User Rating:
Category:
Hours:
Not right?
by katja_b
Helsinki, Finland
July 18, 2001
Actually, you should go here, if nothing else, to see the ladies' restroom. I am totally serious! Ok, the terrace and the bar have also a terrific view, but this is the classiest thing, for those who don't suffer vertigo. You are not seen, but you sit there with the best view over the entire city...
I took a Scottish visitor there, and although the tower itself looks rather unimpressive from street level, indeed, it is impossible even to see the bar from there, we went up and "oh my!" It was ten p.m. in early July and the sun was golden and the sea so blue, and the terrace packed with people. We had ciders and admired the view... The bar tenders were building a drink with absinthe and a lump of sugar flambée as we waited to be served at the teeny bar.
The bar is small but so are the two terraces! One has a transparent wind shield, the other is au naturel, actually surprisingly little safety precautions considering that it is a drinking establishment, and on a wonderful sunny summer evening go up there and just enjoy the bird's eye view on the fair and surprisingly colourful rooftops of Helsinki... In the indoors they have a monthly changing art exhibition, hence the name Ateljee.
The lift is tiny, you may have to queue a bit to get up and down. But this climb is worth the view!
Incidentally, Hotel Torni is also a nice hotel - if you get a room in the tower itself. All the people I know who stayed there, have insisted on staying there again...
From journal Summer in Helsinki