Recommend hotel/ b&b in helsinki

July 19, 2007 9:12 AM

I'm going to Helsinki for a couple of days in August. Looking for recommendations for a budget hotel / bed & breakfast. Other helsinki-related info is of course also welcome.
posted by pj_rivera to Travel & Transportation around Helsinki, Finland (8 answers total)

The Helsinki Eurohostell is VERY nice, clean and modern and well decorated, and I suspect that a private (twin or double) room would be a good, genuinely budget option.

On the other hand if you're looking for budget-by-Scandinavian-standards, there's probably a lovely B&B somewhere, albeit at twice the price.
posted by Marquis at 9:43 AM on July 19, 2007

Best answer: Check out the Scandic website - they have special deals for certain dates in August, as low at 78 Euro/night.
posted by crustacean choreographer at 10:12 AM on July 19, 2007

The Hotel Arthur-- I'd link to it but the website appears only to be in Finnish; a google search should turn up English-language information-- is where a friend and I stayed on our first trip to Helsinki a few years ago. Centrally located, clean, staffed by friendly people, and reasonably cheap; the morning breakfast (free, at least when we stayed there) was actually quite good.
posted by posadnitsa at 6:02 PM on July 19, 2007

When we went to Helsinki in August two years ago the cheapest place we could find in was the Hotel Academica. It's a hostel, but we were shocked by how clean, modern and nice it was-- certainly cleaner and nicer than any of the large chain motels in the states. Plus it's centrally located.

As for Helsinki itself, August two years ago was some kind of special month of the arts, and it seemed like every night there were free performances and showings all over the city. Might be worth checking to see if that's happening again.
posted by tsmo at 8:02 AM on July 20, 2007

Tsmo is talking about 'Taiteiden yö' (literally Night of the Arts). Annual event, lots of people, food, drink, culture, art, book readings and fun. Takes place everywhere in Helsinki on the 24th of August (this year). More info and details in English here.

The linked website is good for other information too. I don't know what you're interested in, but feel free to drop me an e-mail (address is in my profile). Always happy to talk about my hometown.
posted by slimepuppy at 8:16 AM on July 20, 2007

For the love of god, take the ferry to Tallin! Cheap, cheap, CHEAP goods - stock up on all sorts of wool and linen goods for Christmas, plus all manner of surplus Eastern Bloc gimcrack. Spend the night there cheap, or take the ferry back to Helsinki - I leave it up to you. But bonus trip to Estonia is well worth it.
posted by juliewhite at 8:40 PM on July 20, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions. Unfortunately, we'll leave Helsinki before the culture festival mentioned above starts. We'd already had made up our minds to visit Tallinn, so good to hear about your experience. I will try to find opportunities to use the word gimcrack in polite conversation. Thanks!
posted by pj_rivera at 12:59 PM on July 21, 2007

Hey, if you like milling about at flea markets looking for cheap goods, Helsinki's got its share of flea markets (kirpputorit) too.

I really like the one at Hietalahti Market.

I've scored some really sweet postcards there, including many pre-war and WWII era ones.
posted by ursus_comiter at 12:41 PM on July 24, 2007