When you go for a spa holiday you expect everything to go smoothly so you would feel relaxed. That is not what Holiday Club Tampereen Kylpylä has to offer. Our first big mistake was to go there in the winter when it was about -20 degrees celsius outside.

It was really hard to find a parking place for a car where you could plug it in and keep the heater on. They have a parking hall but it's not warm and the other places were difficult to find. Secondly, the hotel and the spa are in separate buildings which means that we had to walk outside in the freezingly cold weather for about 20 meters with our bathrobes and slippers on!

The rooms are big and spacious but already in need of some refurbishment. The bathroom had a bad smell. There is really nothing to say about the views because there was no view. Like said here before, the hotel has no views, but the time share apartments have.

The spa itself was not so great and cosy as you could imagine. There was quite little to do after all so we got bored quickly. What we liked about was the gym.

The restaurant and café were good and welcoming.

We stayed at a timeshare apartment during summer. The apartment was clean and well-equipped. We had a private jacuzzi and sauna. We had nice comfortable beds. Service was ok, although signs and everything is written in Finnish. Staff helped to translate.

We loved the place and plan to come back soon.

We actually stayed there since we had a gift card for Holiday Club, but I can assure you I wouldn't pay for a stay there. Not as long as they're overpricing it. And don't be blinded by the nice picture on the website. That is not the hotel, but rather for Holiday Club's timeshare holders. The actual hotel is behind that building. But hey, at least the rooms have balconies in case you want to overlook the parking lot.

The rooms are nice enough. Clean, fairly large.

The pool area is a joke. I can't say anything about the spa treatments, but if the hotel is even half full I wouldn't bother going to the pool area.

We were there between Monday and Tuesday in November and there weren't many guests. Still the staff seemed unwilling to serve us upon arrival and in the restaurant. Breakfast is about ok.

Don' t be fooled by the splendid picture shown on the web-site of this magnificent converted old mill building as this is not the hotel. It houses the reception, pool, sauna and treatments rooms. Guess what this building houses apartments for time-share customers, the actual hotel is a block of flats behind this building ... funny how you don't see THAT on the web-site! Having said that; the rooms are extremely good ... if you're lucky enough to be placed above the 5th floor and not overlooking the car park. Our reservation was made in Feb. 2010 (check in time is 2pm) but at 4pm all we were offered was a room on the 3rd floor.....overlooking the car park. Can’t figure out why this is advertised as a waterfront hotel but the rooms with a view get cleaned last of all.... what do they think you come here for? Yes - to stay in the big lake view converted old mill building! Be warned!
The Arthur Restaurant is drab and unimaginative and the best service seems to be reserved for Finnish guests..... I lived in Finland 20 years ago and to see an aspiring international Spa Hotel treat English speaking guests as a novelty really does let the country down. The best service is from the experienced Mediterranean waiters. The food served in the restaurant is ok. Breakfast is all about quantity but certainly not about quality of the food, lost count of the number of items of chipped crockery we picked up .. and if you’re English you can forget getting a HOT cup of tea – actually the same applies to the coffee too, luke warm at the best.
The pool and spa area is a lot smaller than it looks on the web-site and is really too small. You can have a lot of fun in the Jacuzzis and underneath the water-jets but there’s no room to swim. The best thing about this hotel by far is the spacious, luxury rooms but only if they condescend to give you one on the higher floors.