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I have been coming to Tampere on business over the past few years, a couple of times each year for a span of 2-3 weeks each. I have stayed at the Holiday Inn Tampere each time, so I think I know the place pretty well now. Here is my overview: - Most rooms are standard - basic - bare bones, whatever you want to call it. This works great for a few nights stay but might wear thin for those of you staying weeks at a time. I personally don't have much of a problem with it, since most of the time I am so tired at the end of the day I just want a nice bed to sleep in. The bed, by the way, is super comfortable. The bathrooms are a bit too small - the kind of small where if you take a shower you'll get most of the bathroom floor soaked, since there is no true barrier between the shower and everything else. the plus side: shower water pressure is high and hot water is plenty. the down side: the supplied shampoo and body wash (built into the wall) are not quite up to par. If you are staying awhile, I recommend going down to the S-Market (right around the corner) and picking up your own toiletries. Note: there are some executive rooms and suites - some even have their own sauna - but I haven't been to one yet. - Room air conditioning: yeah, forget about that. It's Finland, so most of the year you're going to need heat, which the hotel supplies plenty of. The problem is that I was constantly waking up in the middle of the night because the heat can get overbearing, so I ended up opening my window (it's cold out there but you're gonna need that air to offset the heat). I have never been able to set the temperature myself - I don't think the thermostats work. - Enjoyed the bar/restaurant. It's called Opera Brasserie and the menu has all sorts of options. Lots of times they are running special menus. Expect to pay about 30 euros for a meal. The bar is very nice, too. I recommend asking for Maarit - she is awesome and helpful. - On the 8th floor are saunas with a nice view of the town. There's also a jacuzzi (warm, not hot, but I believe the idea is to go in there after you get out of a hot sauna). (Tip for Americans: yes, you go into a sauna nude) - Parking is a bitch. If the top level is full you will have to drive down to the lower level, and I only recommend this if you have good depth perception and a small car. Otherwise you'll have a hard time navigating tight curves and a multitude of support beams. - Location is very good. You are right down the street from Tampere-Talo (music hall) and I highly recommend seeing a performance there (I believe you can get free tickets most of the time from the hotel front desk). You are also a walk away from the train station and not far from everything else Tampere has to offer you. (Although if you are going to one of the two observation towers you'll have a bit of a walk). Also around the corner is a gym that you can use - I think it's like 7 euros per visit. - Laundry is expensive (I think they take it over to the laundry store inside the Stockmann department store). But it's convenient. - WiFi is a lot better now, but the wired-routers inside the hotel rooms are not ready for prime time. It's kinda weird that my internet was spotty on the wired network but worked ok on the WiFi, but there ya go. Tip: go to the front desk and get a whole bunch of WiFi 24-hour login cards. - Be sure to take advantage of the free breakfast, which is a buffet of everything you can possibly want. They even serve blood sausage ("Mustamakkara") which is a staple. - never used room service but all the other "services" are tops. The restaurant wait staff and bartenders are friendly and efficient; the housekeeping is also very good, and the rooms are super clean. - for English speakers, the TV will give you CNBC, CNN, and BBC news, among other stuff like movies. In the end I have to give Holiday Inn Tampere 4 stars because, even though it has some flaws, I sometimes feel like it's a second home. Like Jules said in Pulp Fiction - personality goes a long way. read more
6 years ago
