Senate Hotel

Basic flat with nice community kitchen.

Senate Hotel, although basic, is situated well for local attractions - 10 minutes walk from the shops/ restaurants/nightlife of Helsinki city centre; 15 minutes walk from the harbour, if you arrive by ferry; and right next to Senate Square/Helsinki Cathedral. The hotel, itself, is based in an apartment building, on the fifth floor, and has ten rooms. There's a five-hour window, in which there's a receptionist to meet you (3-8pm). Outside of this time, you are given a code to enter the main door of the building, and then the front door of the hotel section, which I had to do. As it turned out, a friendly staff member was still there when I arrived, and I was fortunate enough to be given a free room upgrade. The double room I was given, was larger than average, and included a wash basin and small refrigerator. The bathroom and toilets are shared, but clean with a good, strong shower, and separate men's and women's toilets. There's also a small shared kitchen, so you could prepare food. My hotel room had a comfy bed, and good thick enough curtains which, if you're here in the height of Summer, means you won't be woken by the sunrise before 4am! The decor is a bit dated, but if you need info on what to do, where to go, and what's happening in Helsinki, there's lots of information. This is more of a short-stay hotel - a few days, at most, but if you need a well-located, warm, simple place to base yourself while in the city, this is actually a good choice.

Don’t have private bathroom…

Nice location and friendly staff, and THAT’S ALL THE PROS. GUEST WI-FI IS DOWN throughout my stay and no alternative network is available, then I missed one online meeting. BEDSIDE SOCKET IS BROKEN, making it impossible to use the phone or tablet while charging, and the ADVERTISING IS QUITE MISLEADING —I booked a single room at Trip.com, I thought it would be a room with private toilet, since nothing was mentioned in the title while other types of rooms are highlighted for the “shared bathroom”. Well, and the SOUNDPROOF can just be ignored. Maybe ‘Hostel’ is better for the name.