IggySD

Was there a few months ago. Lounge was still closed but section of the restaurant set aside for evening happy hour. Spread not quite as generous as the pictures from 2019, Was upgraded to a water view room as Diamond but that was it. No special Covid precautions at that time.

fmkgb

Breakfast in the main restaurant?

How was the evening happy hour?

tsastor

I stayed here last weekend. The breakfast is in a breakfast room that turns into the executive lounge after breakfast is over. The happy hour is 6 to 8 pm. There was vegetarian food, Italian red, white and sparkling wine and basic spirits (vodka, gin, rum, whisky).

I wasn’t upgraded to an exec room as some US rapper had reserved the entire floor. After the first night, I started to note the quite basic materials used in the room, especially the bathroom which was cold as well (no floor heating). The bed was very comfortable and you can adjust and turn off the a/c. There is a minibar and all the normal amenities.

The hotel was renovated some years ago, but because of the cheap materials it is already showing some wear and tear. The old furniture, which was from the Intercontinental years, lasted much longer. The pool is like it always was and was the best part of the hotel. The evening restaurant looked nice as well.

Would recommend this hotel with basic rooms for a short stay as the location is reasonable too.

Alawyer

Adding some photos from a 4 day stay here over a busy Whitsunday weekend. With the Rammstein concert and the two conferences, no upgrades were available. To be fair, with the long summer days, it would be impossible to shut off all the light to get some sleep in the king rooms with beds facing the window or any of the rooms with "sea view". The lounge on the 7th floor is still closed for renovations. For the time being, we get to use a corner of the restaurant area on the ground floor which doubles up as the breakfast corner in the morning.

The food offerings at breakfast and happy hour have been pared down a lot from what was previously described in this thread. I haven't seen any "Asian" breakfast options so far. The two hot dishes (always vegetarian for some reason) served at happy hour is limited to one portion only. If you snooze, you end up having just hummus and crackers for the rest of the formerly generous evening. The wines are undrinkable. You're better off making your own G&Ts or rum & cokes. I did not include photos of the local beer served at room temperature.


Looks right for a pre-Rammstein concert drink

Cooking wine

Undrinkable

Grab it while you can!

I was also not impressed with the staff here who seemed a bit aloof and overwhelmed with the weekend crowds. Housekeeping is shoddy as well. The best plus for this property is the rooftop sauna and its location just across the Hakaniemi tramstops and the excellent refurnished Kauppahalli with its food stores. There is construction on the road in front of the hotel which may result in congestion during peak hours.

the810

I've checked out on Friday before that weekend, and I had no problem with the light in a sea view room. The blackout curtains were pretty good

tsastor

How on earth do they control that?

Alawyer

There is just one serving of each hot dish every day. Once the casserole is empty, it is cleared and not replenished for the remainder of the happy hour. The lounge was out of hot dishes by 7pm on a busy Saturday night

GUWonder

Is there a lounge attendant or sign saying guests aren’t permitted to go back to the buffet table to self-serve again?

Between the only-vegetarian hot choices and the non-replenishment of finished casseroles, seems like the hotel is trying hard to stay at or below their budgeted cap for lounge catering expenses. I am sort of surprised they didn’t cut out the bell peppers yet.

Was that rice dish an egg fried rice dish or biryani?

newEUer

I stayed the same time as Alawyer above, and in fact I think I was in the lounge watching him take those photos

There's no rule that you can't serve yourself twice but of course once it's gone it's gone, for what it's worth the lasagne gave mega cheap frozen vibes although I don't believe it was vegetarian - it did not taste like soya mince. The rice dish was fried rice with tofu albeit a little bland.

Also no problem with light on sea view room for us, curtains perfectly blacked out.

Would also rate the housekeeping excellent for us on all fronts, interesting that it was different for him.

saaveraward

I have a reservation here and booked because of Diamond and also because of "sea views" even though it looks like anything is a 15-20 minute walk.

The Diamond treatment isn't wowing me. Is it even worth staying here? I'm only paying something like 130 and expecting an upgrade to an exec, so at least the price is right.

teemuflyer

I won't speak to current Diamond benefits since it's been awhile since I last stayed there, but as for the distance, they have convenient access to public transportation to the core of Helsinki downtown in a matter of minutes. And in my experience, the staff has always been very friendly and helpful. And at 130, it's a steal.

saaveraward

Thanks. I'd rather walk to stuff. Is there anything "around" the Hilton or is it pretty isolated and you've got to walk over that bridge?

the810

The location is actually very good, 15-20 minutes walk to places like central station or Market Square. We walked everywhere within the city centre and only used public transport for trips further away.
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Abidjan

Agreed, I like the location as well.

Alawyer

Heya should have said hi! Make it a FT gathering.

All of the hot dishes served at happy hour over my 4 day stay were vegetarian. The one Indian staff that Saturday did confirm that it was vegetarian lasagna and tofu fried rice. He was joking that I should have gone back for a second helping of the lasagna while I could

Housekeeping was shoddy and uneven over my 4 day stay. I had returned one day at 4pm with my bed still unmade. The dirty cups and glasses were left unwashed in my bathroom another night. The coffee/tea bags were only refilled only when I finally complained to the front desk on the 3rd day.

I didn't get to see the executive rooms. Are they the same size/configuration as the regular rooms except on the higher executive floors?

Agree with the others that 130 is a steal. Maybe because of this holiday, room rates were hovering between 220-280 last weekend. There is a shortcut through the building next to the hotel to get to the Hakaniemi trams. The closest supermarket and Alko is also a 5 mins walk north.