43 Best Hotels in Finland

The kind of genuine boutique hotel that Finland needs more of, the Arctic Light is a wonderful luxury haven in downtown Rovaniemi, the perfect retreat after a cold winter day of snowmobile or reindeer safaris, but it's just as comfortable at other times of the year. A range of rooms, equipped with lighting designed to simulate clear Arctic skies, is supplemented by a separate Christmas Cabin in the yard. The included breakfast, devised by Finnish TV chef Sara La Fountain, is worth the visit in itself, and the lobby lounge and bar are favorite spots for pre- and post-dinner drinks and meetings. Although a separate enterprise, the excellent Arctic Restaurant is adjacent. The giant (albeit not real) polar bear in the street outside is a guiding landmark.

Run by a charming couple and at the end of a remote rustic lane, just a 30-minute drive from Mariehamn and close to Eckerö, Björnhofvda Gård is one of the best country-lodge hotels in the archipelago. A cooked and/or continental breakfast is included with an overnight stay either in the main house or in outlying buildings, one of which dates back to the 19th century. There is a proper old-style wood-burning sauna, a well-stocked wine cellar, scenic shorelines within walking distance, and deer roaming in the nearby fields. The restaurant offers a set menu changing daily in summer and monthly at other times (closed Sunday and Monday).

This small luxury hotel, on the edge of Helsinki's Design District, distinguishes itself through a rare combination of character and service. The front section is a fantastical 1903 stone "castle" in the whimsical National Romantic style, with Art Nouveau frescoes, wood-beams, medieval-style restaurants, lounges, conference rooms, and a cavernous banquet hall. A walkway across an inner court brings you to the modern building housing the guest rooms, which have comfortable, contemporary furnishings. Bicycles are available to borrow free in summer, and the hotel is proud of its Green Key eco-label. The restaurant is for breakfast only, but there is a pleasant and subdued GLO Art Lounge Bar.

Located in the plush and leafy western Munkkiniemi neighborhood, a 15-minute taxi ride or 20-minute tram hop from the city center, this hotel routinely hosts statesmen, celebrities, and honeymooning couples and bills itself as "A Resort in the City." The best rooms are in the seaside annex, but all are large and airy, with clear pine and birchwood paneling. Rooms in the main building may either be equipped with bath and terrace or with showers only; prices vary accordingly. Delightful seaside strolls are within easy reach, and a peaceful night's sleep is guaranteed.

Situated opposite the Esplanade, this luxurious, late-19th-century cultural landmark has long been the meeting point for Finland's most prominent politicians, artists, and celebrities in accordance with its unofficial status as Finland's ritziest hotel. Famous guests have included Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, Eliel Saarinen, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, and Sibelius, who dedicated a song to it. More recently it has been the luxury refuge of visiting legends such as Bruce Springsteen and the Rolling Stones. Take the beautiful, sweeping staircase up to the grand ballroom, known as the Mirror Room. When not unwinding in one of the spa's three different saunas or its 10 treatment rooms, guests can borrow iPods, stereos, and video game systems from the lobby. A sumptuous breakfast, also available for nonresidents by reservation, is served in the Brasserie, which also has a gourmet menu combining French and Finnish cuisines. A Classic Afternoon Tea is available and the Upper Lounge provides discreet and quiet relaxation. The Kämp Bar is very elegant venue for aperitifs, digestifs, and rendezvous. 

Situated on the idyllic Punkaharju esker ridge a 30-minute drive southeast of Savonlinna, surrounded by quintessential Finnish lake-and-forest scenery, this is one of the most beautifully located hotels in Finland, if not the most beautifully located. Originally built as a gamekeeper's lodge for Czar Nicholas I in 1845, the beautiful wooden manor has been modernized, renovated, and converted to a design-conscious but unpretentiously stylish hotel, with nine new rooms and suites in the exquisitely renovated Villa Czarine. The manager's passion for mushrooms and other fresh local produce is captured in the prominence of these ingredients in delicious set restaurant menus and lunch buffets, but be sure to book in advance during the opera festival season. The hotel also organizes outdoor activities such as mushroom-picking walks and hosts music recitals. More modest lakeside forest cabin accommodations are available throughout the summer, when a steamboat from Savonlinna calls in at the quay. There is a beachside sauna by the lake.

Competing with the Hotel Kämp at the pinnacle of Finnish luxury, the St. George opened in 2018 in converted apartment buildings on one corner of the Vanha Kirkkopuisto (Old Church Park). Atelier rooms, suites, and studios are tastefully furnished in subtle colors, with and without balconies, and have park and city rooftop views on the upper floors. The St. George Care Spa and Playground Gym includes a huge and stylish pool, cleansing treatments for body and soul, and even a sleep consultation service. Afternoon tea and signature cocktails are served in the Wintergarden lounge, decorated with top Finnish design and artworks, including the Learning to Fly sculpture by Pekka Jylhä on the ceiling. The dragon sculpture as one enters the main door is by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. The adjacent Thai restaurant Boon Nam is probably the best venue for this cuisine in Finland, and is also the breakfast room. That alluring aroma of fresh bread is emanating from the hotel's own bakery shop, which provides part of a fabulous breakfast spread.

What started as a roadside restaurant grew into a cozy scattering of wood cabins and eventually a sprawling resort with a variety of lodgings from traditional log cabins to glass igloos, snow igloos, and apartment-sized chalets with hemispherical glass extensions for aurora viewing, all of them at premium prices. There’s a Christmas theme to the newer West Village, with a quaint Santa’s home cabin and colorful wood carvings. Restaurants, smoke saunas, a reindeer farm, winter equipment rentals, aurora alerts, and a souvenir shop are part of the setup too. Half-board packages are available. Accommodation options vary seasonally.

One of the best examples of elevated luxury in one of Europe’s most remote and wild landscapes, lodging options here include riverside log cabins and en suite glass-roofed pods, some with their own saunas, designed for watching the northern lights in luxurious comfort. The whole ensemble is assembled around a log-cabin restaurant and reception block in the forest just far enough away from Saariselkä to make it feel deliciously remote and isolated. Muotka arranges activities for its guests too, from aurora hunting to midnight sun adventures.

Built in 1902 in charming art nouveau style, the Park Hotel offers individual rooms (that is, no two rooms are the same) with high ceilings and antique furniture and all the amenities of a modern boutique hotel. It's in the heart of Turku, two blocks from Market Square and close to the railway station. Sadly, the parrot Jaakko perched in reception, always ready to greet guests, passed away in 2018.

Ingeniously created from former company offices of the Finnish Railway Company (and adjacent to the main railway station), this welcome addition to the Helsinki hotel scene opened in 2022. The transformation has preserved many of the building's original art nouveau details, and is particularly convenient for travelers using the rail link to and from the airport. Access is from the northwest corner of the main station square. The rooms vary in size from compact standard rooms to a spacious suite, but all rooms benefit from high, wide windows, some with city views. Bar G is an elegant source of cocktail refreshment, while the Brasserie Grand promises a menu of classical European cuisine, with distinctly Finnish elements such as whitefish and mushrooms. Breakfast can be enjoyed in a quiet courtyard.

Having reopened post-pandemic under family ownership in downtown Rovaniemi, the Arctic City Hotel is a comfortable base for travelers exploring the Arctic Circle region or taking a city break before heading farther north. The recent installation of air-conditioning represents a welcome addition to the compact but cozy rooms—some with hardwood floors, others with soft carpets. The hotel has two restaurants: the Bull Bar and Grill, with a menu that includes American-style burgers, and Monte Rosam which offers local Lapland fare and steaks and serves as the hotel's breakfast venue. Guests also get free sauna access.

On a north-facing slope halfway between the city of Rovaniemi and its airport, the luxurious accommodations here are strategically placed to catch views of the northern lights from the wide windows in each oblong, pine-shingled unit. Each suite has a sumptuous bed and underfloor heating (with an added "nest bed" ideal for younger guests in some units); seven have kitchenettes. The lobby bar and Rakas restaurant serve good lunch and dinner menus as well as a comprehensive breakfast spread, and the reception area has a souvenir shop and cheery fireplace; all are a short walk from the accommodations (i.e., you need to dress well in winter to get to breakfast). Fat bikes, snowshoes, and walking poles are among the items available free to guests for exploring the trails through the forest leading to some wonderful viewpoints above the resort. The underground SantaPark theme park, under the same ownership, is a five-minute walk from reception, and the Santa Claus Village on the Arctic Circle is 2 km (about a mile) away.

The top-floor Skyroom bar and swimming pool of this quayside hotel, one of Helsinki's trendiest, offer one of the best all-around panoramas of the city, especially at sunset. The Clarion occupies two towers on the edge of the Länsisatama (West Harbour) shipyard area of Hietalahti and the new Ruoholahti and Jätkäsaari suburbs. Bedrooms are sleek and quiet, and central Helsinki is a 10-to-15-minute tram ride away, while ferry terminals for Tallinn are a five-minute tram hop from the spacious reception. The Kitchen & Table restaurant is highly rated and serves an excellent buffet breakfast, always included.

On Helsinki's main avenue, facing Hesperia Park and across the street from the Opera House, this upscale property has relatively spacious rooms with a modern Finnish flair; business-class rooms, including dedicated quiet zone rooms, and guests in suites and Club rooms have access to the top-floor Club Lounge.  There's an indoor pool, and the Forever Day Spa is next door. The light and airy breakfast room has a large buffet. Trams frequently leave from a nearby stop, taking travelers into the center of town in 5 to 10 minutes.

Well-dressed locals meet in the lobby lounge while a largely international business clientele heads upstairs to unwind in some of Helsinki's slickest hotel rooms. There are 70 different room configurations: GLO Luxe rooms are considerably larger and just a tad pricier. Smart Rooms, one step above, are only slightly larger. GLO Lush packages include access to the outstanding gym and sauna shared with the adjoining Hotel Kämp. GLO Studio Marimekko rooms are decked out with items by Finland's famous design company of that name. Room rates can plunge on weekends.

With tastefully furnished rooftop saunas; large, crisply decorated rooms; bathrooms with heated floors; a fitness center and indoor pool; and even a car-wash service in the basement garage, this hotel pampers you. The distinctive use of granite and Finnish marble in the central lobby is accentuated by a soaring atrium, where the BRO (Bridge) Pizzarante Italian-theme restaurant is also located. The waterfront vistas are a pleasure. Some suites have panoramic views of the sea.

This spa center in rural Lapland, close to the Urho Kekkonen National Park and its numerous hiking and skiing options, offers rooms with casual Scandinavian style and more rustic cabins with fireplaces, as well as a glass-dome swimming area crammed with foliage, fountains, waterslides, wave machines, and a hot tub. The solarium, saunas, and Turkish baths are adjacent. Guest rooms have blond- and dark-wood fittings and slate-blue carpets. The Angry Birds Activity Park is another family attraction. Buses to and from Rovaniemi stop at the hotel.

In the heart of Mariehamn, the bayside Hotel Arkipelag is known for its fine marina and lively Arken nightclub. Rooms are basic but comfortable, with huge picture windows and balconies, and guests have access to an outdoor pool. Ask for a seaside room. The restaurants, set in long, wood-panel rooms with wide windows overlooking an ocean inlet, serve fresh Åland seafood.

Taking its name from the Fabianinkatu 6 address, family-owned F6 is a welcome addition to the portfolio of Helsinki boutique hotels. Located a five-minute stroll from the leafy Esplanade, the hotel pays special attention to sustainable principles, drawing on renewable electricity sources and organic ingredients for its lovely breakfasts, for example. Rooms and bathrooms are tastefully furnished, and there's a quiet courtyard in which guests can relax. A versatile cocktail bar is named after Runar, the hotel's former canine mascot. The restaurant serves only breakfast, but guests can order in from Helsinki restaurants using the Wolt service, and there are plenty of eateries nearby.

Haven's prime harborside location and luxury amenities place it among Helsinki's finest hotels, and prominent guests have included Kylie Minogue and the Dalai Lama. Even Superior rooms (the least expensive of the three categories, not including the three suites) have a second TV in the bathroom, in addition to the larger Bang & Olufsen set with nearly 100 channels in the bedroom, and stylish-yet-cozy furnishings. Prime Superior rooms, a step up, have the same-size chic brown-and-white bathrooms with oversized shower heads but have slightly wider bedrooms, most of them facing the harbor. Grand Deluxe rooms are the largest and feature espresso machines and fantastic harbor views. Breakfast is served downstairs in the superb restaurant Havis, but guests are also welcome at two other adjacent restaurants: the southern-themed Sue Ellen and the Italian Fiasco. The relaxing Bar Haven has Afterwork offers on beer and wine, and boasts a table packed with malt and blended whiskies, perhaps the best selection in Helsinki.

In the heart of Savonlinna overlooking the lake, this 1930s building on historic Linnankatu has small, unpretentious rooms, all individually decorated in period styles. The bistro-style restaurant has a lovely lakeside summer terrace and serves an excellent "Opera Buffet" during the festival. Sauna access is included in the room rate.

Nicely placed in Inari village on the shore of Inarijärvi Lake, Finland's largest lake, this hotel is a good base for exploring the region or for stopping off and recharging after or between explorations of Lapland's more remote areas. It has a good restaurant and is within walking distance of the Sami museum Siida, as well as bars, tourist shops, and a supermarket. The hotel, owned by the Visit Inari safari and tour company, also provides fat bike rentals, useful for local explorations, on and off track. Almost half the rooms are fitted with their own sauna.

Modern and well-equipped for couples and families, this hotel is 1 km (½ mile) from the center of Ivalo, right on the Ivalo River. The decor is predominately wood, with a cheering fireplace close to reception. The rooms are spacious and modern, with oatmeal carpets and lots of blond birchwood trimming; ask for one by the river. The restaurant serves continental fare as well as delicious Lappish dishes.

Located in a quiet part of town full of fascinating art nouveau detail and close to the South Harbour, the Katajanokka is not a bad place to do time, which makes perfect sense when you realize that the building originally served as a county jail in 1888. Original remnants include actual cells in a far corner of the basement restaurant and cell bars lining small sections of the hallways. Rooms are a decent size, with stylish tiled bathrooms and oversize rain-effect shower heads (some rooms have bathtubs as well).

Pommern is a modern, comfortable hotel in central Mariehamn, popular with couples and families. The Kvarter5 restaurant serves breakfast, and guests have access to separate men's and women's saunas as well as 24-hour access to the nearby Avancia fitness center. Bicycles are available for rent, and pets are also welcome. 

An inconspicuous entrance on the pleasant, centrally located Bulevardi street might not prepare guests for the ultra-cool design themes concealed within. Top Finnish designers have contributed to Special Room concepts, which include an "art suite" and an "urban nature" room. Guests in the three Sky Loft double rooms are treated to city views from the seventh-floor Sky Terrace. Other rooms have references to the Finnish literary epic, The Kalevala, and are titled Desire, Mystical, and Passion. There's even an egg-shaped bed in one of the Sky Suites. The Italian restaurant Toscanini is next to the hotel, although the super breakfast buffet and very popular weekend brunch are served behind the reception area. 

On a clear night, you can get a good view of the northern lights (should they be shining) from the roof of this secluded, comfortable chain hotel that is far enough from town to escape the urban light pollution. Apart from this advantage, the hilltop hotel is a trailhead for some short forest walks and cycle tracks and, in winter, cross-country ski trails, with any necessary gear available at the hotel itself. The public areas and rooms are fitted out in tasteful, regional wooden style also in keeping with the Lapland Hotels brand. Mystique Deluxe rooms have their own saunas. The Sky Kitchen and View restaurant is a highly rated bistro featuring surprise Lapp-themed menus and a Lappish Delicacies main dish of fish, reindeer, cheese, and berries. It's also where guests are served a good breakfast buffet spread.

The Marski has always been favored for its absolutely central location, on the main Mannerheimintie artery and opposite the Stockmann department store. It was unveiled again after extensive renovations as Scandic's first signature hotel in Finland in spring 2019. The suites are the last word in modern luxury, and all rooms are soundproof, shutting out the traffic, and have double-thick mattresses. The name of the new Kuusi Palaa (Six Pieces) restaurant refers to the menu concept, whereby diners can choose six items to create their own meal, enjoyed alone or shared. Access to the nearby Namina wellness spa is also an option for guests.

The 1950s functionalist architecture and interior design of the Vaakuna date back to the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Recently renovated rooms are spacious, with simple but elegant furnishings that also echo the functionalist theme. The rooftop restaurant, 10th Floor, offers great views of the central area, both from within and from the outdoor summer terrace. The hotel is above the Sokos department store, with the lobby on the ground floor opposite the train station.