An OK hotel. The location is good, in the middle of the market square, and the restaraunt and bar are nice. The reason that it only gets average is that the rooms are small and could do with being modernised . On the plus side, the staff were friendly, and the broadband was free and fast.

Stayed at Sokos Hotel Kaarle for one night as we were visiting friends in town.

As Kokkola is such a small city, pretty much every location downtown would be a good one, I suspect. We traveled to and from Kokkola by train and we walked about 7 minutes from the station to the hotel.

Upon arrival we were greeted by a very friendly staff member at the check in desk and I cannot fault the staff at all. Everyone was very friendly.

We had room on the second floor. It was very clean but simple and felt slightly outdated in terms of decor. However, for a short stay it was more than adequate. With some of the rooms on the second floor, as was with ours, you cannot really speak of any views, as the window overlooks a parking lot that has been raised to the window level. Ie. the hotel has its own parking lot on the 2nd floor level. Thus we had to keep the curtains closed at all times.

Also, it seems the heating/airconditioning system did not work in the room properly but as we stayed there only one night we didn't bother the staff with it but had we stayed there longer we would have certainly enquired about it. It was too hot for us there.

Breakfast is served in the restaurant area. Your basic breakfast buffet selection with bacon, meatballs, scrambled eggs, bread, different kinds of meats and cheese, fruit, cereal, porridge etc - but everything was fresh and looked delicious. A nice surprise was glutein-free muesli - not something in every hotel!

There is an Amarillo texmex-styled restaurant in the hotel. Also, in the cellar there is a nightclub and a bar. We had lunch at Amarillo and it met expectations with service exceeding them. Amarillo is a common chain restaurant in Finland so you usually pretty well know what you get.

All in all, should we be in Kokkola again we would be happy to book the same hotel again, although we would a request a room on the upper floors and try to avoid the 2nd floor, if possible.