“Could be the best value hotel you'll visit in Europe in 2011 - Book now before prices go up !”
5 mins taxi ride from airport. It means the airport is conveniently located not that this is in any sense an airport hotel! I forgot to look up as we entered. English at reception was more perfect than found in London. Printing boarding passes was there pleasure. The hotel was almost full due to a film festival in town. No matter ... after a short delay and a super smooth lift ride in 20 seconds we were 25 floors high with a wonderful view over the city from the lobby. Our room had an equally fantastic view especially at night.
Frustration queuing for breakfast Sunday morning due to festival numbers soon evaporated with a good buffet selection. The weekdays were a breeze with no queue. It is on the 8th floor so the views are still great - mostly over the harbour.
There's yet another fantastic view from the Horizont Bar on the 30th and the price for a late night beer up there was an ok 3.50EUR.
The impressive swimming pool sauna steam room and gym are on the 11th floor again with fantastic views even from inside the sauna!
Our 28 sq metres Swiss Advantage room was excellent in all respects except the room was too big for the tv ! Our package included use of the pool and sauna etc. and breakfast. Bed was full king size bed & classy mosaic full-tiled bathroom with large separate tub & large shower.
Old Town is about 10 mins brisk walk. Main shopping centres and other sights.within about 5 or 10 mins walk.
We'd definitely stay again at 2011 prices.
Area recommendations
The Old Town most definitely.
There is a huge choice of very high quality but good value restaurants & bars. We did not see a single one that we would dismiss at a glance. Tallinners clearly take tourism very seriously.
There seems to be no such thing as slack or indifferent service here. It is a very friendly place to spend the evenings and you can confidently expect to find many kitchens open as late as 11pm and even later with some.
We arrived a day after they opened their Christmas market in the main square. It is a compact offering compared to other places in Europe where you might go for Christmas markets but it is very much a Christmas type of place with authentic cobbled roads (mind your back on the uneven surface or you'll need to get the aches and pains massaged out back at the hotel spa!) & the buildings are straight out of a fairy tale.
There are many ancient but well lit alleyways to explore with very friendly old antique shops selling items on commission for owners where you will find all manner of collectables from coins to salt cellars to Chinese pottery (Tallinn is an old trading port of course).
We decided that Tallinn would be a great place to take teenagers because the shopping centres are cool enough & the old town is a safe place to let them plan their own evening with friends & to make their own way back.
It is a university city & as such it works as well as a young peoples' kind of town as it does for late model baby boomers!
When to go
Late November to Christmas (the decorations are up and there is a Christmas market in the old town square and the whole town is geared for Christmas.
In 2011 of course, Tallinn was European City of Culture so one can imagine there is much to see and do at any time of the year.
Getting there
Couldn't be easier by air. The airport is the closest to town that I have seen anywhere but it is not at all obtrusive. Alternatively you can get the ferry from Stockholm or Helsinki or arrive on a Baltic cruiseship but allow days for sea journeys instead of mere hours by Ryanair or Easyjet.
In 2011 the standard fare from airport to town by taxi was 10EUR which for a five minute journey is a bit steep. I am sure I noticed that the shuttle bus was (2011) still 5 EUR per person so for two of you a taxi is a better bet.
In 2011 the taxi meter read 6.60EUR for the journey back from the hotel to the airport so that wasn't so bad especially allowing for the low stress / end of trip convenience factor.
Getting around
Everything is within brisk walking distance so much so that having eaten a late lunch one day having got slightly caught out by the 2 hour UK/Estonia time difference we returned to the hotel at around 7pm not hungry enough for dinner. We then decided at around 10pm that we then were actually feeling peckish enough for dinner and since the hotel Night Menu / Room Service was not particularly inspiring (we checked) we decided to walk back to the old town. Having wrapped up warm and walked briskly, we found ourselves choosing a place at around 1045pm after we found we still had a good choice of places to eat with signs clearly stating "Food served until closing time". We ordered steak and pasta in a live music bar and found the quality and in particular the service was still excellent at that time of night when most people had eaten an hour or two earlier and you would think the staff might be getting tired. Not a bit of it.
As for more general getting around, car hire prices seemed very reasonable as quoted by Expedia although we decided we wouldn't need it. Plus there is a new underground bus station beneath the main Veru Centre Shopping Centre, and a trolley bus and tram network for the more adventurous.
We were in Tallinn 4 days and we walked 100% this time. Next time we might branch out, but for a first visit there seems little need for any transport other than the short journey to and from the airport.
What to pack
Warm clothes and sturdy shoes in winter. From late November the sun only reaches about 20 degrees in the sky at midday and the wind can be very chilling.
Dining
The Old Town caters for every taste from traditional Estonian heart meat and potato dishes, great steak houses, great Italian restaurants, French style modern cooking, Turkish, Scandinavian modern, Tapas and even Indian and Chinese. You will not be stuck for choice or quality.
Dare I say there is a McDonalds inside the old town gates? No forget I said that!
Outdoors or beach
Apparently there is a very well recommended beach but one imagines that only Scandinavians might seek it out during winter!
