Hotel berhampiran Saimaa, Taipalsaari

I gave this hotel 5 stars because it met every need I had for a one week stay for work. The breakfast was delicious and had many options, my room included its own sauna (never had that before!), the shower always had hot water, the WiFi worked great, I slept comfortably all week, the gym was nice, and the hotel spa/sauna were very nice to use in the evening. Great location as well, staff were helpful and friendly. What else do you need?

The Hotel Lähde (Lähde means “spa”) occupies a lovely site on the harbour edge in central Lappeenranta. There are two buildings, the “normal” hotel (more modern, across the road) and the “boutique” hotel, basically situated in the spa building. I was in the latter, in a “deluxe twin” room, but hotels bandy words like “boutique” and “deluxe” far too easily. The room is fine, no complaints, but it hardly fits my definition of deluxe. The overall size is not great and there is a chunky Smeg fridge in every room. All have good air conditioning and pleasant bathrooms with showers. Rooms on one side face the harbour and lake. Wifi is good and free. If you like complete darkness at night you are not in luck. Breakfast is provided in the more modern building across the road. Service was excellent, friendly and efficient.

The rooms and the hotel are clean and modern, in good shape because they are new and maintained. The rooms are quiet and the location is nicely central to Lappeenranta. The mall below has two grocery stores, a pharmacy, several restaurants, coffee shops, ice cream and other stuff, so you don't need to go outside for anything. The aesthetics are pleasant and tasteful, the staff was helpful. The only issue I have is that the hotel's upgrade fell prey to a trend I've seen in many, if not most of the upgrades happening in recent years in hotels and other businesses; the lighting systems they install are all computerised and wireless, and as such the only lights you can go to and just turn them on or off are the reading lights by the bed. The rest are clusters of lights that you choose. Selecting one of those gives you a package of lighting. So in the room I was in, you can either be in a pitch black room with just a reading light on, or everything is all lit up. Turning just the overhead light off only and having a light or two on in a corner so the room is lit but chill isn't possible. The designers probably like doing this because the room can be reconfigured without digging the wires out of the walls. .In the room I had, t means that the big overhead light is right in my eye line if I'm in bed reading, unless the room is pitch black. And if you leave a dimmed light on in the bathroom dimmed and the door at a crack so you can see your way to it in the night, it turns itself off after a bit. Fortunately I typically keep a small flashlight with me, so I can feel around for it and use to get to the bathroom without waking my wife with every light in the room blazing , but I shouldn't have to bring a flashlight with me to a hotel to use the toilet. I could go on, but I've had to ask for older and shabbier rooms in some hotels like this one that haven't been 'upgraded' so I don't have to deal with this nonsense. All the Sokos hotels seem to be doing this, so unfortunately I'll be avoiding an otherwise decent hotel chain. And little do hotel operators know: this hotel has 250 some rooms; my smallish room has 10 switches in it each ,with batteries. At some point a couple of years down the road they are going to be hiring electricians to replace 2500 little lithium batteries.

I've been here with my family for two nights. Anne and Timo are really some of the kindest persons that we've met in Finland. They welcomed us warmly, and offered us all the information about nearby natural trails, attractions in the city and along the road towards our next stop. They also kindly gave us their bikes to reach some of the nicest spots around. Their house is a beautiful mansion immersed in one of the immense Finnish forests close to Saimaa lake, but it is easily reachable thanks to the adjacent railroad and the highway, just 10 minutes from the city center of Lappeenranta. It is an oasis of peace in the nature, and the apartments are nice, tidy and soaked by the love and the spirit of the rural life. Strongly recommended.