Hotelli Salpa

The Matkaparkki is across the road from the hotel in a parking lot, but it was quiet and we slept comfortably for the night. The staff at the hotel were excellent, and breakfast was both delicious and very affordable. There’s a nice beach with good activities, and it’s a convenient stop on the way to eastern Finland.

There’s a guest kitchen where you can cook or make tea, and the restaurant’s outdoor seating has a wonderful lake view. The food was okay, though nothing special. Breakfast is simple but enough to feed everyone, just don’t expect anything fancy. The lake is right down the hill, at most a minute’s walk. From 5 to 8 pm, the pool and saunas are open. They’re nothing big, but enough for kids to splash around if the weather isn’t good for swimming in the lake. The lake view rooms are great value, with a fantastic view.

The outdoor hot tub is a must-try, and there’s a BBQ spot overlooking a beautiful lake. The hostel is small but comfortable, with square rooms and bathrooms. You can make food in the little kitchen or order from the restaurant. It was an amazing place for a trip with my boyfriend.

Everything else was fine: the food was tasty, the barkeeper was welcoming, the views were calming, the weather was sunny and warm, and we used one of their electric car charging ports. But the room booking experience was really disappointing. Over breakfast, we decided to stay one more night. The booking website showed rooms at the same price, so after breakfast we went to reception to book directly. Viktoria K. told us no rooms were available at that price. When we showed her the website and asked if we could book there, she said she would cancel our booking if we did. She offered a different room type for more money, even though that room type was also listed on the booking website at a lower price. She said she’d cancel that booking too. We thought there had to be some misunderstanding, so we asked the nearby barkeeper to help. Only after he joined the conversation did Viktoria say she wouldn’t cancel if the website price was better for us. She’d been working on her laptop during the discussion. As soon as we got her confirmation and started booking online, both rooms suddenly showed as unavailable. Viktoria had blocked them, but told us somebody else had booked them first. Luckily, Finland has lots of nice, cozy places, so we booked somewhere else. After moving to another hotel, we checked Salpa hotel’s website again and, ta-daaaam, those two rooms were unblocked and still available. I wondered if Viktoria was hoping for some tips. I’ve encountered that sort of thing in Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia, but never before in a Scandinavian country, especially Finland.