billinghamn

I've slept in the airport twice at HEL - but I didn't get good quality sleep on either occasion - and to be honest it's quite noisy because lots of people stay overnight. Arriving that late it's unlikely you will find a GoSleep pod available. There were two close to Gate 38 (back in Jul/Aug 2015) - they were both taken when I was last there and the occupants didn't come out until after 6am the following morning. There are others in the schengen area but that means heading through passport control.

Link to my blog with a basic review of sleeping in HEL can be found here. Although it's obvious, I have to state that this is not hosted by Flyertalk.

I've also stayed at the Hilton Vaanta airport hotel a couple of times. Nice hotel and there are rooms with saunas. However it can be fairly expensive.

If you want to keep cost low, sleeping at HEL airport is a good option.

Flip42

Or Mucci des gelures?


At HEL I've stayed at the Holiday Inn and at the Best Western. Of those I would always prefer the Holiday Inn however the Best Western is ok for one night too.

The shuttle to the Holiday Inn only runs about every 20 minutes and takes about 10 minutes and the Best Western is even a little further from HEL. So both may not the best option for maximizing sleep during a short layover.

jp_fin

Same shuttle serves also Rantasipi and Cumulus, they are usually same price level or lower than HI.

Timetable here:
http://www.finland.holidayinn.com/si...9_2015_0_0.pdf

liamvad

I did this trip not so long ago,I stayed at the Holiday Inn Vantaa,miles from the airport,it was -4 when I arrived,the free hotel shuttle bus failed to arrive,so had to get a taxi,who,got lost and tried to rip me off!!But got to hotel,which was nice,used the free shuttle to the airport in the morning,then the Airport Express Bus in to town,simple!!! Helsinki was nice,if not damn cold.The flights by BA were excellent.CE out,and pleb class back,but actually the trip home was much nicer,chatted to all the crew,had a fab time,plenty of Gin and Orange....^

greg5

I stayed at the Hilton on my run to HEL. I thought it was pretty nice, but it's not the cheapest. They do an early morning breakfast starting at 0330. However, I skipped breakfast at the Hilton and grabbed something to eat in the premium lounge.

There is *NO* security Fast Track at HEL. So plan accordingly, I went through before 0630, and there weren't any lines to speak of. The hotel staff told me I should plan to be at the airport at 0630 at the latest. I didn't have a bag to check in, but I could see that the check-in desks were very busy.

The Hilton is also a bit of a walk from the airport entrance, make sure to have a warm coat, a hat, and gloves along.

BTW, I've never seen so many bottles of Monopole flying out in CE as on the LHR-HEL leg of the trip. The grilled cod dinner was also the best I had ever had on a SH flight. I need to upload the picture.

WilcoRoger

I don't quite see what you mean. When it's -4 (as it was this weekend) it's actually 25 degrees warmer than a week earlier - now that was a bit on the fresh side at -29°C

FFlash

Holiday Inn goes as low as 48€ at times if you book as an IHG member prepaid.
Other hotels, Rantasipi, Cumulus on the same shuttle bus road are cheap too, but IMO you lose your precious sleep time if it is short. I would then rather sleep at Hilton (within short walk outside) or inside terminal 2 at GLO, but they are way more expensive.
With very short connection and low budget, the previously mentioned capsules are an option along with sleeping on the benches at airport which is 24h open. I have tried sleeping on bench once, the good side is that there is plenty of space available and nobody disturbes you, but the down side is that there are night flights arriving pax and cleaning machines etc which are noisy and the hallways echo a lot, disturbing your sleep more than the hard benches.

Romelle

I've got a mid-May 7:00am KLM flight HEL-AMS-MSP. I'm looking at the GoSleep Lounge (sleep pods) as a possible way to not have to get up so early.

It is described as "...in Terminal 2, inside the departure area, after Passport and Security control, in the Schengen zone, next to Gate 31"

I admit to not quite understanding Schengen, and I've only been through HEL once many years ago.

With my ticket&USpassport, is there any issue for me getting to Terminal 2 Gate 31 the prior evening? And then to my KL HEL-AMS flight in the morning?

And any other info anybody would care to share about this next adventure??

Thank you.

Peregrine415

Schengen Zone is the same zone where you will board your flight to AMS. When you arrive in AMS, you are still in the Schengen zone but after you pass through passport control to connect to your flight to MSP, you will be inside non-Schengen zone. Another way of looking at it is, Schengen = domestic + European flights (except UK/Ireland); non-Schengen = international (including UK/Ireland).

I don't know if security will allow you to enter the boarding area before midnight but, in any case, there are limited number of sleep pods and most of them will probably be taken when you get there.

Romelle

Pergrine415,

Thank you for your response. You've made Schengen a bit clearer to me.

I actually went ahead and made a paid reservation for the pod.

I do hope I can get through security in time for some sleep. I'll try to research what the rules are for time of entrance.

Romelle