Review: Hotel St. George Helsinki, Design Hotels

Background & Location

After a night at the Hilton Helsinki Airport, I moved into the city center for my first visit to Helsinki. I decided to stay at the Hotel St. George, as it was well regarded as one of the top properties in Helsinki.

The Hotel St. George was created from two 19th-century buildings combined. The hotel’s oldest sections date back to the 1840s, with the most iconic section being designed by architect Onni Tarjanne in 1890. In 2015, the Kamp Collection Hotels unveiled their 10th hotel venture to restore the Hotel St. George. The property opened in the spring of 2018 right across Old Church Park and the heart of Helsinki. I found the location extremely convenient. It’s walking distance to many sights, being only 5 minutes to the luxury shopping street, a 10 minute walk to the main train station, and 15 minute walk to the ferry port.

The hotel offers 148 rooms and 5 suites. Due to the property’s unique architecture, the size and heights of the rooms vary and their shapes and forms are different. Plus, the hotel boasts over 400 pieces of art, and art buffs would love walking around and seeing the pieces.

Takeoff Points

Date of Stay: August 2024
Room Type: Companion Twin, 2 Twin
Pros: Nicely appointed rooms, loved the high ceilings, plus a solid breakfast.
Cons: The shower drain was on the slow side.

Booking & Marriott Bonvoy Benefits

The Hotel St. George is part of Design Hotels and also participates in the Marriott Bonvoy program. I was excited to try out my first Design Hotels property, and the brand describes itself as a collection of 300+ independent hotels rooted in design, locality, and culture. I had two Marriott 35k certificates to use from my AMEX Marriott Cards, and so I used these for the two nights. One of the nights was 37k, so I just had to patch 2k points. The cash rates were about 350 EUR during my dates, so I thought it was a good time to use my certificates.

While Design Hotels participate in the Marriott Bonvoy program, they do have exclusions that other Marriott brands don’t face. The following are not available at Design Hotels.

• 48-Hour Guarantee, Lounge Access, Suite Night Awards, Your24™, Member Rates, Mobile Check-In/Services, Ultimate Reservation Guarantee, Guaranteed Room Type, Gift Shop Discount

Available benefits include:

• Points Bonus for Marriott Bonvoy™ Silver Elite, Gold Elite, Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite, and Ambassador Elite
• Redemption of Free Night Awards without blackout dates
• Welcome Gift of Points for Gold Elite, Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite, and Ambassador Elite
• Enhanced Room Upgrades for Gold Elite (within the same room category), Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite, and Ambassador Elite (subject to availability)
• Priority Late Checkout for Silver Elite, 2 PM for Gold, and 4 PM for Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador (based on availability at Design Hotels)

At Hotel St. George award nights did not include breakfast but they did offer a discount of 50% on Breakfast for Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite, and Ambassador Elite members. The discounted breakfast is breakfast in the restaurant per night of stay for the member and guests staying in the same room with the member.

Fora Travel Agency Benefits

I work with a travel agency, Fora Travel, and can assist in booking hotel stays. Fora is part of the Design Hotels Collective. These partnerships give you special perks when booking with me. The Hotel St. George Helsinki comes with:

• Daily breakfast for two
• Room upgrade upon availability
• Early check-in/late check-out upon availability
• 50 EUR Property Credit for rooms, 100 EUR Property Credit for suites.

Depending on your dates, cash rates at the Hotel St. George start at around 250 EUR a night. If you are interested in getting these perks and want to stay at the Hotel St. George Helsinki, feel free to email me at takeofftotravel@fora.travel and I would be happy to help you plan your trip.

Arrival & Lobby

Upon arrival at street level, there is a small lobby landing, and the reception is one floor above.

Check-in was quick, and I was grateful that we were able to check in early since we arrived at 1 PM, which was 2 hours before the standard check-in time. We were originally booked into the Serenity Studio with 1 King Bed but preferred 2 Twins, and the reception was more than happy to give us the complimentary upgrade to the Companion Twin room with 2 Twin Beds as a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Member. We also were able to get a 2 PM late checkout which was appreciated since we had a later flight on departure day.

The Room

There are two different sets of elevators to the guest rooms on opposite sides of the hotel. The one I used most often was the one overlooking the historic staircase, but I did have to use the other set to go to the Spa.

Our room was located on the 3rd floor. As you enter the room, there is a long wide hallway that leads to a window at the end of the hallway. To the left is the bathroom. My initial impression was how high the ceilings were, which felt quite palatial. 

The bathroom also has a window, though it doesn’t seem that it can be opened, but it’s nice to let some natural light in. It is frosted glass, so you can’t see outside.

There was a large counter with a sink, a bidet style toilet, as well as a large walk-in shower. Toiletries are provided by LA Bruket and it is made in Sweden. The scent of the body lotion was grapefruit while the scent of the body wash was lemongrass, and the shampoo and conditioners were also lemongrass as well.

The shower had a rainfall as well as a wand function. Also, other amenities were provided as a shower cap & vanity kit. There was a shaving kit and dental kit in the basket below the countertop as well as a hairdryer. Lastly, two robes were provided as well as slippers.

The water pressure was good, but the only issue was that the drainage wasn’t the best, and the water filled up a little bit. It wasn’t horrible as the shower was big and you could step to the back a little, but it was a minor inconvenience.

Bedroom

Just passed the entry to the right is the actual bedroom itself and the two twin beds can comfortably fit a person or a person and a child, as they are larger than a Twin in the US.

There is an orange sofa-style lounger chair, as well as a large desk with a chair. , is a nightstand on each side of the beds and also one in between the beds. The nightstands have controls for charging as well as turning on the lights. There are the old USB-C chargers as well as a power plug.

Just a personal preference, I would wish that you could control the air fan speed. Even when I put it at level five I could not hear the fan at all.

In the closet area, there are hangers and iron and iron board as well as a mini bar and mini fridge full of drinks. There is also a sparkling water maker soda stream machine if you’d like to have sparkling water. Spring water is also provided as well as teabags from ALTHAUS, and some instant coffee packs.

The hotel provided a lot of amenities, and there is also a sewing kit, shoe polish, and a sleep-well gift box that comes with earplugs and an eye mask. Also, there’s a light room workout program developed by HINTSA Performance where you’ll find an elastic band and a workout guide.

The desk area had a notepad and pencil and a welcome gift was provided, which was a nice local chocolate bar and a postcard.

The rollaway bed was delivered shortly after we checked in and extra toiletries and towels were provided as well.

Our room view was of the interior courtyard, which was quiet.

Overall, I enjoyed the room for my stay, and the room was quite clean.

Breakfast & Dining

Boon Nam, the Thai restaurant, is located on the ground floor. Boon Nam was closed during my stay, as it currently opens for dinner from Tuesday to Saturday, but breakfast was served in the space used by Boon Nam. We had breakfast daily, and you are encouraged to make a reservation the day before so you don’t have to wait as it fills up.

I found the breakfast to be quite good, and there is a buffet section with a good number of hot and cold items, and you can order drinks & omelets plus fried eggs with your waiter. It’s 34 EUR per person, but getting the 50% discount with Platinum status was helpful and made it worth it to me. Note: If you did want special eggs (Florentine, Benedict, Royale) or alcohol those were an added surcharge.

The Wintergarden Restaurant & Bar is located on the first floor and serves as the living room of the property. It opens in the afternoon and closes around midnight depending on the day. It’s pretty casual as you can also lounge in the back and treat it like a lobby during the day.

Additionally, there is the St. George Bakery, serving light bites, coffee, and snacks on the ground floor.

In-room dining is available as well.

Amenities

The St. George Care Spa is located on the ground floor as well.

St. George Care offers a swimming pool a cold plunge pool, a Finnish sauna, a steam room, a functional training gym, and treatments & massages.

I visited the spa facilities and as a hotel guest, you had access to the sauna, steam room, cold plunge pool, and swimming pool (except if you are in a Cozy Studio, you don’t have access). I found the area to be nice, though a bit on the smaller side. They have separate male and female locker rooms, but the sauna, and steam rooms are all mixed gender. Outside the sauna and steam rooms, they have enclosed showers to rinse off.

Overall, it was still nice to have a quick swim, as when I went there was no one in the pool!

The training gym is accessible 24/7, and it’s quite small but has everything you’d need for a workout.

Additionally, the hotel offers bicycles for you to use for three hours free of charge.

The Verdict

Overall, I had a lovely time at the Hotel St. George in Helsinki. It’s in an excellent location to explore Helsinki, and I loved the high ceilings in my room. It provides a solid 4.5 star level stay and was a nice first property for me to try in the Design Hotels Group.

Have you stayed at the Hotel St. George Helsinki before? How was your stay? Comment below!

Cheers,

Ty

Have any questions? I’ve also started working with a travel agency, Fora Travel, and can assist in booking hotel stays or planning trips. Comment below or email me at takeofftotravel@gmail.com. You can also view all my other posts here! Thanks for stopping by!