Me and my backpack suddenly had to take a quick trip to Estonia. The last minute plane tickets from Oslo to Tallinn cost like I was trying to book a round the world trip and I was feeling quite desperate. Thank God, Ryanair saved the day and I got the tickets for me and the backpack (and my 2yrs old daughter) for reasonable price. Although, for this price in any other time I could take 4 round trips to Tallinn.
Don´t get me wrong, I have nothing against Ryanair as a company, for me it doesn´t really matter what company I am using, the only problem with Ryanair is, that it departes from Rygge airport, which is twice as far as Gardermoen, and the flight arrives to Tallinn at 21.05. When you start travelling at noon and arrive late at night, it is one looooong day. Especially when travelling with a kid. And our Estonian home is approximately 45 minutes drive from the airport. I was feeling desperate again. How to we get there so late?
The only reasonable choice was to stay at a hotel in Tallinn. I know very many good hotels in Tallinn, but when you´re just staying for the night, arriving late and leaving early it´s kind of dumb to pay for an excellent room with a view to the towers of Old Town. So, I decided to book us a room with the best available price, the only requirment except price was location. Center Hotel was the hotel with best price (starting from 12 euros) and max 10 minutes walk from the city center. If you think I wasn´t scared when I chose this hotel, you´re wrong. I read the feedback from customers…well, it wasn´t too positive.
I cannot say I am too picky when it comes to accomodation and when travelling I have stayed in very modest hotels, but of course I prefer as much luxury as possible (who doesn´t, right?) Center hotel is far from luxury, but I swear it is nothing to be afraid of either. I mean, when booking a 2stars hotel you know what to excpect. I wasn´t surprised, not in a good or a bad way. It was a totally normal hotel. The room was tidy and bed comfortable. The only thing I would do is change the cover blankets of the beds. These could need a fresh-up and it would give the room a totally different look. A fresher and nicer look. Otherwise I have no complains to the room. But if possible ask for room with windows to the back yard. Me and my daughter were sleeping like rocks, but I heard some ladies talking about the traffic noice early in the morning. I don´t think it would bother me though, because my daughter wakes up at 6 anyway. I guess it may be the same time when Tallinn starts to wake up.
The breakfast was modest and I must be honest I thought to skip coffee, because I am very picky when it comes to coffee and nothing ruins my day like a bad coffee. But you know what? Coffee was so good that I had 3 cups of coffee!
To conclude. This is the type of hotel you choose when you are travelling on low budget or just need a place for stay like we did. I have told once before that people are so different, expect different things and have so different opinions, that the feedback never is 100% to trust. I am not saying this hotel is my firts pick for a romantic getaway, but for a stay like this – it´s okay. And okay is what you get for 12 euros a night.
Center hotel located in the center of Tallinn. Narva mantee str 24 / F.R. Kreutzwaldi 2