The most coherent Kalevala-themed design hotel in Finland - 171 rooms across ten categories on the only address where Bulevardi meets Esplanadi.
The most coherent Kalevala-themed design hotel in Finland - 171 rooms across ten categories on the only address where Bulevardi meets Esplanadi.
Klaus K opened in 2005 in a converted late-19th-century commercial building at the corner of Bulevardi and Mannerheimintie, where the Esplanade ends and the Bulevardi begins. The conversion was led by Finnish design house Stylt Trampoli, which built the property's still-defining concept: a contemporary five-star design hotel themed around the Kalevala - Elias Lonnrot's 1849 compilation of Finnish folklore that anchored the entire 19th-century Finnish national-romantic movement. It is the only luxury hotel in Helsinki built around a coherent national-literary idea.
The 171 rooms span ten categories - an unusually deep menu by Helsinki standards. Mini Rooms (12-15 square metres) handle the design-tourist short-stay; Urban Rooms (18-22 square metres) are the standard double; Sky Rooms on the upper floors come with the courtyard light wells and the higher ceilings; Sky Loft Suites are the duplex top-floor rooms with the views over the Bulevardi rooftops to the south. Eight rooms in the property are designated Art Rooms - each decorated by a single Finnish artist (Stefan Lindfors, Sami Lukkarinen, Riikka Hyvonen and others) as standing installations rather than redecoration cycles.
Restaurant Toscanini, at street level on Bulevardi, is the hotel's dining room, drawing on the regional cooking of Italy with a carefully built all-Italian wine list; it is one of the more reliable trattorias of this generation in the city. In summer the seventh-floor Sky Terrace opens for drinks over the Bulevardi rooftops. The honest caveat is that the food and drink offer is light for a five-star: one restaurant plus a seasonal terrace, with no year-round destination bar of its own.
The position - at the top of Bulevardi, opposite the Old Church and a one-minute walk to the Esplanade - is one of the strongest in central Helsinki. The Helsinki Music Centre is six minutes by tram; the Design District galleries are two minutes south; the Helsinki Stock Exchange is a four-minute walk. Klaus K is the best-value five-star design proposition in Helsinki, and the hotel that the city's design and culture community most often books for visiting professional contacts.
Klaus K is the Helsinki design-tourist hotel of choice for solo travel. The Mini and Urban rooms are sized realistically for one; the Art Rooms are quietly the best one-night solo stays in the city; Toscanini takes single covers without comment; the Bulevardi-Esplanadi corner is the best walking position for solo exploration of central Helsinki.
For Helsinki business stays in the Bulevardi-design-district corridor, Klaus K is the answer. The mid-floor Sky Rooms work as quiet day rooms; the in-building Restaurant Toscanini handles the lunch; the small upstairs meeting room takes private board breakfasts; the position four minutes from Kamppi metro is decisive for cross-city travel.
A Helsinki anniversary at Klaus K is the answer for design-literate couples - the Sky Loft Suites with the Bulevardi-rooftop view are the milestone booking; the Art Rooms are the most distinctive one-night standing-installation experiences in the city; Toscanini's private dining room handles the in-house anniversary dinner reflexively.
Bulevardi 2-4
00120 Helsinki
Finland
Esplanadi 1 minute; Old Church Park 4 minutes; Helsinki Central Station 6 minutes by tram; Kamppi metro 4 minutes
171 rooms (incl. Sky Loft suites and individually-decorated Art Rooms)
Mini Rooms from EUR 210/night
Urban Rooms from EUR 260/night
Sky Rooms from EUR 380/night
Sky Loft Suites from EUR 720/night
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Opened 2005 by Kamp Group; major Kalevala-design refresh 2015; refurbishment cycle ongoing
Restaurant Toscanini (Italian)
Seventh-floor Sky Terrace (summer)
Eight Art Rooms by Finnish artists
Strawberry / Kämp Collection Hotels member
Sauna and 24-hour fitness
From EUR 210/night. Headline suites and the named categories book three to four months ahead for the high-season weekends; six months for the peak periods on the local calendar.
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Finland's original grand hotel - opened 1887 by Carl Kamp on the Esplanade; the de facto Finnish national-romantic salon.
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