We had dinner with my family at the hotel restaurant . The dinner cost more the 200 e. After dinner I asked if I could rent hotels bicycle since I had to get something from the other side of the town. They would not let me rent it because I wasn’t hotels customer ( didn’t have a room). Terrible customer service. I won’t go here again and don’t recommend it for anyone either

We did not stay here but went for the vendice on their terrace. Excellent choice! Really fresh vendice, a large portion of them, and good service. Ok, so the wine was a bit expensive, but come on, this is Finland. It tasted great with the meal. Definitely worth a visit!

When we arrived to a hotel we were greeted by beautiful and modern lounge area. We heard that it was renovated recently. Queue was short but usually you had to wait for a good while whatever questions or requests you had as receptionist was such a friendly chatter with everyone. Well I don't think it is negative thing by any means but still perhaps receptionist should be more prompt and quick if there is many people in queue. Don't take me wrong as I'll take friendly chatter any day of the week compared to cold stare and uninterested robot like person.

Room

Two room junior suite was spacious even though bit worn out and eaten by the years. By choosing junior suite you get two balconies, french and glazed one with four chairs and table. Views from the balcony were just magnificent and you really can't get better views than this in Savonlinna.

Hotel is in city center and just by the lake of saimaa. From balcony you will have beautiful views over the lake of saimaa and market square is just couple steps away where you can sink your teeths in their traditional delicacy lörtsy and other tasty foods. Various steam boats are waiting for you just under your balcony and if you choose so you can take little 1,5 hour cruise to lake saimaa. For some people old steamboat whistles that makes most of the tourist groups cheer from joy can be a little bit annoying but in my opinion it just adds the experience and they stop their little cruises at 7 pm so no need to be afraid of them ruining your sleep.

Living room was well decorated and didn't feel stacked at all. Bedroom and living room were separated by sliding doors which gives you much needed privacy if you are traveling with group of people or children. Bedroom itself was really spacious. Bedroom had also big office desk if you need to do some work. You can turn living room sofa to bed so two more people can sleep in living room.

Junior suite had also capsule coffee machine which was not mentioned in description of the room so it was a nice surprise. Room had kettle for those who prefer tea or cacao. Both rooms had fairly new and big tv's. We couldn't get chromecast to work on either of tv's which was a bummer but well we were truly tired after long trip to savonlinna so it wasn't truly a problem.

Hotel has two junior suites, one has two floors and other has balcony but sadly you can't have the best of the both worlds so you need to choose which one is more important to you. I think two floor suite has gone thru renovation and would have looked much better but as we prefer balconies, we chose that over having another floor.

Bathroom was spacious even though like the room itself it was in serious need of update. No rain shower this time. Both suites include also sauna and it was really easy to use. We are not that much of sauna lovers but once in a while it's nice and we felt so relaxed after sauna. I had my after sauna drink on balcony while enjoying the beautiful views of saimaa.

Bed was comfy and we did sleep our night really well. In the morning we were ready to explore more of savonlinna with fresh faces. By the way they promised day's newspapers in the room but when we arrived there was no newspaper. Next morning I mentioned about it and took newspapers with me to the suite.

Breakfast

Breakfast was also nice surprise as selection was surprisingly varied. You could say that it was bit ordinary but as we were in small city I was expecting much less. Karelian pies were from their own bakery and yes they were delicious. Otherwise you get your normal good old bacons, meatballs, sausages, scrambled eggs etc. Breakfast was served in next door restaurant called perlina di castello so don't be surprised as you need to go out first to enter the restaurant. Well it's no biggie in summer but I guess it could bother a little in winter time.

Gym

No gym.

Conclusion

Hotel is city's crown jewel and I can understand why. It is one of the landmarks of the city. It is big part of the cityscape and everything is close by even the biggest sight and the reason why most people find their way to this little city,  magnificent Olavi's castle.
It really is a surprisingly good hotel for city of it's size and no doubt about the talk of the town. If you are searching a good hotel to stay in Savonlinna, then search no more as this is it.

Highest highs

+++ Hotel staff
+++ Stunning views
+++ All the sights were near
++ Spacious room
+ Sauna which was also easy to use

Room for improvement
-- Junior suite #509 looks bit old and worn out (needs to be renovated/updated)
- Chromecast didn't work