Original Sokos Hotel Lappee

The rooms and the hotel are clean and modern, in good shape because they are new and maintained. The rooms are quiet and the location is nicely central to Lappeenranta. The mall below has two grocery stores, a pharmacy, several restaurants, coffee shops, ice cream and other stuff, so you don't need to go outside for anything. The aesthetics are pleasant and tasteful, the staff was helpful. The only issue I have is that the hotel's upgrade fell prey to a trend I've seen in many, if not most of the upgrades happening in recent years in hotels and other businesses; the lighting systems they install are all computerised and wireless, and as such the only lights you can go to and just turn them on or off are the reading lights by the bed. The rest are clusters of lights that you choose. Selecting one of those gives you a package of lighting. So in the room I was in, you can either be in a pitch black room with just a reading light on, or everything is all lit up. Turning just the overhead light off only and having a light or two on in a corner so the room is lit but chill isn't possible. The designers probably like doing this because the room can be reconfigured without digging the wires out of the walls. .In the room I had, t means that the big overhead light is right in my eye line if I'm in bed reading, unless the room is pitch black. And if you leave a dimmed light on in the bathroom dimmed and the door at a crack so you can see your way to it in the night, it turns itself off after a bit. Fortunately I typically keep a small flashlight with me, so I can feel around for it and use to get to the bathroom without waking my wife with every light in the room blazing , but I shouldn't have to bring a flashlight with me to a hotel to use the toilet. I could go on, but I've had to ask for older and shabbier rooms in some hotels like this one that haven't been 'upgraded' so I don't have to deal with this nonsense. All the Sokos hotels seem to be doing this, so unfortunately I'll be avoiding an otherwise decent hotel chain. And little do hotel operators know: this hotel has 250 some rooms; my smallish room has 10 switches in it each ,with batteries. At some point a couple of years down the road they are going to be hiring electricians to replace 2500 little lithium batteries.

The hotel is under reconstruction,parking complicated. Don’t go there, if you don’t like to live in the mall and walk outside to your hotel room! . If You want go to your hotelroom, you have to walk outside. Anyhow pricelevel is normal 145 euros/night !! No nice dinner - no service in the restaurang.

I stayed in this hotel for One Night. The Room was small and the bathroom was very small. The toilet Seat was not attached to the floor which was bad. The location is Good within a shopping centre and in the city centre. I thought that the hotel breakfast was Good, but quite sp**** compared with many other hotels. Everything was Good and I enjoyed it.

Great place, excellent breakfast buffet, zero complaints!

I stayed in this hotel for one night, room 3010. I have stayed there a few times before and it has always been very good for me. Prior to my arrival, I had asked for a room without a feather lamp, as I am allergic to those and from a previous visit I knew they have those. Already before my arrival I got confirmation that this request has been taken into account and the room was very good for me. There was nothing to cause me allergy and cleaning had also been done well. The hotel room was large enough and there was enough storage space as well. There was also enough space in the toilet/bathroom for me and the shower functioned well. I also found the breakfast to be excellent, as usual: local varieties and extensive selection. Service was good and the location is convenient in the city center. The room was peacefully quiet during the night. If ever back at Lappeenranta, I will definitely consider this hotel again.

Provided incorrect information regarding breakfast times while checking in which resulted in us missing the breakfast. When we complained to the reception in the morning, they apologised but as soon as we left they started laughing. Terrible attitude of the reception staff - give it a miss if you have other options.

We drove to this hotel in the evening and found a free parking spot just a minute’s drive away,But as we had a lot of luggage to carry, we decided to drive to the hotel entrance which was through their paid car park - one so tight, it was impossible to exit or enter the car without banging against the neighbouring car doors. We asked the lady at the reception if we can park outside but she informed us the only other options were to drive to the neighbouring mall’s paid parking or park 15 mins away. The latter option we knew was not true as we had just pulled up in a free spot outside. Nevertheless, we were too tired from our drive and decided to leave the car overnight at the hotels’s car park, hoping to find it scratch free next morning. Anyways, the receptionist then went on to check us in and “very helpfully” mentioned that breakfast was until 11:30am next morning. Both of us were pleasantly surprised and confirmed with her it was indeed available until 11:30am. Next morning , we went down for breakfast at 10:30am to be informed that the restaurant stops serving breakfast at 10am. We went to the reception to confirm this and they advised the same. There were 4 people that morning at the reception and only the lad remembered to apologise for the error. As we turned to leave, the 3 ladies started giggling and burst into full blown laughter even before we were out of earshot. I had to turn back and check if this was really happening and they were indeed laughing at us, and they were. At checkout, one of them asked us if we enjoyed our stay, apart from the breakfast incident. I did ask if the hotel was full since we were given the room furthest away from the lift (we couldn’t help but notice the distance with our 2 huge check-in bags and handbags), to which she responded there are rooms farther away on the next floor. I said I suppose those rooms are allotted when the hotel’s running on full capacity and left. To summarise why I considered the stay a bad experience, 1) wrong information was given about car park 2) unnecessary and incorrect information was given about breakfast (we normally get to breakfast at 9am) which makes me wonder if this was out of pure malice 3) unprofessional staff at the front desk generally who need to be given a refresher on customer service. We are thankful that we drove around Finland after this mishap to experience excellent customer service at all other hotels, otherwise we’d have left the country with a level of bitterness.

I stayed in this hotel for one night, room 343. Prior to my arrival, I had asked for a room without a feather lamp, as I am allergic to those and from a previous visit I knew they have those. At the reception, I was assured that my message had been received and the room had been hand-picked to be good for persons with allergies. Indeed, I was very happy with the room, there was nothing to cause me allergy and cleaning had also been done very well. The hotel room was large enough even for two and there was enough storage space. There was also enough space in the toilet/bathroom for me and the shower functioned well. The water did not run all over the bathroom but was always contained in the shower area. The view was to a street below which was nice as snow had just arrived and everything outside was covered in it. There was no air conditioning, but the room temperature was good and it was possible to adjust the temperature and fan speed. I also found the breakfast to be excellent. There were local varieties on offer, particularly breads, which was nice. Otherwise the selection was also extensive with different kinds of yoghurt, vegetables, and berries, for example. The receptionists were very polite and helpful. The location was handy in the city center, 10-15 minutes walk to the railway station. Despite being in the center, the room was rather quiet. I could not hear anything from outside the hotel, although there was minor noise from another room closeby, I think, from moving furniture. However, I was not bothered by this noise, it was very minor. I cannot comment on parking spaces as I did not have a car in Lappeenranta then. If ever back at Lappeenranta, I would definitely consider this hotel again.