Omena Hotel Helsinki Lonnrotinkatu

I stayed for two nights and had a terrible experience. The room had a small fridge, a kettle and a very poor-quality microwave. While I was heating food, the microwave suddenly started smoking. I don’t know whether it was a short circuit or something else, but my hand was injured and my food burned. The smoke set off the fire alarm. A desk worker came to the room and saw that nothing else had happened. A few minutes later the fire brigade arrived, checked everything, and left after saying it was all okay and to keep the windows open. The worker said the microwave would be replaced, and the cleaner told me it had caused trouble many times before. When we got home from the trip, Omena hotels emailed me a huge bill for 2,800 euros, claiming I had misused their property. The fault was theirs, I was hurt because of it, and they admitted that at the time, yet they still sent me the charge. This is the worst hotel ever. They’re a huge fraud. Don’t put yourself in danger for a cheap room. I’d rather live on the street than stay here, and I’ll never recommend it to anyone.

The room was clean and nice, with comfortable bed linen and pillows. The mini fridge and microwave were a big plus, since they made it easy to have inexpensive microwave meals. The only downside was the morning light: the curtains didn’t block enough of the sun. I put a pillow over my face and carried on sleeping 😄

The location is very good and the place is clean, but I was very disappointed with most of the rest. The street lights shine into the room, and there are no shutters. There’s also no way to block the light when your partner uses the bathroom, which is a capsule in the middle of the room. The bathroom light stays on for a long time and wakes you up. With so much light, one night there feels like spending the whole day there. The room looks poor, more like a hostel than a hotel. The elevator was hard to deal with, and I don’t see how its code provides real security when someone could just take the stairs. It’s the same code everywhere, so if someone finds one, they know them all. You also have to enter your room key code on the building’s front door, where people on the street might see it, and in the elevator, potentially alongside other guests. How is that safe? Check-in is late, at 16:00, and there’s no reception. On top of that, they make you download an awful app that doesn’t work properly. I constantly had to go back, enter my reservation number and receive a text message. I tried to order early check-in for €10, but the app wouldn’t let me. The option was there, I clicked it, and then it disappeared for good. I don’t want to have to download an unfamiliar app before I book. Need help? You can call a support line, but it costs €0.79 a minute. Charging customers for the support they should be providing in the first place, especially with no reception, is shameful.

For the price, location and quality, I think this hotel is just perfect. The room was affordable, clean and tidy, and much more spacious than I expected. The toilet is in a little booth in the room, but it was new, clean and well maintained. I’d read complaints about the beds and mattress type, but I found mine very comfortable. There’s a microwave and kettle in the room, too.