Where is it?
The Radisson Blu Hotel Olümpia is located in downtown Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Tallinn is a small capital city and most hotels have an excellent location for visitors who want to explore the city, including this hotel. Most sites of interest, including the medieval old town as well as shops, restaurants and bars are within walking distance from the hotel entrance.
Getting from Tallinn airport to the Radisson Blu Olümpia hotel is also easy and should take no more than 5-10 minutes by taxi, depending on the traffic.
There are two Radisson Blu Hotels in Tallinn, this one and the Radisson Blu Sky Hotel. They are just a few blocks from each other so if arriving by train or by bus, or by foot from the ferry terminal, make sure you head for the right hotel. Both hotels are also located in skyscrapers and can easily be mixed up.
The arrival experience
Tallinn airport is a wonderful airport to use. It is small and convenient and the taxi ride from the airport to the hotel took only seven minutes, and it cost 6 euro. With only hand luggage I was standing in the hotel lobby just 20 minutes after landing.
The hotel lobby is spacious and divided into two sections with the lobby bar to the right and the reception to the left, and with the lifts located in the middle. The reception area is fairly old fashioned and presumably does not look very different from what it did when the hotel opened in the 1990s. There are large signs hanging from the ceiling indicating what part of the reception is used for what purpose, but interestingly the signs are in Estonian, which feels a bit odd for an international hotel chain. Presumably “Vastuvõtt” means reception in Estonian.
There was no wait to check in and the process was swift but with no excessive talking. To be honest a little “welcome back” as a gold card holder would have been nice.
The room
I was assigned a room on the 23rd floor, which is the fourth highest. There are also a few rooms on level 24. Level 25 is used for some hotel facilities and level 26 for the health club.
No one at the reception mentioned anything about a room upgrade, which is a standard benefit for gold card holders, but from experience they rarely miss this at the Radisson hotels in the Baltics.
Indeed I had been upgraded to a superior room on the 23rd floor with a fantastic view.
The superior rooms measure between 17 and 24 sqm, so they are exactly the same size as the standard rooms. Although not tiny by any means they are not overly spacious either. But the room really had everything needed for a short stay. The main differences between a standard room and a superior room are the view and a few extra room amenities.
I had indicated in my booking I preferred a queen-sized bed rather than twin beds, a request which was met. The bed was both stylish and very comfortable.
The room also had a closet, a work desk and a minibar. However there was no armchair or sofa. Overall the room was very modern and well-appointed and gave a good first impression.
One of the differences between a standard room and a superior room is that the latter also comes with coffee and tea-making facilities, in this case a Nespresso machine. You also get bathrobe and slippers. There were also two complimentary bottles of water.
The bathroom was very modern but fairly small and quite dark. It offered a bathtub as well as the standard Radisson toiletries from ThisWorks.
There was also a small welcome gift in the room. No personal welcome letter but at least a small tray with some dried fruits, an apple and some macadamia nuts.
Another fun thing with the room was the text on the mirror, the lyrics of John Lennon’s Imagine. If you enjoy singing a few tunes before going to bed.
But the highlight was of course the magnificent view from the 23rd floor. You could see parts of the old town, the skyscrapers of Tallinn (most of them are other hotels) and even the coastline in the distance.
Food and drinks
The hotel offers a restaurant, called Restaurant Senso, and a cafe called Cafe Boulevard.
There is also a lobby bar in the hotel, open at least until midnight every day. I visited the bar to have a beer before going to bed. The bar was tidy and the service was prompt, but just like the rest of the lobby it lacked any kind of charm or atmosphere, and it had a design which felt very 90s. It is very much a functional place to enjoy a drink in the evening, no more no less.
Other facilities
A highlight of the hotel is the health club on level 26 called Wellness At Club 26 and a great thing about staying in a superior room (or any higher room category) is that you get complimentary access. Hotel guests staying in a standard room need to pay for access. But remember to bring a towel from your room since only small towels are provided at the reception of the health club.
The health club offers a decent swimming pool, a sanarium (which is something between a traditional sauna and a steam room, with a lower temperature) and a relaxation area. There are also regular saunas for men and women in the locker rooms. Massage treatments can also be booked and there is a decent gym with machines and weights.
The hotel also offers a conference section with 13 meeting rooms and event halls, the largest one with capacity for 500 guests.
And interestingly the lift indicated there should be a dentist on level 25. There is no mention of it on the hotel webpage, so perhaps it is no longer there but they were simply not able to remove the text from the lift. In case the dentist is still there it probably has one of the best views of all dentists in northern Europe.
Service
The service was prompt throughout the hotel with no wait to check in or check out. There were really no problems or issues whatsoever during the entire stay. However the service was at the same time also a bit low-key, a few more smiles, some small talk and a friendly “welcome back” surely would have improved the experience without too much effort.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served in the Restaurant Senso. Since I was leaving early and did not have breakfast included in the rate I decided to skip the breakfast in the hotel. According to the webpage they offer the Radisson Blu “Super Breakfast Buffet”, so presumably it is fairly similar to many other Radisson Bluhotels in northern Europe.
Final impression
A very nice superior room with a fantastic view and a great health club on the 26th floor. The location is also quite good, close to most sites of interest. But the lobby area is quite dull and old-fashioned and a few more smiles throughout the stay would have made the experience a bit more enjoyable.
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