Stay Report: Holiday Inn Helsinki City Centre
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I was traveling to Helsinki, Finland but I was only going to be there for a short period so I wanted a hotel that would be central and within walking distance to the city center and most sites. Based on this criteria, I found the Holiday Inn Helsinki City Center and it fit all the criteria I was looking for. It was very easy to book and manage the hotel through both the website and app. The hotel is connected to the train station but it is not attached, so you do have to exit the train station but it is in the same footprint so only a couple of steps from the last platform and a 30-second walk from the main entrance.
As you exit the side entrance of the train station, the hotel is visible on the right-hand side. From the outside it looks nice and modern, but perceptions can be deceiving sometimes. As you enter the lobby, the check-in desks are straight ahead, to the right was the bar and restaurant as well as waiting area, and to the left are the elevators/lifts, the 'business center'/computer stations, additional waiting areas, some work stations, and some places to relax and lounge. The lobby was definitely spacious, had lots of good amenities, and looked renovated and updated. Check-in was quick, I received my key, went to the 5th floor and proceeded to enter my room; this is where the renovations had ceased.
The room was definitely not updated and looked very nice for the 1980s or 1990s. As you entered into the room, along the right side were large doors and behind the doors were the closets, ironing board and iron, safe, and coffee maker; there was lots of space but the doors and look of the closets looked dated. Along the left side of the room was the bathroom which contained a toilet, a sink with a long countertop, and a tub which contained only a half-door. The half-door did absolutely nothing to hold the water in, the facilities in the bathroom did not look updated and the overall look was dated. There were reusable toiletries in the shower and next to the sink; this hotel used Dove and while it smelled decent, it seemed a bit cheap (I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Warsaw and the product they used smelled and seemed more upscale).
As you moved further into the room, on the left were the two twin beds. Each bed had a small nightstand on either side and each night stand had a small light as well as a plug and USB ports - at least that was updated and that was convenient. The beds were updated and although somewhat small, provided a decent nights sleep. Across from the beds was a TV screen mounted to the wall, a desk with an outdated phone and furniture, and along the wall was nice open windows which shown out onto the street and let it light; luckily they were also blackout curtains since the sun rose at 3am.
Amenities in the hotel included a restaurant, wifi, business centre, and fitness center. Because of my limited time there, I was not able to visit the fitness center and had no need to visit the business center - which basically was the computer station in the lobby. I did try the wifi which was fast and you could connect many devices. As I said, the lobby was very open and spacious and there were lots of amenities as well as working spaces in there. To me, the best feature about the hotel was the location as it was right next to the train station, it had a grocery store across the street, it was a 2-3 minute to many restaurants and shops and it was a 10-minute walk to the University and Main Square. Overall, the location was very nice, the lobby and customer service was very nice but the rooms need to be updated.
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