Ava Hotel

The Ava Hotel is housed a nondescript office-like building, but it's on a leafy block and has a pretty brick path leading to a set of double glass doors opening to an attractive lobby. It has a streamline, midcentury look, with boxy, pea-green chairs and loveseats clustered around round white tables that face a picture windows overlooking trees. There's also a lobby computer tucked into a corner. While attractive, the lobby isn't a space where guests linger long, although they do gather in the chic breakfast room and also hit the impressive and spacious sauna. Hotel AVA is one of the few hotels in Helsinki with an EU Ecolabel for its good environmental practices, and draws mostly budget-conscious leisure travelers who don't mind staying outside the city center. 

The hotel is in the quiet Vallila neighborhood, about a three-minute walk from the nearest tram stop. There are a few restaurants and a grocery store nearby, but little else of note. The Messukeskus Expo and Convention Center is a 10-minute tram ride away, and it's 20 minutes by tram to the Hartwall Areena stadium. For tourist attractions, dining, and shopping, it's a 16-minute ride to the Helsinki Central Railway Station in the city center, and most destinations are within walking distance from there. Expect a 20-minute drive, or a 37-minute tram ride, to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.

While public spaces at this hotel are modern and stylish, all units are dated, with fussy floral bedspreads and curtains, mismatched wood furniture, and dropped ceilings. Still, spaces are tidy and well-maintained. The standard rooms have two twin beds, wardrobes, desks, wall-mounted flat-screen TVs, and free Wi-Fi. Studios, and two- and three-bedroom apartments all have twin beds as well, and add kitchenettes with mini-fridges, microwaves, coffeemakers, and electric tea kettles, plus seating areas that have tiny fold-down tables and a pair of stools. The tiled bathrooms are ultra-basic, with open showers separated only by pull-curtains, and soap dispensers as the only toiletries. 

The hotel's main feature is its large sauna, with a locker room, rainfall showers, and an adjacent lounge with a flat-screen TV, several couches, and a high-end red Smeg refrigerator. There's also a meeting room and adjoining lounge with a pool table, which are unavailable for guests when the space is booked by groups. The sauna is always open to guests at night. There's also a small fitness center with cardio and weight-training equipment. For dining, the small cafeteria-style restaurant serves buffet breakfasts (fee) and can be pre-booked for lunches or dinner, but only by groups of 10 or more. The lobby has a computer workstation with a printer, and on-site parking and Wi-Fi throughout is free.