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How To Sleep With Practically Anyone At a Starwood Hotel
Hotel Kamp in Helsinki is owned by Starwood
The New York Daily News is reporting on a lawsuit between Wall Street banker Alison Fournier and Starwood Hotels, who gave an unknown man the key to Fournier's Helsinki hotel room, after he explained to the Front Desk that he was her husband. Creepy! And kinda unbelievable.
The surveillance video depicts an American man showing up at the Hotel Kamp's Front Desk, drunkenly explaining he had been locked out from his wife's room, and walking away with the key. Minutes later, he entered Fournier's room, took his clothes off and got into bed with her. Creepy again! Though half-asleep, and alone, Fournier immediately realized what was going on and ran straight out of the room. Starwood has called the event "very unfortunate" and is looking into the facts before taking any further action.
Like, um, an apology?
Hotel Packages / Helsinki Hotels / Design Hotels / Finland Hotels / → All Tags
A Fresh Idea for Your Urban Getaway: Helsinki's Klaus K
Helsinki: perhaps not the first city that comes to mind for an urban getaway, but you’d be missing out if you went with your instincts. Helsinki in the summer is magical, and it’s also exceedingly trendy (not for nothing is it called “the design capital of Europe”, don’t you know).
The Klaus K is one of the trendiest hotels in town — and, having stayed there last year, we can see why. It’s super — themed around the Finnish national epic poem with great decor and the best hotel breakfast we’ve ever been party to.
To encourage you to come this summer, they have an Urban Getaway Package which includes a double room, glass of champagne on arrival, dinner for two, movie tickets (nice thought, even if you won’t use those), drinks vouchers at the inhouse Ahko Club, and a shopping discount card.
Needless to say, the package also includes breakfast. They call it The Best of Finland and believe us, they’re not joking. We’re still dreaming about the smoked reindeer meat.
The Urban Getaway starts at €250 (around $350) and is valid Friday to Sunday until August 2nd. Book three days ahead. Standard rooms start at €125 (about $175).
[Photo: about.com]
Finland Hotel Reviews / Ice Hotels / → All Tags
Igloo Sleeping in Finland Not Always All It's Cracked Up To Be
When we first heard about the glass and ice igloos of the Kakslauttanen Hotel & Igloo Village in northern Finland, we thought it sounded like a winter paradise. But we thought we'd better take off our rose-colored snow-goggles and check out the real lay of the snow-covered land up there.
If some of the TripAdvisor reviews are to be believed, then there are a few flaws in the igloo industry. While some guests are perfectly satisfied, quite a few mention problems with service. One guest mentioned "90% of [the staff] are not capable to communicate in English", which surprised us since we've always found Finns to be sickeningly multilingual. Another complained that there's no daily room service, others said the bar service was terrible and they found the staff stressed out and "being chased by the somewhat angry-looking owner".
But on balance, it sounds like the kind of place where if you go in prepared for some cultural differences, and open to a bunch of new (and very cold) experiences, you can still have a great stay. Average rates start at $230 a night but can get much higher--it is expensive Finland, after all. But we think the views out of the glass igloos are pretty special.
[Photo: YoungRobV]
Christmas Hotels / Finland Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Santa Claus Has His Own Hotel in Finland
When you're choosing a hotel for a Christmas vacation, you can't get a much more appropriate choice than the Clarion Hotel Santa Claus in Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland. The Santa Claus Hotel is just a few miles away from the official home of the real Santa on the Arctic Circle and is a popular choice for Christmas visitors to Finland.
Like many Lapland hotels, the functionality wins over from looks when you see the Santa Claus Hotel from the outside--but if you're visiting at Christmas time, the daylight only lasts a couple of hours so you'll probably never get a good look at the architecture anyway.
The character of a Christmas in Rovaniemi comes more from the activities you undertake and the excitement of the season than a hotel full of character, and so the Hotel Santa Claus provides everything else that you need: neat clean rooms, a decent breakfast, friendly staff and a central location in Rovaniemi, and within walking distance of the train station.
Having said that, the Clarion Hotel Santa Claus has recently opened some new rooms that include their own saunas. There is also the option of booking the Santa Claus Suite which comes with a sauna and jacuzzi, but sadly without Santa.
[Photo: fabrriciuse]
Related Stories:
· Please Disturb Me at Lapland's Rantasipi Pohjanhovi [HotelChatter]
· Will the Real Santa Please Stand Up? [Jaunted]
· Hotels in Finland [HotelChatter]
Killer View / Finland Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Room With a Killer View: A Finnish White Christmas
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
Dreaming of a white Christmas yet? Here's the perfect killer view for Christmas, courtesy of the Luostotunturi Hotel in the middle of Finnish Lapland. The town of Luosto is perfect for skiing in winter, hiking in summer, and seeing the Northern Lights between August and April; and for getting killer views.
The Luostotunturi Hotel includes a new Amethyst Wellness Centre and you can choose to stay in regular hotel rooms, apartments or pine log cabins. For the best views, we recommend the cabins, which are set a little way apart from the hotel and closer to the wild.
[Photo: jonlarge]
Related Stories:
· Hotels in Finland [HotelChatter]
· Will the Real Santa Please Stand Up? [Jaunted]
Finland Hotel Reviews / Helsinki Hotel Reviews / Budget Hotels / → All Tags
A Budget Hotel Find for Helsinki
Finland's not known as the land of cheap travel, but if you're swinging by Helsinki then a stay at the Hotel Matinlahti won't completely destroy your budget.
Odd Hotels / Finland Hotel Reviews / Ice Hotels / → All Tags
Igloos, Rocking Chairs and Singles Weeks at Kakslauttanen
You might not be able to pronounce it, but you probably would enjoy a holiday at the Kakslauttanen Hotel and Igloo Village in far northern Finland. If you go in winter, you can sleep in an igloo made from snow (yeah, you might think they're all made from snow, but just wait a second). The snow igloos have a constant temperature of between 21 and 27 degrees F, so combined with the thick sleeping back they give you, you should survive the night.
But if you're more into comforts, you can try their special glass igloos. Kakslauttanen says these glass igloos are "based on our wild idea and vision" and they're made from a "very special" thermo glass. And the glass roof means you can lie in bed and (nature permitting) watch the Northern Lights--no waiting for the hotel to call you out of bed.
The rest of the year, the log cabins are your best bet. They accommodate between 2 and 6 people and each comes equipped with a sauna and a traditional Finnish rocking chair! Kakslatuttanen is especially popular for weddings (you can get married in an ice chapel) but they also run a special week each season when only singles can come and stay. Something for everyone.
[Photo: Barbarella]
Related Stories:
· Kakslauttanen Hotel and Igloo Village reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Please Disturb Me at Lapland's Rantasipi Pohjanhovi [HotelChatter]
Amazing Race / Amazing Race 10 / Helsinki Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Amazing Race 10 Hotel Update: Washing Off The Finnish Dirt
What you hear about those Scandinavians is true--they are much larger in person, well, at least their hotel rooms are. Hotel Kämp in the middle of Helsinki has some of the most spacious rooms in the city.
Since the remaining Amazing Race teams spent the day getting dirty in Finland, we think the CBS suits should have put them up for the night at Hotel Kämp, a swank Helsinki hotel. Not only is this hotel in the center of everything, but the hotel also offers a laundry service for in house guests. Very nice.
As far as we know Phil and CBS made the teams continue racing without a night to catch their breath, however, if we were in charge of this little race around the globe, we would let these dirty kids wash up at a five star hotel in the middle of Helsinki. Oh, and the photo you see above? Yes, Hotel Kamp is known to hand out these ducks to guests to use in the bath tub. The monkey mounting the duck in this particular photo is not included with your room, just the duck, as far as we know.
[Photo: acshepard]
Related Stories
· Chasing Racers: The TAR map [Jaunted]
· Hotel Kamp Reviews [TripAdvisor]
Finland Hotel Reviews / Hotel Amenities / → All Tags
Please Disturb Me at Lapland's Rantasipi Pohjanhovi
A hotel receptionist who calls you up in the middle of the night. Not usually a requirement on your dream list of what a hotel provides, but at the Rantasipi Pohjanhovi hotel in Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland, it's an extra service you can pay for: the Aurora advisory call. When the Northern Lights decide to put on their spectacular show, they'll wake you up and encourage you to pull on some clothes and get out there.
Depending on the time of year you visit Lapland, there are some key features you need to look for in a hotel: very warm rooms for winter, and thick curtains for the everlasting summer nights. The Pohjanhovi scores top marks for both of these. It also has other important features befitting a hotel just short of the Arctic Circle: a few saunas, of course, including a private one if you book in time, and electric power sockets for car warmers.
And to add to that, the real Santa lives just nearby. You can visit him any time of year with your wishlist and he can check if you've been naughty or nice.
Image via BWilson/Flickr
Related Stories:
·
Rantasipi Pohjanhovi reviews [TripAdvisor]
·
The Real Santa [Jaunted]
· Foxy Lights in Finland [Jaunted]
Hotel News / → All Tags
Dream Proposal, Dream Wedding
Calling all romantic cheapskates...
Dream Proposal: Under the northern lights in Finland. Pbbbrrrrrfect. I don't care how cold it would be, chances are there'd be a warm bed in the agenda afterwards.
Dream Wedding: FREE. Last Tuesday (Feb 17) the Guardian UK listed that The Finnish Tourist Board will give away free weddings if you come over to Finland this month and propose to your sweet.
Hurry!"the Finns will cough up for accommodation, ceremony costs, dinner and champers in Finland. Of course, you'll have to bring the in-laws."
The Catch: You need to be a UK resident. I can't help but wonder if they'd still pay if a UK resident married someone who wasn't.
Contact
Head Office: P.O. Box 625, Töölönkatu 11,
00101 HELSINKI, FINLAND
Tel.: +358 (0)9 4176 911,
Fax: +358 (0)9 4176 9399,
E-mail: mek@mek.fi
Web: VisitFinland.com
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