tea are also included in the price, with one week starting from £505 per person, including return flights from London Gatwick to Ostersund.

More facilities for families Skistar Åre has launched Snowflake Club (snöflingeklubben) for the 2008-9 season which offers child-minding for young ones when their parents want to take to the pistes alone, making the resort more family-friendly than ever before. Activities range from storytelling and drawing to tobogganing and snowman making as well as ski lessons.

The children's ski area in Åre Björnen is being expanded in time for the winter season and the Björnlandet and Vildmarksstigen theme parks are adding more attractions for younger guests. Other attractions for families off the slope include the Moose Garden where children have the chance to ‘kiss a moose' or the chocolate factory, which makes hand-made chocolates using local flavours such as blueberries and cloudberries as well as more exotic flavours such as saffron or chilli.

Gourmet news
Throughout the resort visitors will find a choice of more than 60 restaurants, bars and nightclubs. A dozen of these restaurants are featured in the prestigious White Guide where the best restaurants in Sweden are reviewed and rated. The latest edition to the restaurant scene in Åre is Fjällpuben (Mountain Pub) which is due to open in mid-December and is being eagerly-anticipated by the locals as it is going to be run by Swedish chefs Makler Andersson and Markus Aujalay. Andersson is best-known as the man behind the trendy restaurant Restaurangen in Stockholm, where modern dishes are ordered by flavour and served tapas-style and Aujalay has cooked in several of the top restaurants in Sweden, starred on various TV shows and published a series of cookbooks. Their plan for Fjällpuben is to create a relaxed and cosy mountain restaurant with a welcoming atmosphere and cuisine inspired by traditional local fare.

 

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