Paul and Sanna

Paul and Sanna's Wedding Information

Helsinki, Finland 11^th/12^th July 2003

The restaurant
http://www.royalravintolat.com/katajanokankasino/index_eng.asp

The church \ Island
The church is on this Island (see map 23)

http://www.suomenlinna.fi/english/eng_entry.php3

This is a link to a good map of helsinki, that shows Suomenlinna and
Katajanoka and can be zoomed for downtown.

http://kartta.hel.fi/kktesti/osoitehakuen/nsdef.asp

Helsinki Hotels Tips:

Helsinki is dominated by chain hotels, with only a few smaller family run places in the centre. The good news in that the chain hotels almost all have an air of Scandinavian functionality at reasonable rates particularly in July when the city in quiet. If IKEA made hotels they would make SOKOS, SCANDIC or CUMULUS hotels.

Most of the chain hotels have sensibly priced restaurants and breakfast is almost always included in the price. Apart from these hotel restaurants Helsinki has a moderate selection of sensibly priced restaurants and you certainly wont starve.

Practically all the hotels in Helsinki charge room rates not per person rates and many offer family rooms and kids beds etc at little extra cost. This makes finding a cheap single room a little harder but is great for families etc.

During July the business hotels drop their rates, particularly their weekend rates, so that they are competitive with the tourist hotels. You will often get a much better room in a Radisson SAS downtown for the same price as a more tourist hotel around the city.

During the summer I?d be surprised if the weekend rate difference across the whole range quoted here is more than 50 Euro. I?d also stay away from booking places on the internet as they generally don?t quote the cheap weekend rates that are available from the hotels themselves.

Chain/Hotel	Address Phone Fax	*	Comments	Price Guide

Sokos Hotel Torni	www.sokoshotels.fi Sokos Hotel Torni Yrjönkatu 26 00100 Helsinki tel. +358 (0)9 433 60 fax +358 (0)9 4336 7100	4*	Landmark building, classic elegance without being pretentious. Not your average modern box shaped Hilton. Good bars, restaurants and location	Euro 100
Klaus Kurki	Sokos Hotel Klaus Kurki Bulevardi 2-4 00120 Helsinki tel. +358 (0)9 433 40 fax +358 (0)9 4334 7100	3*	Modern stylish sort of place. Good bar and restaurant downstairs.	Euro 100
Helsinki	Sokos Hotel Helsinki Kluuvikatu 8 00100 Helsinki tel. +358 (0)9 43 320 fax +358 (0)9 176 014	3*	Right in the centre of downtown. probably the most normal of the Sokos hotel. Good restaurant and night club downstairs, but place is big enough that you wont hear the noise.	Euro 100
Palace	www.palaceravintolat.com Palace Hotel Eteläranta 10, 00130 Helsinki Tel +358-9-1345 6656 Fax +358-9-654 786 E-mail: [email protected]	4*	Has a good reputation for being a bit different and has views over the harbour, but the last time we were there we thought it was looking a little jaded. Restaurant has a superb reputation
Scandic Hotels Marski	www.scandic-hotels.com Scandic Hotel Marski Mannerheimintie 10 FI-00100 Helsinki Tel: +358 9 680 61 Fax: +358 9 64 23 77 E-mail: [email protected]	4*	Big hotel on the main street downtown. Perhaps gets a more finnish crowd that some of the others list here. Bars / Restaurants have been reorganised recently but should be good.
Grand Marina	Scandic Hotel Grand Marina Katajanokanlaituri 7 FI-00160 Helsinki Tel: +358 9 16 661 Fax: +358 9 664 764 E-mail: [email protected]	3*	Down on the waterfront and only a short walk out of downtown. Tends to get a lot of coach tours and tourist groups etc as it is right beside where the large ferries come in and out. Walking distance to the wedding reception
Simonkenttä	Scandic Hotel Simonkenttä Simonkatu 9 FI-00100 Helsinki Tel: +358 (0) 9-68 380 Fax: +358 (0) 9-68 38 111 E-mail: [email protected]	4*	Newest of the lot in this list. Should be good but never been inside.
Kalastajatorpa	Scandic Hotel Kalastajatorpa Kalastajatorpantie 1 FI-00330 Helsinki Tel: +358 9 458 11 Fax: +358 9 458 1668 E-mail: [email protected]	3*	About 4km from the city centre, this place is a quiet, modern mostly congress centre style place but on the sea with its own beach in a leafy suburb. Good if you want to get out of town.
Radisson Plaza	www.radissonSAS.com Radisson SAS Plaza Hotel Mikonkatu 23 Helsinki, 00100 Tel +358-9-77590	5*	New place in an older building. Not my favourite RadissonSAS but good.
Royal	Radisson SAS Royal Hotel Runeberginkatu 2 Helsinki, 00100 Tel +358-9-69580	4*	This was my favourite hotel in Helsinki, when on expenses!! Used to have very good weekend summer discounts. A little further from the centre than some in the list but still central.
Hesperia	Radisson SAS Hesperia Hotel Mannerheimintie 50, Helsinki, 00260 Tel +358-9-43101	4*	If you visited 10 years ago this was the place to stay, renovated recently, opposite the park, a little less central than some but still walkable
Kamp	www.hotelkamp.fi Hotel Kamp Pohjoisesplanadi 29 00100 Helsinki Tel. +358 9 576 111 Fax. +358 9 576 1122 Email: [email protected]	5*	Renovated and opened a few years ago, this is the best hotel in town. Our guess is that it wont cost more that about 100 Eur during a July weekend if you fancy a treat.
Finn	www.hotelliFinn.fi Hotel Finn Kalevankatu 3 B 00100 Helsinki Tel +358 - 9 - 684 4360 Fax +358 - 9 - 6844 3610	2*	?A small, inexpensive and cosy city hotel in the heart of Helsinki??very central, we were never inside but suspect it could be reasonable.	EUR 60
Arthur	www.hotelarthur.fi Hotel Arthur Vuorikatu 19 Helsinki 100 TEL. +358-9-173441 FAX +358-9-626880 EMAIL: [email protected]	2*	A tourist hotel, in a central if busy place. Never been inside.
Aurora	Hotel Aurora Helsinginkatu 50 00530 Helsinki Tel: +358-9-770100 Fax: +358-9-77010200		Suspect this could be one of the better tourist hotels in town but we have never been inside.
Lord	www.lordhotel.fi Lord Hotel Lönnrotinkatu 29 00180 Helsinki Tel. +358-9-615815 Fax. +358-9-680-1315	4	An intriguing place. Modern hotel built in an old stone building downtown. A short walk from the very centre but still ok.
Cumulus Kaisaniemi	www.cumulus.fi Cumulus Kaisaniemi Kaisaniemenkatu 7 00100 Helsinki Tel. +358.9.172881 Fax. +358.9.605379 [email protected]	3*	Central but a busy location. Good choice if you don?t plan spending much time in your room.
Olympia	Cumulus Olympia Lantinen brahenkatu 2 00540 Helsinki Tel. +358.9.69151 Fax. +358.9.6915219 [email protected]	3*	Quieter place with lots of sea views. A short walk from the centre of town. Another reasonable choice.