Strictly speaking, the Matinlahti is really in suburban Helsinki, which is of course why it's a whole heap cheaper, but it does have the bonus of being just 200 meters from the sea, in the curiously-named suburb of Espoo.

Hotel Matinlahti is connected to the Sodexho Group which means one of its focuses is conference and convention accommodation, but it also caters for "normal people" and especially boasts that "hotel surroundings offer great opportunities for out-door life".

Really, we're just enthusiastic about the low prices it offers while looking reasonably neat and tidy: we checked rates for the rest of the month and you can get "summer rates" of 62 Euros ($84) for a double room until August 12. C

hecking in for Christmas, a totally romantic time to travel to Finland, and the cheapest rates rise to around 72 Euros ($100), but that's still cheap for Helsinki.

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