Scandic Imatran Valtionhotelli

This hotel is beautiful - from outside. It needs some serious renovation. The bathrooms are very outdated and super small. I had to request a change of rooma because of a moldy bathroom. The smell gave me an instant headache. This can’t be healthy! All the rooms I have experienced unfortunately have that old room smell. Please restore this beautiful historically valuable building!

Such a unique castle hotel in Finland! Everything here is giving that old style castle vibe and I love it. Yes, it's in need of restoration, but one can also appreciate the slightly worn down interior design. It gives character! We had a superior room with a view in the castle building. No air-conditioning, which I personally don't mind. The room had a kettle and some coffee and (Lipton yellow label) tea. We had a toilet with a tub, water pressure was light. No mini toiletries, I was surprised. The breakfast was disappointing: the omelette tasted weird and the bread wasn't fresh. Unfortunately we didn't have time to test the spa. Saw a children's playroom and it looked nice with a mini castle and a slide and all! All in all, I'd definitely visit again to enjoy this beautiful castle hotel and the amazing rapids outside.

This Art Nouveau castle was built in 1903 and it was called Grand Hotel Cascade at first. Later it was named Imatran Valtionhotelli, literally Imatra State Hotel. The hotel had central heating, running water and electric lighting from its own generator already in the beginning of the 20th century. It was possible to see free running rapids directly from windows. During wartimes this building served as a military hospital, the house of Kannas army defense command and the military administrative center of the headquarters. The building is very historical and it has been voted the most beautiful building in Finland. So you have to see it yourself. But notice that you have to book a room which is situated in the castle building if you want to sense the history. Nowadays there is a modern spa hotel department (with saunas and pools) in a separate complex 100 meters from the historical castle hotel. All services are available both for visitors in the castle hotel and in the spa hotel, which is called park building, too. Our family had a Master Suite for two and a Single Room for one. Master Suite is the smaller suite type. The bigger suite with a jacuzzi (a whirlpool bathtub) is called Presidential Suite. Our Master Suite was 70 square meters large and it included a corridor, a walk-in wardrobe (or a dressing room), a bathroom, a round living room and a separate bedroom. We had a toilet, two handbasins, a free standing bathtub with a shower on it and a window in our bathroom. Our bedroom was quite simple but our living room was marvelous with an old-fashioned sofa, an armchair, a stylish dining table with five chairs, a sculpture, many different lamps etc. However, we hadn't any balcony in our Master Suite but there was a balcony in our single room. But notice that all single rooms don't have balconies and they have different Master Suites, too. The hotel has free parking (give the register number of your car in the check-in), a spa department with saunas and pools (in the park building, saunas available only in the evening), a gym (in the park building, open 24/7), a children's playroom (in the castle building), ironing rooms (in both buildings) and laundry service (additional fee). The dinner restaurant of the hotel is very beautiful. It is a good idea to make a table reservation. The breakfast buffet was very good. The location of the hotel is excellent next to all services, nature trails and Imatrankoski Rapids. However, there is a dam in the rapids. So you see only the rocky riverbed, no any water, but the riverbed is very beautiful, too. Sometimes they open dam hatches and you see flowing water in the rapids. It doesn't happen every day or even every week. But when it happens, it is extremely beautiful. So check timetables if you want to see free flowing water in the rapids. I think that view from hotel windows will also be extremely beautiful during autumn foliage (from late September to mid October, I suppose), because there are many ma