I decided to change the hotel in my annual visit to Tampere to see my father's cousins. I have stayed this far in Scandic by the railway station but decided to check something new. Cumulus Hotel Pinja is also a chain hotel, an average three star house yoiu can find everywhere in Finland.

I stayed in a superior room that is in the annex, not in the old part of the building. The room was spacious but missed any charm you would expect from a hotel with a art deco past. The lobby is small and lacks also the art deco atmosphare.

The location is good, the service friendly and the breakfast ok.

But as put in the title, somehow very, very boring. It could be anywhere, it could have been built anytime, and it could be a member of any Finnish hotel chain. Bity!

By the way, the telephone rates are extremly high. It is 80 cents a unit. I had left my mobile home, and tried to reach my wife. I dialed here mobile number at the room phone, but couldn't reach her: The number was not in use. When I finally got a normal signal, it went to another phone. Then I had to contact the directory enquiries, first to check the number, and finally to connect to my wife's mobile. The first call to the directory enquieries lasted 54 seconds, and cost 28 euros!!! A bit unreasonable and unjust. I had a friendly talk with the hotel manager this morning, but with no special results.

I stayed at the Cumulus Pinja in May 2007. On the hotel's website, they stated that the hotel had been renovated during 2006. I thought this meant that both rooms AND bathrooms had been fixed up.

The room I stayed in (very near the elevator, which was somewhat disturbing) was clean and neat, but the bathroom was "left in the 80's". The bathroom was ok; it was clean but could use some fixing up.

One thing I found very strange was that one could use a computer in the lobby for free, but if one wants to have access to the internet at one's room, then one have to pay.

I can recommend the Cumulus Pinja to travellers that do not expect too much, the best word to describe the hotel would be 'average'.

The Cumulus Pinja is not a five-star hotel, but I'm giving it a perfect score because it had everything I needed and after a five night stay there, it almost felt like home to me.
If you're ever in Tampere, this is a great place to stay. The hotel is just a couple of blocks from the main street of Tampere. It's not fancy, but it's comfortable, affordable (for Scandinavia), and very clean. My room was so clean that when I spilled some water on the floor and wiped it up with a white towel, there was not a speck of dirt on the towel. The bed was one of the most comfortable I've ever slept in. The staff are laid-back and helpful, and they speak English (like pretty much everyone else I met in Finland). You can use the internet on the computer in the lobby for free anytime of the day or night. For some reason they never charged me for a ten-minute phone call I made to the US. I'm sure this was a fluke, but it just enhanced my overall satisfaction with this hotel!
I loved the all-you-can-eat breakfast that was included in the price of the room. Like the rest of the hotel, the breakfast wasn't fancy, but it was very satisfying. There was porridge, eggs, meat (anything from bacon to meatballs to blood sausage), fruit, salad, bread, cheese, cereal, and more.
The wake-up call system is kind of weird. There is no alarm clock. You set an alarm through the TV in your room, and at the chosen time the TV comes on and you're startled out of a sound sleep by loud Finnish talking coming out of the TV. The alarm set-up program is entirely in Finnish, and therefore pretty much impossible for foreigners to understand. Somehow I figured it out and was able to set it myself, but if you call and ask the front desk for a wakeup call, they'll magically program the TV for you from the lobby.
Not planning to visit Tampere anytime soon? Too bad for you. I'm hoping I get to go back someday.

Hotel was really central which is always a big plus, but thankfully the city centre is pretty compact anyway so there was probably not much in it between this hotel and the next in town. The lobby and the communal areas were homely, eighties inspired sauna chic (they describe this as "art nouveau" in the brochure). Rooms themselves were compact, but had all the services you would expect nice decor and nice wooden flooring (with underfloor heating). In terms of a hotel there was nothing to detract - generally it was a tidy place that makes a good stop for a few nights out. Unfortunately there were a couple of minor points that didn't bother me, but might get on a few nerves - - the heating seemed to be connected to the outside temperature meaning the indoor temperature remained at least 50 degrees C warmer than outside, not bad when it' was -25, but when it got to -1 you began to feel like a basting turkey, a real sauna experience! The beds weren't made during our stay, not a biggie on a three nighter, but if you're there longer it might get a bit messy.

All in all, the place was good, Tampere was a good weekend away, definitely somewhere to recommend if you're a bit relaxed and not expecting uber 5* luxury