Crowne Plaza Helsinki-Hesperia

We arrived at the hotel late in the evening and were welcomed by a nice lady. Got great tips for where we should go the next day, including weather forecast! Fantastic great room, very pleased! Lovely breakfast, spacious common areas and a good bar for a little nightcap. Not enough to try the sauna, but this is something we will definitely do when we are back. Next time we go to Helsinki, we will stay at Crowne Plaza!

The hotel is located in the middle of town, but not in the crowded centre. The Mannerheimintie street is the main road from north to south, with many public transport connections. Yet the hotel itself is very quiet. The best parts of your stay are the ample rooms, the pool and gym, free to use, the fabulous breakfast and the garage in the building. The last costs extra, but you may try to find a cheaper opportunity, even on the street, in Helsinki. Minor points are the absence of a lounge with good coffee and tea during daytime (bar is open in the afternoon/ evening) and coffee or tea in the room. Also a bit disappointing is the restaurant Hesperia for dinner. The chicken with pasta in cream sauce is very nice, but ravioli with quinoa and tomato-curry sauce absolutely to be avoided. But no problem, there are very good restaurants nearby: Carelia (French style, but now closed), Kuu (also closed!), Trattoria Sogno (real Italian, but overpriced). There is a Nepalese restaurant in the same street, which we did not try, but a hidden gem is the tiny Chinese Zhen Hao dim sum. Very authentic and inexpensive chinese food and the serve extensive choice of meals, not only Dim Um!

This is a great hotel. It was very clean and the staff were very helpful. I asked for a room with a shower rather than a bath and we were given one but were warned it was a smaller room. Actually, it was plenty big enough, although there wasn’t much storage. There was a fridge in the room. Breakfast was a highlight of the day, there was so much choice and even when it was busy at breakfast (over the weekend) it was kept well-stocked. The hotel it situated opposite a park, it was a 15 minute walk through it to the station. However, there is a tram stop nearby and we bought a 7 day ticket as we were there for a week so we mostly used the trams which were very frequent. The rock church (well worth visiting) and the tram museum are within walking distance.