This Nordic boutique hotel is cosiness personified
wintry Helsinki walk (photo courtesy of Hotel Fabian)
It was ten below zero in Helsinki. The afternoon rays of the weak, winter sun skimmed the surface of the frozen cobbled streets, turning the grey tram tracks to vivid copper.
I was at the end of the long, cold walk. I had crunched over the frozen Baltic with the Finnish strollers, skiers and skaters. I had explored the city’s Design District, buying hand-made tea towels, cushion covers and other Finnish crafts. I had bought salad and Karhu stout for supper from Stockmann and dropped in to my favourite cafe in the world – Cafe Aalto – for a spinach quiche and a hot chocolate.
The real treat of the day was still to come, however. I crossed Kasarmitori Square, heading for the Hotel Fabian. Helsinki has plenty of stylish, luxury hotels but there’s something about the Fabian that gives it the edge over the others, at least for me. I’ve stayed in all seasons but winter is my favourite because this hotel is one of the cosiest I know.
From the minute you walk into the lobby, the Fabian wraps around you, warming you up with a hug. Next to the front desk is a small library, where you can sip a glass of wine or a steaming glögi, Finnish glühwein. The cosiness continues in the rooms; so cocooned do they make you feel that on some days it’s hard to leave.
There have been winter days in Helsinki, when the weather was particularly bleak and the sun refused to show its head, when I did, indeed, spend all day in my room after breakfast. I wrapped myself up in a charcoal, faux-fur blanket, sipped tea, wrote, listened to Finnish stations on the Tivoli radio and gazed out of the window over the frozen rooftops of the city. It was therapeutic.
If you are tempted to do the same, emerge from your cocoon long enough to grab breakfast. It is served in a farmhouse-style kitchen next to the lobby. It’s not a huge space but so far I have found Fabian guests to be pretty well mannered as they perform their unscripted breakfast ballet, gliding and pirouetting around each other between the plates of cold cheese, meats and smoked salmon, and the coffee jugs and jars of homemade jam.
During winter stays, I make straight for the cauldron of porridge and the adjacent bowl of kotimaiset marjat or Finnish berries. It’s a great way to start the day, whether you’re planning on a long, icy walk or cycle around the city or a lazy day in your room.
Above: The hotel has bikes for rent; just don’t try to be too ambitious in the snow! (copyright both pics Matthew Brace)
Uppers
Rooms: As you might expect in a country famous for its design, the Hotel Fabian rooms are stylish. They are an eclectic mix of minimalism and flamboyance. A black-and-white colour scheme dominates, offset by splashes of colour such as mustard-yellow bed pillows. Bedside tables are mini ladders on whose ‘rungs’ sit a Tivoli radio (only in some rooms) and chrome, Bauhaus-style reading lamps. I don’t watch TV in hotels but for those who cannot live without it, rooms have flat screens with a Chromecast streaming system. The rooms are also cleverly designed for an icy climate: entrances have black-and-white tiled floors, where you can leave your dirty, snowy boots before padding in your socks over the clean, black carpet.
Food: Breakfast only but what a breakfast, especially the porridge and kotimaiset marjat (Finnish berries). However, the hotel now offers a package that includes a meal at Krog Roba in the nearby sister hotel Lilla Roberts.
Look and feel: Whether by chance or design, the Hotel Fabian is one of the cosiest hotels I have stayed in. The rooms are not cramped or claustrophobic yet they have a way of enveloping you, encouraging you to snuggle in, especially after hours tramping about in the snow. There’s a neat simplicity to the design of the common areas too, especially the farmhouse-style kitchen/breakfast area and the lobby library with its cowhide Barcelona chairs and zebra-print stools.
Downers
If you need a hotel with lots of facilities (gym, sauna, pool, restaurant, etc) then the small, boutique Fabian might not be for you.
Read more of my articles featuring The Fabian at The Hotel Guru and Holidays For Couples.
Book via the hotel’s website, email info@hotelfabian.fi or call +358 (0)9 6128 2000.
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