Excellent location - great staff - great base to explore Tallinn

We booked at Bern on the strength of the tripadvisor reviews and weren't disappointed. Ok, it's not on the most attractive street in Tallinn just outside the old town walls but it's a perfect location only about a 5 minute slow stroll to the town square and half that to where all the tour buses/trams etc depart from. Having a good supermarket right opposite was useful for supplies (and the Vana Tallinn there is much cheaper than airport duty free ;-)

Taxi ride from/to the airport is about 10 mins and shouldn't cost you more than 10 euros including a generous tip.

The young front desk staff were all brilliant - there were three or four different faces during our five night stay and all were really friendly and helpful. It was nice to get a good city map and a few leaflets as soon as we checked in without having to ask, with a short walkthrough description of where the main places were, where buses left from etc. A great first impression.

Our room on the 3rd (top) floor was basic but clean and a decent size with a good shower room. Only complaint - could have done with some more hooks/hangers and a safe, not really a big deal though. Free wifi everywhere in the hotel.

We overlooked the hotel courtyard entrance, which also has the back door entrance to a bar located on Inseneri. We heard music from the bar as we returned to the hotel a couple of nights but not once we got into the room. The windows didn't open anyway, and since the aircon unit in the room was good this didn't bother us. For some reason I'd got the impression this was a gentleman's club or something from some previous reviews, we only looked through the windows but it just looked like any old bar to me.

It looked like some rooms on the 1st (entrance floor) were on the same level as the courtyard. I was glad we were on the 3rd floor but maybe it would have made no difference - might be something to bear in mind.

Buffet breakfast was functional rather than exceptional. But I still managed to feast on enough every morning that I missed lunch and lasted all the way through to dinner! Breads and pastries in particular were very good, fruit, yoghurt and range of continental meats, cheese and fish were ok. Hot food was limited to scrambled eggs and either pork meatballs or frankfurters - but in fairness they tasted better than they looked. Maybe I've had one too many good full English breakfasts in my time and I'm being a bit unfair! Coffee was good and there were a range of teas to choose from.

The hotel organised car hire for our last day - at about half of the price of the best deal I could find with any of the international rental lot. Wish I could remember for certain the name of the company so I could post it here - they had a few to choose from but I just let them book one for us - it may have been Hansarent but not 100% sure. Anyway, we got a Citroen C3 with free sat nav (didn't even ask for it) delivered to the hotel the next day and collected the next morning with complete insurance waiver (I'd spent the last 3 days marvelling at driving in Tallinn and this seemed sensible, but in reality once you get out there it's fine!) for about 50 euros. Great way to explore Lahemaa without the restrictions of a coach tour and thoroughly recommended.

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