Forenom Hostel Vantaa Airport — Hotel in Helsinki sub-region

I googled "hostel near HEL airport" and booked a bed for one night, and was basically offered a small room with a small bed in an asylum center next to the airport. This is far from being a "2 star hostel". Because of a long layover (thanks, Finnair!) i was obligated to find a solution for sleeping.

Everything from A to Z is below average at Forenom hostel in Helsinki: -overpriced! 50-70 euros for a dirty room with no WC/showers inside a temporarily accomodation center for asylum seekers marketed as "hostel" for tired transit travelers! That's just not ethical. -Ventilation in the room is off. The smell was terrible. I had to open the window the whole time, which itself was a difficult task since the window was half broken. -Stench of old cooked food in the corridor coming from the shared kitchens used by their permanent residents. -Very small bed: my 6 year old nephew's bed looks bigger and better. -Water boiler but no tea nor coffee? Doesn't make any sense! horribly decorated room that felt more like a prison and an asylum, especially when walking in the corridor... unclean walls, knobs etc. There were stains all over the place. no food nor food dispenser nearby or in the hotel. bed sheets/clothing were placed on the bed and I, as a guest, was supposed to make the bed? customer service on the phone asking for a picture of passport when everything has been prepaid. Didn't feel okay now that I think of it.

The only good thing about this place is that it's located 10 minutes walk from the airport.

Overall, the issue is Finnair and their aggressive campaigns for their international long distance flights, luring thousands of travelers to pick Finnair offering disproportionate long transfers (up to 30 hours!!) in an airport that clearly needs better hotels or hostels for those traveling on a budget. This will ultimately make ppl avoid Finnair altogether. Also, I don't know what type of people are running the Forenom chain, but offering an overpriced dirty room with a kid's bed in an asylum/refugee center to international travelers...

The place was clean, its functional and decently equipped and I would actually be probably giving them a 4 or 5 star review only for the fact that getting there was quite dangerous. They are a hostel beside the airport within walking distance of the airport and due to the kind of weather in the country its quite icy and slippery paths and roads and as such companies make an effort but Forenom Hostel at Vantaa Airport was a disaster, they seemed to be making no effort at all and walking around their grounds ended up being quite dangerous. We stayed 2 nights a week apart and when we arrived originally there was no main path from their main building to their secondary building (where we were staying) and the road (which was all we could walk on as there was no pathway) was iced over and extremely slippy. As we had flown in and were staying 1 night each way and its described as a 7 min walk we walked it, arriving up the main walk way was bad but their grounds were horrific. The first night and morning we assumed it was bad luck but a week later when we were flying back through Helsinki it was worse and from what I could tell nothing, no effort at all, had been made in the week we had been gone. Anyone who worked there would have known 100% sure that something needed to be done, you could not be on the premises and not know how bad it was. In fairness it was my only complaint, but it’s a huge one. If I am back in Helsinki I will probably give them another chance but that will...

SUMMARY: Helsinki airport is a much better place to sleep, rather than this hostel. The airport has a 24/7 store with affordable food (Alepa), plenty of chairs, plenty of clean bathrooms with drinkable tap water.

FULL REVIEW: Holy moly.. I'll just start with saying that we only spent 3 hours in our room before our flight, and in that short amount of time we have found: a dried booger on the table, a weird bug on the bed, a ~1.5 cm spider on the bed, a water boiler that leaked boiling water when pouring, questionable mattresses and possibly dried pee on the shared bathroom floor!

To be fair, everything else seemed alright, and the microwave was a nice addition to the room, the location is great as even a child can walk from the hostel to the airport.. but for the cleanliness status this at least SHOULD BE HALF THE PRICE (at the time of writing it is 60 euros for a two person room). It would have been really acceptable if not for the bug and spider on the bed. It's really a shame because it has the potential to be a great hostel.

Also, be aware that you have to confirm your identity before arriving and you must make sure you receive an SMS with a passcode to enter the building and the room. It might be a little confusing if you've never done this before, but everything was clearly explained and there's a 24/7 helpline (we used the helpline and it was good). I wouldn't say that's a disadvantage and I didn't rate it down...