I've been here three times, once in 2007 and then twice this past summer, 2012. I generally recommend the hotel--it's very well-located, being right next to the main railway station and also the bus plaza (which has a stand for the Finnair airport bus). I've never had a problem with the buffet brekfast--in fact, it's lived up to my expectations--and as one might expect being in northern Europe, you're going to find things like salmon and herring, as well as most items that Americans would eat. I'm a dual national (US/Finland) and have family in dear old Suomi, so I'm not unfamiliar with non-American breakfasts (I'm not a herring fan per se but it certainly doesn't perturb me at 8AM). If you want a good location and a pretty good hotel, I think this is fine. Are there true luxury hotels in Helsinki? Yes, I'd assume so, but one doesn't need luxury for a good night's stay. From either the bus or train stations right there, as well as the city streets, you can find local, regional, and long-distance transportation easily. Yes, there's construction going on right by the station on the north side of the hotel, but that won't last. In all, I'd stay there again, and chances are I will when I finally get to bring my young son to his ancestral homeland (one of them, at least!)

You can't beat it. We stayed here for four nights and were completely satisfied. Housekeeping is good, the staff is friendly and the rooms are decent. We were in room 401, on the far north side. They are doing construction directly north of the building and that was a little noisy, but the rooms really are pretty quiet considering all the activity going on around it (buses, trains, traffic).

Will stay again if we return to Helsinki, which is a lovely city by the way!

The quality of the breakfast seems not to be the focul point of the operator of Holiday Inns in Finland. The choice of items in the breakfast buffet of this Helsinki City Centre H.I is less comprehensive than in many comparable Holiday Inns in Europe, Asia and North America. On another occastion I took up this trend with the front desk of the Holiday Inn Helsinki West - and they admitted that many cutbacks had been done in the breakfast services of the Holiday Inns in Finland - such as the availability of smoked fish. ( Now at the City Centre place they did offer Scandinavian type of herring.)

The reason for the trend is apparently the fact that most customers do not come thru through the Holiday Inn booking systems, but through the operator's local booking system "Hotel word"- and traditionally in Finland the hotel breakfasts have been included in the room rate. Such being the case, the breakfast buffet is not a crucial part of the local competitive edge.

Looking at the breakfast buffet here I could not but miss the level at, say, the Holiday Inn Golden Mile in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Basically these two hotels are in the same category of Holiday Inns, but in their breakfast buffets from different planets.

I considered going to the Crowne Plaza - with its lounge available - but for a speedy departure in the morning the Holiday Inn works better.

Clean modern rooms, very comfortable beds. Free Internet. Reception staff are friendly and helpful. Only footsteps from the central train station and subway. The finnair airport bus stops right outside and departs regularly. Great base to explore the city