Hotel Kakola

The bed and pillows were really comfortable, and I liked the soft lighting and how clean the room was. It felt finished to a high standard without pointless extras like a fridge or piles of cushions. Since it was a quieter time, staff asked about our room preferences at check-in. We were very happy to get one with a balcony and bathtub. The hotel isn't exactly central, though there's plenty nearby in the same development, including a spa, brewery, cafe and bakery. Breakfast was decent. I wouldn't recommend the hot items, but there was lots to choose from, and the cold selection was great, with Karelian pies, breads, ham and cheeses.

We loved the Kakola sauna, even though I expected the walk to it to be inconvenient. Kakola was a great place to stay, with a beautiful room and amazing service. It was especially good for relaxing and resting, and we're already looking forward to coming back.

We picked our two-night road trip with my son to line up with the guided tour of the hotel's history. The building served as a prison for three centuries, from the late 1800s until 2008, and the tour was a really nice extra. For the price, it was good value, and more interesting and fresher than other centrally located Turku hotels I've stayed in. Kakola hill is steep to climb, but the main sights are close, and even the centre is walkable if you have no disabilities and it isn't raining heavily. The funicular is just around the corner. I definitely recommend it. It's not a five star hotel, but it doesn't claim to be.

The room was nice and modern, but the service was so bad that it overshadowed that. My husband and I contacted the hotel by phone and in writing weeks before our stay, asking about early check-in because we were foreign guests attending a wedding. They made no effort to welcome us or find a way for us to change clothes beforehand, beyond using the toilet. When we arrived, they said their system couldn't show when guests checked out, so we had to spend hours walking around the city waiting for a room. We asked them to call once we could come back, but nobody did. There weren't even any major events in Turku that weekend. Breakfast was a bit above mediocre, and there was no Swedish-speaking staff. Other people from the wedding party had a bad experience too. The rooms are nice, as I said, but the stay wasn't worth the money.