Hotel Nestor & Restaurant Back Pocket

The hotel looked nice, and our family room was spacious and tastefully decorated with scandinavian style. The rooms are upstairs, and breakfast area downstairs. The surrounding neighbourhood is very peaceful. Unfortunately the owner does not seem as passionate about managing the hotel as his adjacent perfect restaurant. The only really functioning service was lovely and tasteful breakfast, which though on a third day felt a bit repetitive. Service was friendly but fully passive. We stayed for three days and there was no cleaning in the rooms for the whole stay. No trashbins were emptied, no beds made. No linen changed. No one asked how we enjoyed our stay in the hotel. Reception was attended every now and then, with a phone number for contact and questions. There was enough water in the shower, but the hand washing basin did not drain well. All in all, lovely surroundings and a nice place, nicely situated if you have a car. Just very little service, considering the place was called a hotel.

We had my 70-yrs birthday party at Hotel Nestor & Restaurant Back Pocket in Korpo. Organizing the party for 30+ guests, several coming from abroad (including my wife and me) and others from allover Finland was not the easiest concept, but William Hellgren, the owner and chef, and his staff were extremely helpful in making things work. We reserved all the 6 rooms - all of them individually and very nicely decorated reflecting the traditions of the archipelago - beautiful and comfortable. The largest (called Siska) is large and very comfortable - all the other rooms are nice as well. All the facilities are really nice. My wife and me came one day before the party and stayed afterwards an extra day. We had a chance to test some of the dishes in the party menu on the day before - whitefish with (jerusalem) artichoke, muscle and cheese-foam, chicken in two ways (breast made in baine-marie and a chicken crocket) with a beautiful lemon sauce were exquisite. On the day of the party, we had first aperitives and snacks on the large deck and thereafter a 6-course tasting menu in the restaurant on the ground floor of the main building (a former barn!) - 30+ guests, including a couple of children and some special dietary requests - Chef William in the kitchen and his team made a fantastic job both in the kitchen and in serving the guests. Our guest included people with restaurant- and hotel business background - they were very impressed on the quality of both the kitchen and the service. There is a option of a wine package with the tasting menu - we chose an alternative together with the Chef based on rosé (a very good German pinot-noir-based) in the aperitif, house champagne for welcome (very good), one of the house whites (a sauvignon blanc from Alto Adige) and a special red rarity. The restaurant is geared for local ingredients with a nice modern twitch - serious cooking and nice presentation without playing with food (no unnecessary bells and whistles) - Chef William is really , really excellent and his staff follows suite. We wish to visit Finland again perhaps next year, and will certainly come back to Nestor.