The "Puzzle" Hotel in Helsinki

 

"Giving thanks for kind taxi drivers: I arrived in Helsinki at 11:00pm on the train and I took a taxi to my hotel. We couldn't find the hotel, however, because there is no address on the building. There is a phone number on the door but the sign has the correct name of my hotel. There is no hotel reception because it is after 10pm. My phone is almost dead so the taxi driver calls the phone number and then he tells me he won't leave until he is sure I can get inside. The lady on the phone gives me two codes for the hotel - one for the front door and one for a key box inside. There are two code boxes on the front door; the first one box doesn't work but the second one does. Inside we find the key boxes but they are up four stairs to the right and hidden around a corner. The sign near the boxes says, "Please only take your key." My code opens the little box and I find my key but the room number is missing. We find the room number hidden inside an envelope and then the taxi driver leaves. There's a note on the wall near the boxes that says "the second number in your room number is your floor number. " My room number is 212 and another note says to go to stairway 2. There is no stairway, much less a stairway 2 that i can find, but there is a lift with a list of room numbers and the corresponding button I'm supposed to push. I push 1. I get off the lift and there are a variety of room numbers and all of them have a "1" as the second number. I find my room. Now I know why the Finns are such good problem solvers. "  (My post on Facebook.)

The front of the hotel.

 

The front door.

  

Sign on the front door.

The boxes that hold the room keys.

 

Directions to find the rooms.

 

More directions 

  

More directions

  

This is the room directly outside the elevator, one floor up from the lobby.

  

My hallway (Notice the raised line on the floor.)

 

My room

Another stairway down the hall.

I climbed to the top of the building - this stairway that was hidden in the back of the building.

I solved the puzzle!  The hotel is actually the joining of two buildings and if you look closely at my hallway you can see where the buildings are joined.  Room numbers have three numbers and the ones that start with "1" are in building one and room numbers that start with "2" are in building two.  The second number in the room number is the floor number and the third number is the actual room. There is a stairway for building one and another for building two, but not all rooms can be directly accessed by the first stairway.

This is actually one of my favorite hotels - it is close to the city center, museums and restaurants, the price was decent (through cheaprooms.com) and the staff was very helpful.  The rooms have small kitchens so it's considered more of a hotel/apartment building - that's why the reception is closed at night and on the weekends.  That being said, I had a lovely stay and I enjoyed the puzzle.  Thank you, Hellston Helsinki Parliament!