Original Sokos Hotel Lappee

We drove to this hotel in the evening and found a free parking spot just a minute’s drive away,But as we had a lot of luggage to carry, we decided to drive to the hotel entrance which was through their paid car park - one so tight, it was impossible to exit or enter the car without banging against the neighbouring car doors. We asked the lady at the reception if we can park outside but she informed us the only other options were to drive to the neighbouring mall’s paid parking or park 15 mins away. The latter option we knew was not true as we had just pulled up in a free spot outside. Nevertheless, we were too tired from our drive and decided to leave the car overnight at the hotels’s car park, hoping to find it scratch free next morning. Anyways, the receptionist then went on to check us in and “very helpfully” mentioned that breakfast was until 11:30am next morning. Both of us were pleasantly surprised and confirmed with her it was indeed available until 11:30am. Next morning , we went down for breakfast at 10:30am to be informed that the restaurant stops serving breakfast at 10am. We went to the reception to confirm this and they advised the same. There were 4 people that morning at the reception and only the lad remembered to apologise for the error. As we turned to leave, the 3 ladies started giggling and burst into full blown laughter even before we were out of earshot. I had to turn back and check if this was really happening and they were indeed laughing at us, and they were. At checkout, one of them asked us if we enjoyed our stay, apart from the breakfast incident. I did ask if the hotel was full since we were given the room furthest away from the lift (we couldn’t help but notice the distance with our 2 huge check-in bags and handbags), to which she responded there are rooms farther away on the next floor. I said I suppose those rooms are allotted when the hotel’s running on full capacity and left. To summarise why I considered the stay a bad experience, 1) wrong information was given about car park 2) unnecessary and incorrect information was given about breakfast (we normally get to breakfast at 9am) which makes me wonder if this was out of pure malice 3) unprofessional staff at the front desk generally who need to be given a refresher on customer service. We are thankful that we drove around Finland after this mishap to experience excellent customer service at all other hotels, otherwise we’d have left the country with a level of bitterness.

The hotel is different from the usual being located inside a shopping mall. Reception and the breakfast area are separated and on either side of an independent coffee bar. Felt strange wheeling my suitcase through it. However once I found my way around I could see that this is a very neat way of providing a comprehensive array of shops for guests who can access them on foot. The lady in Reception very kindly showed me how to find the car parking spaces. It is on two levels. The lower one was nearly always full but the upper one had quite a few empty spaces. The choice of food is staggering because you are in a shopping mall. Breakfast was excellent. Some very welcome items such as tuna, warm rice pudding and hummus as well as the usual continental choices and hot food. The room was spacious with a modern design. Comfortable beds and nice and quiet. Wifi was good with plenty of bandwidth. It was a pleasure to stay here and would definitely stay here again when I am working in the area again.