24 hours in Hanaholmen hotel

Hanaholmen Hotel is located just six kilometres from central Helsinki. That means it’s less than a 30-minute bike ride from the railway station. Along the way, the wind whips around you as the scenery from Kamppi through Ruoholahti, Lauttasaari and Koivusaari makes the ride feel effortlessly scenic. From the city centre and nearby areas, the hotel is also quick to reach by public transport or car.

Before long, the Hanaholmen sign comes into view. The hotel building, a striking example of 1970s modernist architecture, appears at the end of the road, and before you’ve even had a chance to park your bike, the artworks scattered around the grounds pull you straight into the hotel’s art experience.

After check-in, the visit naturally begins with a proper look around the room. The junior suites, renovated in spring 2026 and included in the package, are divided into three areas: an entrance hall, a workspace and lounge area, and a bedroom. Even though the layout is compact, the suites somehow feel much more spacious than they are.

If you’ve escaped to the hotel in the middle of a workday, the final hours can easily be wrapped up at the desk. If there’s nothing demanding your attention, though, the green sofa is perfect for an afternoon nap. The junior suites, like all the hotel’s rooms, come with sea views. With a bit of luck, you might spot a hedgehog below the window, and with fairly average luck, Finland’s national bird, the whooper swan.

How does a snack surrounded by the graphic art of Pentti Kaskipuro, a pioneer of Finnish photographic art, sound, while sitting in a Finn Juhl Chieftain Chair? Iconic design classics are part of the interior at Café Hanaholmen, alongside numerous other art and design pieces. Enjoying the café’s popular toast skagen (a Swedish shrimp salad toast – yum!) while surrounded by – and even sitting on – stunning design makes it easy to leave everyday stress behind and slip into holiday mode.

After a snack, it’s time to swap into swimwear. The hotel’s famous retro-style swimming pool and sauna area are just a few steps from the first-floor junior suites, so the shift in atmosphere happens quickly. At the end of the 17-metre pool, there’s naturally a sea view waiting, and after a few laps it’s time to head outside.

Tucked away at the far end of the grounds, the beautiful glass sauna offers gentle steam and, while the sea has quietly appeared through windows throughout the visit, here the view opens up completely from the benches. Even if a storm is raging outside, inside it’s all warmth and calm.

Through the sauna’s mirrored glass, it’s fun to watch not only the scenery and surrounding nature but also the birds curiously inspecting the glass building. The winged visitors have been taken into account in the sauna’s design too, thanks to bird-safe laser technology that prevents them from flying into the glass.

The 90-minute private sauna session included in the accommodation package feels wonderfully indulgent, but a couple of dips in the sea with proper sauna breaks in between and suddenly the time is up. The hot-and-cold treatment has worked its magic, and you step out of the sauna with a slightly silly grin, suitably messy hair and a completely relaxed state of mind.

Located on the hotel’s second floor, Restaurant Plats is a bright dining space where the menu draws inspiration from nature. The windows overlook the archipelago and the sea, meaning dinner comes with a front-row seat to the sunset as it colours the sky.

The restaurant serves a five-course tasting menu that changes with the seasons and the available ingredients. Plats takes its produce so seriously that the restaurant even has its own fisherman, whose catch features on the menu throughout the summer months.

When your stomach is full and the day is done, there’s something especially satisfying about not having to think about the journey home, knowing your hotel room is waiting just a few steps away. Curtains closed, lights out and time to sink into the feeling of perfectly pressed hotel sheets.

Could there be a better way to start the morning than lingering in bed after waking up, watching the pine trees sway in the sea breeze outside the window? And when it’s finally time to get up, a hotel breakfast is waiting.

Hanaholmen’s breakfast spread has everything you could possibly want first thing in the morning: excellent coffee, slow-cooked porridge, smoothies and pancakes. Breakfast can be enjoyed indoors or, on a warm day, out on the large terrace in front of the restaurant, where the morning sun arrives early.

Breakfast is best digested surrounded by art and nature, because Hanaholmen is not only a hotel but also a Swedish-Finnish cultural and cooperation centre. That means the hotel is filled with art, and the collection extends well beyond the indoor spaces. There are nearly 300 works inside, with additional pieces displayed around the hotel grounds.

The art trail circling the hotel building features around ten works that, despite their striking character, seem to blend naturally into the landscape. Kauko Räsänen’s bronze female sculptures and Jeppe Hein’s Fragmented Circle, made from mirror-polished steel, both sit beautifully within the surroundings and bring a playful feel to the art walk.

By midday, it’s time to face the inevitable: pack up your things and check out of the room. But the hotel’s atmosphere is hard to leave behind, so if you’re not quite ready to head home yet, the visit can be extended with a coffee at Café Hanaholmen. It also gives you time for one last stop at the art corridor beside the reception, where the mirrors practically demand a final round of trip photos.