Hotel Kakola

The hotel itself is pretty nice, especially considering its history. Breakfast and lunch were pretty good. I was there for a conference, so I spent a lot of time there. The bed was comfortable and the room decent. I booked a king room, but for some reason, I was assigned a pet-friendly room. I did not request that, and apparently was notified by a message in Finnish. I don't speak Finnish and disregarded the email. This annoyed me for several reasons - 1. If I had been allergic, they would not have had spare rooms to give me, 2. The pet rooms do not have an entry from the main hotel building, where meals are, and where my conference was. This was particularly annoying when it rained, and I had to walk in the cold and rain for breakfast. Also, unlike my friends, since my room was further away, I couldn't quickly hop to the room between sessions. Of course, if I had a pet, this would have made sense - but I didn't, and I didn't ask for this. Apparently, you need to make sure you book the correct room in advance.

Access was terrible with a long steep stairs and slope. I wish I could know before I could use the cable car.

2 blankets in a king size bed.

Room temperature felt slightly low evan after adjusting the temperature maximum allowed (23 C).

Atmospheric hotel with quality amenities.

This fabulous hotel is a converted prison and they have done a great job of modernising the interior whilst still keeping the historic aspects in mind. Staff were welcoming and helpful. Our room was large and nicely decorated in keeping with the hotel theme. The location is excellent for exploring Turku - just a few minutes walk to the funicular takes you down to the main harbour area where you can walk to the sights. The hotel is set up on the hill and is in a very quiet area which is nice to stay in. They have a separate spa - just a few minutes walk. The spa is absolutely amazing, the highlight of our stay. There are multiple pools - cold, hot, saltwater, swimming and different steam rooms and saunas. There is a snow shower which I thought was fabulous. Highly recommend making time to visit the spa if you stay here. We ate in the restaurant and the food was good quality and a reasonable price. They have vegan dishes on the menu - I had the sushi bowl which was very tasty. Breakfast had some vegan options, not a huge variety but enough to make a decent breakfast. We parked in the open car park behind the hotel. I paid through easypark but I think you can also pay at reception. It was a reasonable price. I think they have a covered garage aswell but we didn't go there. Overall I really loved this hotel and would recommend it.

Its new and clean. Maybe add some few foods in the breakfast and the airconditioner is not thay cold.

The ambiance was exceptional. Enjoyable staff makes the experience worth wild. We really enjoyed the food and brewery. We had a wonderful patio overlooking the courtyard, which led to wonderful sunset views. It was the best location of our stay in Turku.

SPA could be more accessible considering you have already paid for the overall service.

The kids loved the jail cell beds. The spa was amazing and the hotel was within walking distance to restaurants and attractions. The rooms were somewhat small and the space for socializing with family was limited to the lobby. The paid parking was on the expensive side.

Very nice room and facilities. Scrambled eggs not from real eggs. Would have been nice to get a reminder at room booking of the spa, we missed it...

We had a wonderful time staying here. Everything is top notch - the room, breakfast, restaurant food, service, spa. It's a cool historical place with tasteful renovation. It was absolutely worth visiting Turku just to spend a couple of days relaxing at Kakola.

Best hotel of our trip.

Hotel Kakola is already my go-to hotel when visiting Turku, been there few times already. I think this says enough how much I like it. Breakfast is good. Especially the oatmeal porridge which reminds of the building history. This time my room location wish was not fulfilled and that caused some irritation for me due some noise from the corridor near the elevator.

The decor was absolutely amazing. They haven't shied away from the fact that this used to be a prison, but instead embraced it and somehow managed to marry the concept of luxury with its past. The irony (hah) is not lost on them, and they clearly expect the same from you as their guest. They straddle the line between being a full-on theme hotel and a "regular" upscale hotel, but in my eyes they do so gracefully. The staff were all around incredibly friendly and professional. That, along with the attention to detail in the entire hotel made it truly feel luxurious. All those small details that add up; from live flowers in the breakfast area (Restaurant Ruben), tied together not with a rubber band, but with string made from natural fibers (hemp/flax?), to the wooden room key cards. These decisions feel intentional and give the hotel personality, making it stand out from your typical minimum-effort Ikea-esque hotel. Then there's the endless little winks and nods to its history: from the floors with stripes and scratched day-counts, to the steel cups during breakfast. These details all add up to a cohesive and fun experience. It almost becomes a game, trying to spot the references. There was clearly a vision in designing the hotel, and it's not something they seem to have compromised on. Facilities were all great as well. The beds were very soft and comfortable, the TV was responsive and had options for casting content from your own devices. Then there's the bath tub! It is the best hotel tub I've encountered so far! We both fit comfortably in it and had some good champagne and music to wind down in the evening. (Big thank you to the staff, who readily handed us some champagne glasses upon request.) A notable and unusual amenity was the SodaStream, which was a first for me in any hotel. An appreciated one at that. The ability to select mood lighting, from a switch, that affects the entire room was also very cool. The air-conditioning didn't seem to work. I tried to set it as low as 17C to test and set the speed to max, but it reverted to "auto" speed and did nothing despite the room certainly being significantly warmer. Luckily it was a cold night and we could cool our room by simply opening the window. This one was slightly disappointing as I prefer to be able to set room temperature for high quality sleep. I consider room-controlled AC a must in any hotel I voluntarily stay at. There was no mini-bar in the room, not even an empty little fridge to keep our champagne cool. Luckily, again, it was almost the right temperature outside and the full bar downstairs was a short walk away.

One night

This was the second time staying in this hotel and at the first time (in Spring 2024) the breakfast was very good! This time (Spring 2025) unfortunately I have to admit that the breakfast did not exceed the expectations. It was quite bland. Otherwise the room was very nice and the hotel in general. Breakfast was lacking this time. In general it was very tasteless when I compare it to the first time when I visited hotel Kakola.

room was great and comfortable - 10/10. staff at reception was kind and helpfull - 10/10! Its a gimmick hotel, doesnt fit for familys... more for young blogers... breakfest was poor. spa and parking are not in same complex so u need to walk to different adress for the spa or parking, it is not mentioned prior of booking, and its really anoying to go out of the hotel to "relex at the spa". The hotel refused to accept CASH payment for anything which is against the law, also made a reservasion via booking.com with option to "pay at property" in which i can choose to pay in cash (from expirience) and they refused to accept it.

A gorgeous and unique building, spacious and incredibly comfortable rooms, a rich breakfast buffet and increadibly friendly staff. Would come again any time!

Good