Looking for the best, cool design hotels in Helsinki? Read on – here we’ve come up with our 15 favourites, after 6 trips to the city!
Helsinki is one of the capitals of Nordic cool, and even hostels and budget hotels in this city usually offer tastefully decorated rooms, streamlined design, all white walls, and pale wood furniture. For this reason Helsinki isn’t cheap when it comes to lodging, but you can find amazing design, excellent service, and great value for the money if you know where to look. Here we’ve rounded up our 15 favourite design hotels in Helsinki, from a hostel to five-star luxury.
Best Design Hotels in Helsinki
1. Suomenlinna Hostel
How often can you say you’ve slept on a UNESCO-listed fortress island? Or in a Russian elementary school? At Hostel Suomenlinna, you can say you’ve done both. The hostel is on Suomenlinna Island, just a quick hop on the ferry from Helsinki’s city centre. The dorms are downstairs, with charming attic-style doubles upstairs.
2. Klaus K Hotel
The first Helsinki hotel to be accepted into the exclusive Design Hotels club, Klaus K features a mixture of rooms and suites inspired by the Finnish epic Kalevala.
The recently opened Sky Loft Suites are the crème de la crème, with their own private street entrance, private use of the rooftop terrace, work desks, and coffee machines. Rooms are bright and stylish, with plenty of natural light. The hotel is within walking distance to attractions such as the Ateneum Art Museum.
3. Hotel F6
Remember when everyone was crazy about hygge? This family-owned design Helsinki hotel is hygge through and through – Hotel F6 is so welcoming that once you get there, you may never want to leave.
The beds are luxurious and comfy, rooms are spacious and functional, there’s a delicious Finnish breakfast served daily and peace and a courtyard with a green house where the owner grows herbs for the bar. If you really have to leave, borrow one of the free bicycles and set off to explore Helsinki’s islands!
4. GLO Hotel Art
From the outside, the GLO Hotel Art is stunning. It’s in an Art Nouveau castle within Helsinki’s design district. The hotel offers three room categories: smart, comfort, and luxe, as well as suites that are all tastefully decorated but varying in size. Motorized beds and laptop pillows will please technology lovers, while foodies will drool over the delicious breakfast buffet.
5. Hotel Katajanokka
Hotel Katajanokka, once part of a popular chain, will surprise you with its historic prison setting. The red brick building, decommissioned as a prison in 2002, has 106 luxurious rooms. Due to the building’s protected status, the hotel has preserved much of the original prison structure, such as the central corridor and even the old prison wall.
The hotel’s restaurant, the Jailbird, has tried to keep the prison atmosphere alive with tin cups and prison cutlery, but excellent food. The thick walls, another feature dating back to the prison days, will ensure a good night’s sleep!
6. Scandic Paasi
This hotel is a reasonably priced design option. Located in central Helsinki on the site of the old city circus, the Scandic Paasi and its rooms feature a circus theme that includes clown paraphernalia around the lobby and playing cards, board games, and even punching bags in some of the rooms.
The lobby is reminiscent of a circus tent, with a red chandelier shaped like an upside-down top hat.
7. Hotel Anna
Retro vibe meets modern design in this secluded hotel located in the heart of Helsinki’s Design District, making Hotel Anna a popular choice for those looking for an understated hotel with a familiar vibe but plenty of Scandi cool. This building has a long-running hospitality tradition – it opened its doors in 1923 as a hostel for travellers owned by the Evangelical Free Church, and it was turned into a hotel in 1985.
8. Indigo Helsinki Boulevard
Another wonderful addition to this selection of Helsinki design hotels is Indigo Helsinki Boulevard, located right on Bulevardi, Helsinki’s most popular high street. The modern setting sets the tone for the interior mood, straddling the fine line between design and hipster-cool, with murals in the rooms and corridors and images of local landmarks in the common spaces.
There’s also an excellent sauna and steam room, complimentary bikes and Nordic bistro-style Bröd, also serving breakfast.
9. Hotel Kämp
Hotel Kämp is quite simply Finland’s best hotel – if your idea of a cool hotel is classic luxury decor, uniformed waiters and top notch service, look no further.
The main selling point of Hotel Kämp is the retro vibe and classic luxury design, with marble columns and glittering mirrors, but a selection of Finnish contemporary graphic art adds a touch of modernity. A great luxury option for a special stay in Helsinki!
10. Sokos Torni
I love the Sokos chain and I’ve stayed in many Sokos hotels throughout Finland – I love how each one retains an individual vibe, while maintaining a really high standard of hospitality.
I was unsure whether to include Sokos Vaakuna or Torni in this list, but at the end, I’ve opted for Sokos Torni, a grand 1920s hotel set in a period building and combining three styles in the decor of rooms and public spaces – Art Nouveau, Art Déco and Functionalism. Torni means ‘tower’ as this used to be one of Helsinki’s tallest buildings, and there’s still a great view from the rooftop bar!
11. Hotel Helka
This hotel opened its doors as a shelter for vulnerable women owned by the YWCA, one of Finland’s oldest women’s organisations, before becoming Hotel Helka in 1969 – the hotel’s profits are still donated to support a variety of women-related projects.
If this didn’t already make Hotel Helka one of Helsinki’s coolest hotels, check out its design, effortlessly matching minimalism and bold prints, creating a welcoming and cozy vibe. There’s also a sauna and bar serving cocktails made with Finnish spirits and ingredients!
12. Hotel Finn
Truly one of the best design hotels in Helsinki for lovers of quirky and playful style! The rooms at Hotel Finn are decorated with bold, colourful wallpapers, curious prints and giant cushions, complementing the retro style of the building and creating a cool hipster vibe. This hotel offers great value for money, with rooms under €100.
13. Hotel Lilla Roberts
Located in the heart of the Design District, Lilla Roberts is one of the most recent design hotels in Helsinki to open, in a fashionable Art Deco styled building with retro touches and modern comfort.
Common spaces combine sleek Scandinavian lines with quirky pieces like a life size horse in the lobby and colourful prints in the rooms – there’s also an excellent Nordic restaurant, Krog Roba, with ingredients sourced all around Helsinki.
14. Hotel Haven
Another great Helsinki design hotel offering great value for money! Hotel Haven offers a classic luxury vibe, but rooms with lots of natural light and a bright palette make this hotel a lot more welcoming and less stuffy compared to many classic 5 star hotels.
Their recently-opened sister Hotel St.George is planned with younger, discerning travellers in mind, who will love the mix of minimalism, raw materials and geometric lines.
15. Radisson Plaza Hotel
Radisson Plaza is definitely one of Helsinki’s most beloved design hotels, blending historic tradition with modern design. It’s perfectly located in the city centre in a building constructed in 1917, the year of Finland’s independence.
The rooms are particularly comfortable, with quality beds and Finnish design furniture, and the onsite restaurant offers diners a modern, creative twists on Nordic cuisine, complete with a great cocktail list.
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