We took a multigenerational family trip to Helsinki in late August — a 9-day adventure!
For 6 of those nights, we decided to stay in an apartment. After searching through various options including Airbnb, we chose Bob W Helsinki City Centre . Since we were traveling as two households, we booked two rooms.
The location is great — about a 10-minute walk from Helsinki Central Station, with the Stockmann department store also within walking distance.
What makes Bob W Helsinki City Centre special? It comes with an in-room sauna! There are several Bob W apartments throughout Helsinki, but this is the only one with a private sauna.
In this review, we’ll cover everything — the löyly sauna, the kitchen, the washer-dryer, and how it all worked for our family stay!
Bob W Helsinki City Centre is located on Vuorikatu, right in the heart of Helsinki.
From Helsinki-Vantaa Airport: Take the I or P line train to Helsinki Central Station — about 30 minutes. Trains run every 10–20 minutes, so just hop on whichever arrives first.
From Helsinki Central Station: It’s about a 10-minute walk. If you have a lot of luggage, taking the tram is convenient — there’s a tram stop near the building, which also makes it easy to get around the city.
There’s also a metro station nearby.
Check-In
Bob W uses self check-in. You’ll receive a PIN code for each room in advance, which you use to unlock both the building entrance and your room door.
The apartments are on the 5th floor. Near the elevator on the 5th floor, there’s a luggage room where you can store bags before check-in or after check-out.
However, since it’s an unmanned property, we were a bit worried about security. So we left our luggage at the hotel we’d stayed at the night before, picked it up before check-in, and then headed to Bob W.
We took an Uber from our previous hotel to Bob W, but the surrounding streets had construction detours that made the ride even longer than walking would have been!
If you’re traveling light, walking might actually be faster.
That said, Helsinki has cobblestone streets, so if you have large suitcases, an Uber is probably more comfortable.
Our Stay in the Original Apartment
We booked the 1-bedroom apartment with kitchen and sauna — 42m²!
There seem to be different layouts depending on the room, but ours opened directly into the living area.
There was a large TV, and inside the TV cabinet, a gaming console. We didn’t use it, but you’d need to bring your own games.
The bed was a king-size. Since we had a child with us, a sofa bed had been set up too — though we all ended up sleeping in the king bed together and didn’t use the sofa bed.
Next to the sofa, there were Type C outlets and a USB-A port.
There’s a small balcony, though it’s visible from other rooms. Interestingly, the windows have a one-way mirror effect — even with the curtains open, people outside can’t see into the room.
Next to the sofa bed was a coffee and tea set. The coffee was pre-ground beans, but there was no filter to go with it.
There was also a multi-charger with Type C outlets, USB-A, and USB-C ports — very handy!
Closet
Next to the dining kitchen, there’s a large closet with an ironing board and about 10 hangers (this may vary by room).
There’s no safe in the room, so we kept valuables on us and locked anything else inside our suitcases.
There were large drawers too, which were great for storing clothes — made it feel like a home away from home!
Kitchen & Dining
The kitchen was L-shaped and spacious (layout varies by room). It had a 4-burner induction stove.
Appliances included a microwave, dishwasher (a lifesaver!), oven, and fridge. The range hood was a bit unusual — it’s the pull-out type that you slide forward to use. We couldn’t figure it out at first and had to look it up!
We bought a frozen pizza from the supermarket and baked it in the oven — it was delicious!
Dishwasher detergent was provided. After our one scheduled cleaning (optional, paid), the detergent was restocked. There was also a dish cloth and 4 trash bags — you need to sort waste into 4 categories.
There’s a 24-hour waste station in the basement, which was really convenient.
The fridge in our room was large and came with a freezer compartment — perfect for stocking up on ice cream or frozen foods from the supermarket in summer.
For tableware, there were two sizes of flat plates, bowls, mugs, glasses, and wine glasses.
Cooking utensils included two saucepans (one non-stick, one stainless steel), a large frying pan, a cutting board, an oven mitt, a knife, a trivet, and a cheese slicer. No mixing bowls, though.
Cutlery, a spatula, and kitchen scissors were provided. Since it’s Europe, there are no chopsticks — if you need them, bring disposable ones from home.
Seasonings were limited to salt and black pepper.
Bathroom & Amenities
The toilet had spare rolls stored in a drawer. Amenities included cotton pads and cotton swabs, plus a hair dryer. Bath towels and face towels were provided for each guest, along with a bath mat.
The shower area has a single glass partition with no door. You need to be mindful not to splash water everywhere, but there’s a floor squeegee provided — using it after your shower helps the floor dry quickly!
We’d brought shower sandals expecting the floor to get wet, but they turned out to be unnecessary.
The water pressure was fine, and the hot water worked well — no issues there! Body wash, shampoo, and conditioner are provided.
Washer-Dryer
The apartment has a drum-type washer-dryer. It can wash and dry, or run a dry-only cycle.
We tried the combined wash+dry cycle, but the display showed a whopping 6-hour run time! Once it started, there was no way to change the settings mid-cycle. Our recommendation: run the wash and dry cycles separately. The drying results were the same either way.
Even with the drum only half-full, clothes didn’t come out fully dry, so we ended up air-drying them in the room. Thankfully, the closet had a drying rack.
For families, the drying rack alone isn’t enough, so we’d brought a clothesline — and it definitely came in handy.
Helsinki in August was surprisingly cool and dry in the mornings and evenings. Clothes hung at night were dry by morning, and it doubled as a humidifier for the room!
The apartment came with 4 laundry detergent pods. After the cleaning service, the pods were not restocked, oddly enough. We’d brought single-use detergent packets from Japan, which saved us.
Sauna
Right next to the shower is a private sauna! The flow from shower to sauna is seamless. It’s an electric sauna that takes about 30 minutes to heat up after you turn it on.
There’s a bucket and ladle, so you fill the bucket with water and pour it over the heated stones. The satisfying sizzle and burst of hot steam — being able to do löyly whenever you want was amazing!
It was our first time experiencing löyly. We’re not usually big sauna fans, but being able to control the temperature ourselves made it so enjoyable. It really warmed us up to the core!
Nearby Shops & Supermarkets
About 30 seconds on foot from Bob W Helsinki City Centre, you’ll find the Fazer Cafe — famous for their chocolate. It’s great for breakfast too! We’d already visited a different branch on our first day, so we didn’t stop in at this one, but they have salads along with pastries and breads.
There’s a store right next to Bob W, but it’s more of a general goods store — they sell clothing, toilet paper, some snacks and eggs, but no fresh groceries.
There was supposed to be a K-Supermarket about a 2-minute walk away, but it was temporarily closed when we visited! The nearby supermarket was one of the reasons we chose this Bob W location, so it was quite a shock.
Even locals seemed surprised by the closure, so it must have been a recent development.
Instead, we frequently shopped at the Stockmann department store’s basement supermarket and the K-Supermarket inside Kamppi Shopping Center.
Both had excellent selections! The layouts were completely different from Japanese supermarkets — bread sold by weight, interesting product displays — we wished we’d had more time to browse.
Playgrounds We Visited During Our Stay
Playground Behind Helsinki Central Library
Behind Helsinki Central Library (Oodi), there’s a playground that we visited 2–3 times!
There are net climbing structures with rope ladders and slide-like features. The surrounding area is grassy — on a sunny day, it’s a wonderful spot. Our daughter even played hide-and-seek here.
Inside the library, there’s a buffet restaurant and a smaller shop selling light meals like pastries and juice. (We didn’t eat there.) The buffet area had high chairs and plenty of families, though the menu seemed like it might not appeal to all kids.
📍 Helsinki Central Library (Oodi)https://maps.app.goo.gl/wo99wQQfKATuJDAw8
Töölönlahti Summer Park
Cross the road from the library playground, and you’ll reach a spacious park filled with flowers.
There are large swings and a beach-like sandbox — great for sand play! Nearby, there was even an outdoor piano that anyone could play. We could hear someone performing as we enjoyed the park.
📍 Töölönlahti Summer Parkhttps://maps.app.goo.gl/uzxUGgf2HRRCC1bU9
Final Thoughts
There are several Bob W apartments across Helsinki, so you can choose one based on your itinerary and what’s most convenient for your trip.
What makes Bob W Helsinki City Centre stand out is that it’s the only Bob W in the city with an in-room sauna! All the appliances and the sauna worked perfectly — it was a comfortable, well-equipped stay. If you’re interested, definitely check it out!
Property Bob W Helsinki City Centre Type Apartment hotel (with kitchen & washer-dryer) Check-in / Check-out 15:00 / 11:00 Address Vuorikatu 18B, 00100 Helsinki, Finland Access From Airport: Train (I or P line) to Helsinki Central Station, about 30 minutes.From Helsinki Central Station: About a 10-minute walk. Tram also available — there’s a stop near the building.Metro: Nearby metro station also accessible.Luggage Storage Luggage room on the 5th floor (available from 5:00 AM on check-in day, until 11:00 PM on check-out day)
