Sokos Hotel Vaakuna

Not disappointing...

After reading the different opinions of other members about the hotels in Helsinki, I decided to stay in Sokos Hotel Vaakuna, and I was not disappointed.

The staff were friendly and helpful. They suggested places to visit and helped me with directions.

I had a single room which was big. I had a sofa in my room and a great view of the rail station. The room was really clean, bed covers, sheets, pillows all very clean and smelled fresh! I thought that because this was a fairly old hotel, the carpets would be old and dirty, but they were not! I was impressed. The bathroom was fairly big and new. There wasn't a bath but the shower is really good.

The breakfast choice was quite extensive...hot "finnish" dishes, a choice of cold meat, cheese, bread, cereals, fruits, youghurts, you couldn't ask for anything more. You get the view of the city centre from the restaurant.

They do have sauna, but I didn't try it out.

They have a bar/restaurant downstairs but I didn't try that out as well...it was busy though on the saturday night.

Another thing that I liked about the Hotel is that they have a facility for their guests who want to leave their luggage behind (upon checking out) to have a wander around the city before going somewhere. In my case, my train was at 1:00 and I checked out at about 11, So instead of leaving my things in my room, I left them in the luggage room. Of course all things are left at the owner's risk, but I left my laptop (and there were a number of laptops, as well there) and I still have it to this day...

Would highly reccommend this hotel...good value, service is good, and very nicely located...just opposite the train station.