Scandic Hotels has signed a long-term agreement with landlord Exilion to extend the agreement and rebrand the Holiday Inn City Centre in downtown Helsinki. Since acquiring Restel in 2017, Scandic has operated the hotel under a lease agreement with Exilion and a franchise agreement with IHG. From 2025, the hotel will be operated under the Scandic brand.
Today, the Holiday Inn City Centre has 174 rooms and a strategically advantageous location next to Helsinki Central Station. The landlord has agreed to a complete renovation of the hotel as part of the extension agreement. Renovation work is expected to begin in September 2024. It will include investments in the facade and interiors, and sustainability-related upgrades to reduce energy consumption and operating costs and improve the guest experience.
“By extending our agreement and rebranding Holiday Inn City Centre as a Scandic hotel, we will continue to optimise our hotel portfolio in major Finnish cities. Helsinki is an important market that attracts both domestic and international travellers. It’s fantastic to strengthen Scandic’s hotel offering in Helsinki further, says Laura Tarkka, Head of Scandic Hotels in Finland.
The hotel’s strategic location near other Scandic hotels helps meet the growing demand in Helsinki’s leisure segment. During the renovation, shared spaces and restaurant areas will be adapted to optimise hotel operations, leading to economies of scale.
The hotel rooms will be furnished according to Room Collection, Scandic’s own-design room concept. They will be designed circularly, and many furnishings elements will be environmentally certified or made of recycled materials.
“I am incredibly pleased that we are renewing and upgrading our hotel offering in the heart of Helsinki with Scandic. The hotel is ideally situated for tourists who want to visit our capital. We will renew all surfaces and bathrooms during the renovation and make significant sustainability-related investments to achieve an even higher environmental rating for the property”, says Ari Talja, CEO of Exilion.
The landlord plans to recertify the property according to LEED standards. The Nordic Swan Ecolabel will also recertify the new hotel, the official ecolabel of the Nordic countries. Holiday Inn City Centre is already part of Scandic’s hotel portfolio, and Scandic currently operates 20 hotels with a total of 5,116 rooms in Helsinki.
