Sokos Hotel Aleksanteri

History

The hotel’s older part, next to the Alexander Theatre, was used as a residential building from its construction in 1880 till 1923, when a girls’ school moved in. The school also had a wooden building which formerly stood on the site of the hotel’s new part.


The hotel part completed in 1929 was previously the seat of, among others, the House of Rural Municipalities and a hostel. Finland’s first Alko liquor store was opened in the Aleksanteri building after prohibition was ended 5 April 1932 at 10 a.m. The counter of Alko’s main store in Helsinki stood approximately where Fransmanni’s bar now stands. The property was last used as the head office of the Local Government Pension Institution, which still owns the building.

Sokos Hotel Aleksanteri’s atmosphere is a wonderful combination of two periods. The older part of the hotel was built in the 1880s for residential use and represents neo-renaissance style. The hotel’s newer part was built in the 1920s for office use and represents neoclassicism. The hotel’s interior decoration pays tribute to the architectural trends of both parts, which can be seen in colour schemes and furniture styles.