Staying in a windowless hotel room in the capital region currently costs around 200 euros per night.
On the surface, the hotel room looks ordinary: a wide bed, decorative pillows, a desk and beautifully falling, long curtains.
The specialness of the room is revealed behind the curtains – there is no window here.
The illusion of space is created with the help of a light wall, which is decorated with a Finnish forest landscape.
We are underground, under the busy Mannerheimintie in the heart of Helsinki.
The hotel Marski by Scandic, which belongs to the Swedish Scandic chain, underwent a major renovation a few years ago.
– Before the renovation, this was the top floor of our garage. But the number of guests traveling by car and thus the need for a garage has decreased.
According to the hotel manager, the underground floor is more profitable for the hotel as accommodation than as parking spaces.
Hotel Marski has 55 rooms without windows and there are 363 rooms in total.
According to Puranen, the Scandic hotels in Stockholm have had rooms without windows for a long time, and the positive feedback received there helped to make a solution in Helsinki as well.
The lack of a window has been turned into an advantage in marketing
Windowless rooms have also started to appear around the world, when, for example, old office buildings have been converted into accommodation. Among others, the Wall Street Journal has written about the trend.
Marketing knows how to turn the lack of a window into an advantage: gigging musicians who play late into the night can sleep in the dark during the day, and the light of a nightless night does not disturb sleep even in Pohjola.
– The equipment level of rooms without windows does not differ in any way from rooms with windows. Rooms without windows can also be found in almost all room categories, says Marski hotel manager Jouko Puranen.
According to Puranen, at first some customers had reservations about the lack of windows. Now some regular customers always book a room without a window and the rooms do their business, Puranen assures.
The price difference between a room with a window and one without a window is almost non-existent. Currently, a hotel night in Marski in a windowless room costs around 200 euros.
Another windowless accommodation in the capital region can be found at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. GLO Hotel Airport is located on the basement floor of the terminal building, so its rooms have no view.
Based on the booking calendar, even staying in these windowless rooms costs almost 200 euros. Kämp Collection Hotels, to which GLO hotels belong, did not give an interview on the subject.
– Their number is less than a quarter of the total number of rooms. Solutions are considered from the perspective of each hotel’s property and customer needs. In general, spaces other than hotel rooms have been implemented in windowless spaces, Matikainen writes.
People are looking for a good sleep experience, pesky pets are looking for peace on New Year’s Eve
In the basement of Hotel Marski, it’s hard to imagine that the busy Mannerheimintie in the heart of Helsinki is buzzing right by your head.
– If world-class artists or high-level people come to the hotel, the windows might be risky places.
Heikkinen is familiar with the phenomenon of windowless hotel rooms, and he reminds us that a window in itself does not guarantee a comfortable hotel experience.
– Imagine that you open the window curtain and the view is on the parking lot or the garbage cans. If the landscape is ugly and gray, then it doesn’t matter if there is a window at all.
Marski hotel manager Jouko Puranen says that a certain customer group travels a lot, so sleep is especially important to them. We are ready to pay for a good sleep experience.
Domestic hot summers have also brought new customers to the hotel, and many who escaped the heat of their hometown have chosen a windowless room.
– Also at the turn of the year, rooms without windows are really in demand. As a pet owner myself in the center of Helsinki, I know that New Year’s Eve is rough for many naughty dogs and pets.