Imatran Valtionhotelli

Great location!

The sauna and the spa are very good

From the outside, the property is well maintained and stunningly beautiful. We were excited to stay inside the historic castle hotel...until we got to our room (404). It had a stifling, rancid smell mixture of old man sweat and bad aftershave lotion. We tried to air out the room for 2 hours during our walk outside; only to be greeted with the same awful stench. The staff was surprised, but very understanding and helpful and since there were no other rooms available in the castle (lucky for us, maybe?), they moved us to their newer extension right next to the original hotel; it also features an all indoor passage way between the buildings convenient in cold weather. The room was way bigger (and needless to say - better smelling!) and also much more convenient to the gym and sauna facilities on the bottom floor. Our recommendation is to stay in the newer part and admire the original hotel from outside or enjoy it inside eating in their excellent restaurant and morning buffet that was included in the room charge.

We really enjoyed our one night stay at Valtionhotelli. There are actually 2 parts of the hotel to stay in, either the castle or the outbuilding which can be accessed through a tunnel from the castle. The receptionist, Wenla, was as welcoming as could be and very helpful. The breakfast was more than adequate with a large variety of options. The room was pleasant with doors that opened to the outside. My only negative comments are there were no tissues in the room nor was there a phone (I guess they figure everyone has a cell phone these days!) I would highly recommend a special stay at the Valtionhotelli.

-