PMBrandt

Helsinki Hotel review: Hotel Anna

Our family of four (2 adults, 2 teenagers) stayed five nights at Hotel Anna this past June and highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a very reasonably priced, centrally located, comfortable and private hotel.

Our room for four had plenty of room, and the kids were pleased to have their own sofa beds to sleep. The big windows offered pretty views of the neighbourhood. Unlike in many other hotels we have stayed at, there was no noise from next door or from the hallways, not even at night.

The staff was very helpful, friendly and knowledgeable and did their best to accommodate our needs, including the need for finding an emergency dental clinic on a June Sunday! They found one, booked an appointment for us and presto! problem solved.

The buffet breakfast had a nice variety and quality of foods, including different kinds of fresh local breads and buns, fresh fruit, as well as hot cereals such as rye porridge - yum! Our teenagers made the best of it, which - given the high price of food and restaurant meals in Finland - was an added bonus.

We had 24/7 access to the hotel internet and the staff kindly let us store our luggage at the hotel for a few extra hours after we checked out. The location was ideal in many ways as it was just a skip, hop and a jump to all the main sights and sites in Helsinki; the hotel was also next door to one of the livelier, edgier neighbourhoods in town, a pedestrian street with clubs, restaurants, boutiques; a streetcar (tram) line, a textile museum, a prominent church and a parkette or two.

During our visit there was a heatwave in Helsinki and it became apparent that the hotel could not offer a cool refuge from it. Opening the windows in the spacious room was not an option at night as the noise from the street level did carry up. Some ceiling or floor fans would have eased the situation quite well. Also, the small bathroom had a problem with the typical Scandinavian floor drainage as the simple act of taking a shower left the floor wet all over for hours and the room moist and humid.

We also missed the typical North-American hotel room feature, a coffeemaker. It would have been a lovely addition as we were jet lagged and needed our java at the oddest times of the day. Paying 2-2,50 euros for a regular small cup of coffee in Helsinki did not sit well with us - and the price did not guarantee a good quality coffee either!

All in all, we very much enjoyed our stay at the hotel and would warmly recommend it.

Overall

4

Location

5

Cleanliness

5

Value

5

Facilities

4

Service

5

PMBrandt stayed here in Jun 2009
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