Commercial cooperation with Grand Hansa Hotel
Experiences at Hotel Grand Hansa
I spent Valentine's Day at Grand Hansa with my wife. The hotel was nearly full, with 224 rooms accommodating a highly international clientele. Despite the crowd, there was plenty of staff available even during peak hours. We had the opportunity to take a brief hotel tour and were especially impressed by the beautiful event and banquet spaces. Grand Hansa is part of the Thai-based Minor Hotels group, which operates luxury hotels worldwide under brands such as Anantara, Avani, and NH Collection—Grand Hansa being one of them.
Arrival & Entrance
Guests enter Grand Hansa from Mannerheimintie via granite steps. Above the entrance, stone statues keep watch, depicting the four classical personality types of antiquity: sanguine, melancholic, choleric, and phlegmatic. Just past the entrance, a bar welcomes visitors, with the hotel reception located further inside the building.
Echoes of the Historic Seurahuone
Grand Hansa is housed in two renovated historic buildings, both of which have operated as hotels and restaurants since the early 20th century. The most significant of these was Hotel Seurahuone, a Helsinki classic, which moved from its original location by Market Square to Kaivokatu and opened its doors in 1914. At the time, Seurahuone was a state-of-the-art hotel, featuring central heating, hot water, and telephones in every room. It was a favorite among Russian émigrés and even Marshal Mannerheim.
The extensive renovations of Grand Hansa took years, and the reason becomes clear as you walk through the hotel. Particularly in the Seurahuone section, every effort was made to preserve and restore the old building, along with its original fixtures, lighting, furniture, and decorative elements.
Elegant & Functional Hotel Rooms
Grand Hansa offers rooms and suites in various categories, all stylish and well-equipped. We stayed in a Premium XL room on the sixth floor, facing the inner courtyard. The blackout curtains ensured complete darkness, and the room was utterly silent at night. This category includes complimentary access to the sauna and spa area—a great perk for those who enjoy a relaxing sauna session. The bathroom was functional, with a separate toilet. A quirky highlight was the Japanese toilet, which can wash both itself and the user at the touch of a remote control.
Outstanding Hotel Breakfast
Grand Hansa’s breakfast is exceptional—perhaps the best in Helsinki. Everything on offer is premium quality, the service is attentive, and the restaurant itself is beautiful and peaceful. Breakfast is served until 10:30 AM on weekdays and until 1:00 PM on weekends, making it easy to enjoy as a brunch that keeps you full well into the evening. In addition to the buffet, guests can order omelets, warm sourdough bread with toppings, fruit granola bowls, and even sparkling wine. As with the rest of the hotel, the staff is plentiful and service-minded.
As a dedicated hotel breakfast enthusiast who has experienced many top-tier breakfasts in hotels and cruise ships, I would rank Grand Hansa’s breakfast among the very best.
Kupoli Bar: A Bar Above the City
One of Grand Hansa’s unique features is its two-story rooftop bar, Kupoli, located inside the hotel’s dome. Since its opening, the bar has been extremely popular, and on weekends, a reservation is a must. While it doesn't offer quite the same panoramic views as Hotel Torni, it still provides a fresh new perspective of Helsinki’s cityscape. Surprisingly, Kupoli was not always a bar—it was transformed into a scenic lounge only with the launch of Grand Hansa.
A Tranquil, Adults-Only Sauna & Spa
Grand Hansa’s sauna and spa area is a stylish retreat. A variety of treatments are available for those interested, but the real highlight is the sauna section, which includes steam sauna. The atmosphere is luxuriously calm, especially in the morning, but even after braving Helsinki’s winter chill, sitting in a steam sauna is the perfect way to thaw a frozen body. Guests in higher room categories enjoy free access to the spa, while others pay an entrance fee.
Spacious Gym
Hotel gyms can sometimes be tiny and underwhelming, but Grand Hansa’s gym is both spacious and airy. There are enough machines for multiple guests to work out comfortably. The gym is open 24/7 for hotel guests.
A Perfect Staycation Destination
Grand Hansa is at its best as a staycation destination for adults. With time to linger, guests can fully enjoy the breakfast, gym, spa, and even the hotel room itself. While English is the most commonly spoken language among the staff, there are always Finnish-speaking employees available.
Commercial collaboration
Although I visited Hotel Grand Hansa as part of a commercial collaboration, my opinions are solely my own and cannot be bought.
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