An economy hotel that made me rethink economy hotels.
If there a part of the hotel market that needs a rebrand it is the economy side. I’m sure many of you reading this are thinking the same thing: that there isn’t particularly anything special about economy level hotels, they are just a place to crash when you were holiday-ing on a budget. But my recent trip to the Ibis in Tallinn has completely changed my perspective.
The Ibis in Tallinn Center is the first of its kind and the rebrand is all centered around music. Their restaurant area can easily be transformed into a stage where local artists can perform to both guests and non-guests. I absolutely adore this concept, a hotel chain that celebrates the local talent in the community? How amazing is that! It was pretty cool to be in another country and listen to a local artist that the community loves live; an opportunity I wouldn’t have been able to experience otherwise. I can really see this concept working in big cities in the U.K such as London and Birmingham and give Ibis some well-deserved love.
With this new music concept comes a brand new redesign, which is much more thought out than I ever thought. It’s definitely catered towards the millennial market (I mean, they serve locally crafted beer with cool names!), but what really surprised me is how much thought went into the design of the rooms. First of all, the ceiling pattern is actually the surface of the moon, which to me is just about the coolest thing about the place! They’ve kept the decoration colours quite dark and don’t have any photographs on the walls so nothing can distract you from sleeping. The mattresses are specially designed to give you the best night’s sleep possible (although as someone who struggles with insomnia, I’m maybe not the best person to ask how I slept.)
You’ll also notice that the plug sockets aren’t directly fitted into the walls, but rather ‘panels’ that are attached to the walls. Apparently one of the sounds that travels through walls the most is people trying to things in their plug sockets, so that problem has been erased. There’s also no proper wardrobe or drawers in the rooms, but rather a rack and hanging storage to put your things in. This is to make the most of space, and as someone who didn’t even notice that there were no proper drawers or a wardrobe, This didn’t bother me at all! The curtains are also blackout, which is definitely needed during the summer in Tallinn where it hardly gets dark!
Overall, I really enjoyed my stay in the Ibis at Tallinn. I actually wanted to spend time in the downstairs communal areas because they had such a welcoming atmosphere. For me, the Ibis Tallinn Center is perfect for a long weekend stay (that’s about as long as I’m willing to stay in a hotel room before I would decide to get an AirBnB!) for absolutely anyone. It’s in a pretty great location and a great little hang out spot if you want to have an evening in the hotel – I can vouch that the food is amazing!
