Review: Hilton Strand Hotel, Helsinki

Introduction, booking and room

To celebrate my 36th birthday I booked a King bed room @Hilton Helsinki Strand for our family of three via Hilton App only about two hours before arriving. After about an hour I made a check-in via the app and saw that we were upgraded to an Executive Room on the 7th floor.

There seemed to be only one room to choose so we ended up in room 737, which is a good number for an aviation enthusiast ;)

Room keys were swiftly in my hand as there was nobody on the counter before us.

Room was quite spacious and immaculately clean although view was not the best in this case since we were facing an opposite building. Two bottles of water and some candy were waiting as a little extra for a Gold member. The sofa wasn't done to serve as an extra bed yet. The room itself is quite modern and there are power and USB outlets.

The usual - good - Peter Thomas Roth bathroom amenities.

Bathroom, Executive Room

Executive Lounge

After unpacking we walked to the Executive Lounge on the same floor. At that time there were some snacks and fruit available, as well as soft drinks and coffee machine. A few magazines were available just after the entrance. Different kinds of chairs and tables were arranged around the lounge. The furniture and decoration might need an update soon, at least in the seating area left side of the entrance. 

Cookies and snacks at Executive Lounge

The lounge itself is neither very big nor too fancy, but provides a decent place to spend a little time. There's a workstation with an iMac and a printer in a corner. The lounge didn't seem to be staffed other than someone bringing in the food and drinks. The view towards the sea is an added bonus of course!

Afternoon view towards the sea from Executive Lounge

                      

Soon after was time for some drinks and light supper (canapes), which consisted of excellent duck in lemon sauce, different salad items, grilled aubergine, hummus and some cheese. Unfortunately no photo of the duck dish as it was quite busy right then. The next photos are from a previous visit about 6 months earlier but might give you an idea of what to expect:

Sushi and salad items at Executive Lounge

White and sparkling wines at Executive Lounge

There were two kinds of sparkling (an Italian Prosecco and a Spanish Cava) and white wines and one red wine to enjoy. We tried both of the sparkling ones and they were totally acceptable :) It was great that an ice bucket was provided to keep the wines cold.

After returning to our room we noticed the sofa had been turned into a bed, which was quite big enough for an 8-year-old :)

Lobby, bar and restaurant

The hotel lobby / bar is gorgeous. I think the design is just great with the high ceiling and nice details. There seemed to be at least some people in the lobby most of the time and no wonder - it's beautiful and inviting!

The main breakfast area is also here and sort of continuing to the lobby. We ate breakfast here and didn't even go to see the offerings at Executive Lounge. 

Front lobby

Breakfast was pretty good though not amazing. There was the normal fruit, bread, yogurt, muesli, bacon as well as Chinese meatballs and some noodles. Croissants were excellent!

The highlight was when an employee came to ask our daughter if she wanted something for dessert. After about 5mins she came back with a LOVELY Belgian waffle with maple syrup, berries and ice cream. It was delicious and looked spectacular!

Breakfast treat - Belgian waffle with berries and ice-cream

     

Pool and sauna

After the breakfast I asked for a late check out. 2pm was approved and so we went up to the top floor (8th) to see the sauna and swimming pool.

Entrance to pool and sauna

When you enter the area there is a little gym that provides some basic cardio equipment and weights.

I think the sauna area (Gentlemen's side at least) starts to look a bit outdated and it would be great to have lockers there because there's no secure place to put your valuables in. And I wouldn't mind seeing the P.T.Roth amenities in the shower. I just think for a high-end hotel it looks a bit cheap to have some other stuff in the container.

In the men's sauna the thermometer was broke although you could guess the temperature since the thermometer plate was sort of cracked into two.

There wasn't any water or other drinks present although there were lots of plastic cups in the dressing room. Obviously you can drink tap water in Finland but still…

Dressing room

The pool was very cool according to my family members who went for a short swim. A nice little detail was a fish tank that was attached to the pool :) A few chairs were arranged around the pool.

Cool pool 

At about 1pm we were ready to leave and took a leisurely walk to the railway station in the crisp October wind and sunshine.

There are tram and metro stops very close to the hotel and there is also an outside market square (Hakaniemen Tori) with a market hall opposite the square.

Bottomline:

A very decent Hilton hotel close to city center with a lovely lobby bar downstairs and a bit tired sauna area. Having properly chilled sparkling wine in the Executive Lounge is the way to go!
Staff were polite but service wasn't as friendly as in the brand new Hilton Tallinn Park, Estonia.