A Primer on Finnish Hospitality

As global temperatures continue to rise and the mercury reaches triple digits across Europe, Finland has become an unlikely beneficiary of the continent’s changing summer travel habits. The small Nordic country, often overshadowed by its neighbors Sweden and Norway, is coming into its own as so-called “coolcations” grow in popularity—a trend that has been growing over the last few years, with 2025 marking a 13 percent increase in hotel stays across the country, from the archipelagos that dot the Baltic Sea to the northernmost part of the country in Lapland. From palatial five-star hotels to smaller stays at one with nature, each iteration of Finnish hospitality presents an alternative to sweltering, over-touristed French petits hôtels or Italian pensioni.

Hotel St. George

Located in central Helsinki and taking up nearly an entire block, Hotel St. George is hard to miss. Prior to opening its doors in 2018, the luxury hotel had many lives, including acting as the headquarters for the Finnish Literature Society, the printing house for the first Finnish-language newspaper Suometar, and the Helsinki Finnish Club. Now, the Onni Tarjanne-designed property is helping to define the luxury hospitality sector in the capital with its clean design, artistic touchpoints, and focus on guest experience.

When walking into the lobby, a receptionist isn’t the first to greet you, but a dragon. More specifically, Ai Weiwei’s Tianwu, a large-scale sculpture. The work, made from bamboo and silk, is the world’s only display of the Chinese dissident artist in a public space and in a sense sets the tone for the guest experience. Here, the St. George seems to say, even the most commonplace parts of the hotel can be elevated to surprising results.

Take, for instance, the spa. Tucked into the lower level away of the property, St. George Care is a warren of treatment rooms, relaxation lounges, and locker rooms, far enough away from the noise of the street or the staccato of luggage wheels on the lobby floor. A menu of treatments are available, while the 26-foot pool is housed in a grotto-like room, complete with a cold plunge, steam room, and sauna.

The on-site restaurant, the Wintergarten, is ideal for a cocktail before dinner, though it’s the bakery that has become something of a local’s favorite over the last few years. Here, one can grab a cup of kahvia and sit outside or enjoy a cozier seat indoors, surrounded by the smell of freshly baked bread and the chatter of friends speaking in a din of Finnish, English, Swedish, and Arabic.

Hanaholmen

A ten-minute drive from the Hotel St. George is the Hanaholmen, located in nearby Espoo, on the island of Hanasaari. Originally built in 1975 as the Hanaholmen Swedish-Finnish Cultural Centre, Hanaholmen is a cultural destination, natural paradise, and outdoor museum all at once. While still hosting a calendar of speakers and events, guests can opt for a slower pace, enjoying the walking paths that circumvent the property and the Baltic waters that lazily rippled throughout the day. Among the families of ducks that have made Hanasaari home are over 300 pieces of art which dot the premise, including pieces from Nordic artists such as Jeppe Hein, Kaarina Kaikkonen, and Anna Uddenberg.

If booking a room, the Junior Suites have recently been renovated by Jukka Halminen of KOKO3. Honoring the 1970s in the design, the color palette reflects the period with vibrant greens, mid-century furniture, wood accent pieces, and fabric by Svenskt Tenn. Here, the beds face outward toward the water. The on-property restaurant, PLATS, specializes in modern Nordic cuisine and the staffs their own fisherman on the island for the daily catch.

The Barö

If looking for a stay further out from the city, the Barö is just under an hour’s drive west of Helsinki in the Inkoo archipelago. Opened in 2021, the hotel consists of just 18 units, scattered across the property and all facing the sea just beyond the treeline. With floor-to-ceiling windows, the Barö puts the guest experience directly into the natural world, with only the forest, waters, and wildlife to keep you company.

Nature doesn’t just play into the aesthetics of the hotel, but sustainability is an active practice for its operation. Upon construction, the hotel did not cut down a tree; but instead used the landscape to plot the locations of the various guest rooms on the property. The blackened appearance of the exteriors of the cabins are from charred wood, not paint, sourced within 100-kilometers from the hotel. Even the restaurant on-site, the Berg Restaurant, only uses locally-sourced, seasonable ingredients for its menu.