Heritage Hotels in Helsinki: where the old meets the new
If you’re wondering where to stay in Helsinki when visiting Finland, we have an extraordinary proposition: heritage hotels. Countries rich in history and culture preserve their architectural traditions and allow visitors to experience them. As in many culturally rich countries, many hotels in Helsinki promote Finnish civilization through the historical significance they bear for Finland and the architecture and art they conserve.
Heritage Hotels in Helsinki: What you’re going to read
Why should I stay in a heritage hotel?
Heritage Hotels in Helsinki: Hotel Kämp
Heritage Hotels in Helsinki: Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel
Heritage Hotels in Helsinki: GLO Hotel Art
Heritage Hotels in Helsinki: Solo Sokos Hotel Torni
Heritage Hotels in Helsinki: Clarion Collection Hotel Katajanokka
What is a heritage hotel?
A heritage hotel is a type of accommodation housed in facilities of historical and cultural importance. Typically, heritage hotels are historical buildings that have been restored, renovated, and repurposed as accommodations. Castles, mansions, old palaces, or forts can become heritage hotels.
Why should I stay in a heritage hotel?
Heritage hotels are places where history, culture, and the contemporary merge. During your stay in a heritage hotel, you will experience the history and culture of the facility and the country you are visiting. Because heritage hotels have strong connections to the region’s past, they are often decorated with antiques, artwork, and furniture that celebrate topical culture and history.
Heritage hotels also allow their guests to live in architectural marvels. It is not an everyday occurrence that a person resides in the quarters of a castle or a palace. The architecture of these hotels tries to remain loyal to their original design with ornate embellishments, stonework, and woodwork reminiscent of their passage through history. The fact that heritage hotels are housed in historic buildings does not steal from their luxuriousness or comfort. They still provide value services and accommodation to their visitors while offering a unique experience.
Heritage Hotels in Helsinki
Heritage Hotels in Helsinki: Hotel Kämp
Hotel Kämp was built in 1887 by Carl Kämp, a restaurateur who aspired to build a modern and continental hotel in Helsinki. The architect Theodor Höijer completed his masterpiece on the corner of Pohjoisesplanadi and Kluuvikatu. The press at the time described it as ‘regal, ‘magnificent,’ and ‘continental.’ It brought Finland into the modern world by employing machines such as the elevator.
Thanks to its central location in Helsinki, Hotel Kämp became the meeting point for the contemporary elite. Journalists, artists, writers, politicians, and intellectuals of the Finnish Golden Age favored Hotel Kämp for their meetings and events, appreciating its accessibility and convenience.
In 1961, the Kansallis-Osake-Pankki Bank saw the building’s deterioration as an opportunity to build its offices on the premises. The closing of Hotel Kämp was announced, and the Helsinkians bid their farewell to the hotel with a grand party in 1965. The bank held its offices in the facility up until 1996. Then, in 1999, a new chapter began as Hotel Kämp was revived, entering the modern era while bearing all its glory and reality.
Hotel Kämp offers its guests 179 luxurious rooms ranging from the Deluxe room to the magnificent Mannerheim Suite of 258m2. It also has ten conference rooms for meetings and banquets. This heritage hotel is fitted with a spa, where guests can relax and pamper themselves, a bar, where they can enjoy a nightcap, and a brasserie, where visitors can enjoy dinner with a view of Esplanade Park.
Heritage Hotels in Helsinki: Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel
The Radisson Blu Plaza, a gem among the heritage hotels in Finland, holds a significant place in the country’s history. Its construction began on the eve of Finland’s independence, 5 December 1917, by SOK, a leading wholesale enterprise in Finland. It opened its gates as SOK headquarters in 1921 and served as such for 70 years, a testament to its enduring legacy.
The SOK headquarters, now transformed into hotel accommodations, has managed to retain all of its original glory and glamor. The SOK board meeting room, a space steeped in history, is still being used today for meetings. The old exhibition room, where new products from around the world were presented to the customers, is now the Plaza Restaurant, a living testament to the hotel’s rich past.
The hotel has tried to maintain its early 20th-century art deco architectural elements. It has classical rooms, which remain loyal to the hotel’s historical tradition, and modern rooms, which are located in the new section of the hotel. The new section of the hotel opened in the 1990s and was designed by Arkval Arkkitehdit at a time when the surrounding environment of the Plaza Hotel was stepping into the modern era.
The Plaza Hotel opened to the public in 1999. Both the construction and opening days hold significance for the Finnish people. The commencement of construction of the SOK headquarters coincided with the eve of Finland’s Independence from Russian rule. In contrast, the grand opening of the Plaza Hotel coincided with the year Finland joined the eurozone.
The Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel in Helsinki has 302 lavish rooms decorated with designs by famous and classical Finns. Guests can dine at the Bistro Vilho restaurant or drink at the Lobby Bar. The Plaza Hotel also offers facilities and technologies for meetings and events.
Heritage Hotels in Helsinki: GLO Hotel Art
The GLO Hotel Art was built in 1903, at the turn of the 20th century. It was designed by Karl Lindahl and Walter Thomé and originally intended as a leisure space for the students of a nearby polytechnical institute.
The GLO Hotel in Helsinki resembles a castle with towers and balconies. Built at the beginning of the 20th century, it is heavily influenced by art nouveau. Its architecture merges European Art Nouveau and Finland’s National Romantic style. In this stone castle, guests will encounter grey granite and arch windows combined with colorful and stylized ornates.
The GLO Hotel Art has entered the modern era through careful renovations but has yet to lose its majestic grandeur. Even though it is a castle, the hotel offers a connection with a Europark parking garage for easy access. This facility is where the old and the new coexist. This 100-year-old castle is equipped with 171 modern rooms. It also offers fitness and wellness services at the in-house gym. The hotel’s skilled staff ensures that meetings and events run smoothly while guests wine and dine at the GLO Art Lounge Bar.
Heritage Hotels in Helsinki: Solo Sokos Hotel Torni
Solo Sokos Hotel Torni, located in Helsinki, was a magnificent skyscraper designed by Jung & Jung, inspired by American 1920s skyscrapers. The hotel featured 100 rooms, several restaurants, and private dining rooms. Kone supplied the elevator, and Arabia provided tableware. It was Finland’s first fully electrified building, and some rooms featured bathrooms.
Food and drink played a significant role in Torni’s restaurant life, with the hotel being influenced by Prohibition, World War II, and the 1950s austerity. The late 1930s saw prosperous times with better ingredients and celebratory dinners.
Ateljee Bar opened at the top of Hotel Torni in 1951, offering spectacular drinks, stunning views, and exhibition space for young artists. The passageway to Torni’s roof opened in the 1930s, and was a mooring point for the German Graf Zeppelin airship visiting Helsinki. American Bar, founded in 1960, became a popular meeting place for city residents, where trendy cocktails were enjoyed.
In 1972, Hotel Torni was leased to the Helsinki Cooperative Society and joined the Finnish Sokos Hotels chain. The Jugendstil residential building Kyllikki was integrated into the hotel in 1981, providing 50 rooms in the national romantic style.
Heritage Hotels in Helsinki: Clarion Collection Hotel Katajanokka
Hotel Katajanokka’s main building dates back to 1888, with the earliest part opening in 1837. It initially served as the Helsinki County Prison and Investigative Penitentiary. The original tenants remained there until 2002. After significant restorations and conversions, the former prison was transformed into a chic hotel in May 2007.
The Finnish National Board of Antiquities has ensured that the main hallway, outside shell, and surrounding red brick walls are preserved so that modern-day visitors can be reminded of the many colorful and occasionally tragic tales that have been told here in the past.
In 2017, the building underwent a minor refurbishment and a comprehensive inside redesign to celebrate its tenth anniversary as a hotel. The Hotel Katajanokka is now a contemporary lifestyle hotel that prides itself on providing guests with warm, individualized service in a historic and distinctive setting.
The old prison cells underwent transformations and are now elegant guest rooms, and the old prison canteen is now the hotel’s Linnankellari restaurant. In the summertime, visitors of this heritage hotel can enjoy the sun or the night view of Helsinki on the courtyard terrace.
Next time you visit Finland, break the routine and add a hint of excitement to your stay. You can choose accommodations that differ from the lot. Stay in an art nouveau castle, a 1920s department store, or, if you’re brave, a renovated prison. Heritage hotels in Helsinki offer more than an out-of-the-ordinary building. They give you a glimpse of Finland’s history and culture.
Enjoy our 3-hour Helsinki tour on foot or customize your Helsinki experience and create your own guided walking or bike tour.
Credits: kamphotel, plazahotelhelsinki, glo_hotels, ateljeebarhelsinki, Clarion Collection Hotel Katajanokka
