The new MEININGER Hotel will be built in the Wood City area in the south west of Helsinki.

International hybrid hotel group MEININGER announces a new hotel in Helsinki’s Jätkäsaari district set to open in the summer of 2022.

MEININGER, the international hybrid hotel group, announced it has signed a contract for its first property in the trendy metropolis of Helsinki.

The 194-room new building will be located in the newly-emerging “Wood City” in Helsinki’s Jätkäsaari district and is set to open in the summer of 2022. It will be MEININGER’s second hotel in the Nordic region after Copenhagen.

The deal is part of MEININGER’S growth plans to triple the portfolio of beds in the next five years and create a pan-European network with deeper penetration in multiple core markets.

Finland and its capital city have developed into a popular tourist magnet in recent years. Following record growth figures in 2017, the number of overnight stays by foreign travellers in 2018 has continued to rise further, reaching a new record of 6.8 million*.

“In the ranking of the most popular Nordic holiday destinations, Finland has set new records year after year,” says Hannes Spanring, CEO of MEININGER Hotels. “Although the number of overnight stays has increased by almost five per cent annually over the past eight years, the number of rooms on offer has not grown at the same rate. There is a particular need in the hostel, economy and budget segments. This is where we see enormous potential for MEININGER with our hybrid hotel model in the Finnish capital.”

Sustainable top location

The new MEININGER Hotel will be built in the “Wood City” area in the south west of Helsinki. The newly-emerging quarter, part of the Jätkäsaari district, will be completed by 2022 and is one of the Finnish capital’s prestige projects in terms of materials and sustainability.

Where there was once a large container port with warehouses, the urban development project is being built that is made entirely of wood and represents the latest in environmentally friendly construction technology. The buildings, up to eight storeys high, are grouped around a green courtyard and will form Finland’s largest wooden neighbourhood.

“MEININGER Hotel Helsinki is part of Wood City, that cleverly combines Finnish timber construction, sustainable development and urban community. We are pleased to be part of this exceptional and environmental architectural project in the capital and to enrich the currently homogeneous accommodation offering, which consists mainly of three and four-star hotels and only a few hostels. The MEININGER Hotel Helsinki confirms our expansion plans in the Nordic region. In the near future, we are aiming to expand upon this by entering the market in neighbouring Sweden, and Norway.” Spanring added.

The MEININGER Hotel Helsinki will have 194 rooms and 648 beds distributed over seven floors with a total floor area of 85,036 sq ft (7,900 sq m).

“The signed contract will initiate the final phase of the Wood City urban development project. Wood City has optimal traffic connections therefore being an excellent location for a hotel. It combines Finnish timber construction, sustainable development and urban community,” added Juha Toimela, Executive Vice President of SRV, the Finnish project developer.

Strong growth year

The MEININGER Hotel Group opened a total of six new hotels in 2019, most recently in Lyon on November 20th, 2019. Shortly before, on October 9th, it celebrated its market entry in France with the opening of the MEININGER Hotel Paris Porte de Vincennes. On August 6th, 2019 the company inaugurated its second hotel in Belgium with the MEININGER Hotel Bruxelles Gare du Midi.

This was preceded by the opening of the MEININGER Hotel Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof on July 24th, the MEININGER Hotel München Olympiapark on March 25th and the MEININGER Budapest Great Market Hall on March 18th. Recently, MEININGER Hotels signed contracts for new market entries in Israel and Poland: The first hotel in the Middle East is expected to open in Tel Aviv in 2024. The MEININGER Hotel in Warsaw will be completed by the end of 2022.

A new hotel in Liverpool – its second in the UK – is expected to open in 2021.