Company presentation
Santalahti holiday village – from 1991
Santalomat Oy, who maintains the Santalahti Holiday Village, was established during the spring of 1991. The family business is owned by Jukka Markkola and Katriina Halles-Markkola. The company employs 7 people throughout the year and about 25 people during the summer season.
Santalahti has 37 holiday cottages (26 are built for year round use). It is the only five star camping site in the South of Finland. It has meeting and celebration premises with catering services as well as saunas and a smoke sauna, Mini-golf Park, a cafeteria, nature trails, a children’s adventure track and a play ground, a beach volleyball court and a beach. There is also a small boat harbour in the neighbourhood, as well as Kotka Golf Center and a golf restaurant which is open for everyone.
The cottages, saunas and service building of the cottage village were transferred 100% into the ownership of Santaloma at the end of the 1990s, making the commencement of long term investment plans possible.
The development of Santalahti began in 2000
A number of milestones:
- 2001: 12 holiday cottages and the meeting and celebration space Takkatupa were completed.
- 2002: The reception and cafeteria building.
- 2002: An expansion of the camping site, 40 caravan lots, a light traffic lane and the Adventure track at the beach.
- 2003: Santalahti was officially given the status of a five star camping site. There are only two other such sites in Finland.
- 2005: 12 cottages with saunas, two 10 person log villas and 10 camping cottages at the camping area.
- From the beginning of 2005: the commencement of year round operations for the cottage village, meeting and celebration premises and sauna operations.
- 2006: The camping site’s service building.
- 2007: Underground sauna world; the country’s deepest built smoke sauna, fireplace room and heated pool.
- 2008: Minigolf Park.
- 2008: Santalomat Oy received an enterprise award from the city of Kotka. There are about 3000 companies in Kotka.
- Santalahti was selected as the camping site of 2008 in a vote made by the members of the SF-Caravan association. The association has 58 000 members.
- 2009: A catering kitchen, cottage village laundry and service building, the meeting cabinet Luppi, the roofing of the terrace for the cafeteria plus the 15- and 30- person Lappish shelters were completed.
- From the beginning of 2009: The camping site began all year round operations.
- At the turn of 2009-2010: The holiday village’s service and storage hall was completed.
- Santalahti’s new area plan was completed in 2009 for the purpose of expanding the cottage area and camping site.
- Autumn 2010: The camping site will be expanded by about 30 new caravan lots and a service building.
- Santalomat Oy was given a construction license for 6 high quality 10 person / 130 m2 holiday apartments at the turn of 2009-2010. The apartments are located on a south slope with magnificent seaviews. The apartments have 5 bedrooms, two of which are ensuite. Energy efficiency has been one of the most important premises for the desing which is why geothermal power is used for heating and cooling.
- Santalahti’s charter boat Targa 31-ZaZu started operations during the summer 2010. Owner and skipper Jukka Markkola.
- The remaining permitted building volume, in regards to cottage plots controlled by Santalomat Oy, is approx 1.600 m2.
