Major renovation at Original Sokos Hotel Koljonvirta

Customer bulletin 24 February 2023

Renovation work on Original Sokos Hotel Koljonvirta in Iisalmi is proceeding. The restaurant world will be opened for May Day 2023.

The extensive renovations of Original Sokos Hotel Koljonvirta are proceeding on schedule. The renovations cover hotel rooms, restaurants, reception and sauna facilities. The completely new restaurant world will open on 27 April. The hotel rooms will be completed during the summer of 2023.

A fresh restaurant world on the best spot in the city

The hotel's new atmospheric restaurant world with a comfortable terrace is being built at street level. Rosso's bright and rustic decor invites visitors to enjoy their time together with smooth service. The menu offers Italian tastes with a Finnish twist from pizza and pasta to delicacies from a charcoal grill. The new restaurant world will also feature a renovated Hesburger location.

The Rosso and Hesburger restaurants will open by 27 April 2023, as well as the hotel's meeting cabinet with the capacity to seat 14 people. O'Nelly's Irish Bar will continue to operate normally and, starting on May Day, its pool tables and the restaurant's popular karaoke nights will return.

Natural atmosphere

When the room renovations are completed in the summer of 2023, the hotel will also feature 32 completely new rooms with a natural and relaxing atmosphere, including a number of spacious family rooms. "The decor of the new rooms uses a lot of natural materials, natural-feeling elements and light tones. The wall's photograph mural brings the misty atmosphere of Savonian forests right into the room," notes Tarja Jeskanen, the general manager of the hotel. The room renovations will continue in the autumn for another 15 rooms.

The renovations of Hotel Koljonvirta are carried out by local operators, and local companies have also been utilised in the procurement of construction and interior decoration materials. For example, the audio equipment comes from the Iisalmi-based Genelec, and the wood material used in the sauna facilities comes from the Iisalmi-based Lunawood.

"Once the renovations are completed, we can offer our guests an inviting hotel experience that delights all the senses, right in the heart of Upper Savo," shares Jeskanen. 

Changes to daily hotel services:

• Hotel breakfast and late supper will be served in O'Nelly's Irish Bar until 26 April. From 27 April, breakfast will be served in Rosso.

• The customer lift will not be available during the renovation, so the hotel will not be fully accessible until the renovations finish in the summer of 2023.
• Our hotel's parking area will have to be restricted during the renovation work (until the end of the summer of 2023). More parking spaces are available on the nearby streets.
• A part of the hotel's courtyard and some of the hotel's floors are still part of the construction site. The construction work will not cause significant noise disturbances to the hotel guests.

Because only a limited number of rooms will be available during the renovations, guests are recommended to reserve their accommodations as far in advance as possible.

The Peeässä Cooperative Society will be investing as much as EUR 28 million in the development of Northern Savonia's travel industry over the next few years. The renovations of Original Sokos Hotel Koljonvirta are part of this giant investment.

More information: Tarja Jeskanen, General Manager, Original Sokos Hotel Koljonvirta, tel. +358 44 719 7301, tarja.jeskanen@sok.fi

Original Sokos Hotel Koljonvirta facts

• 88 rooms, including
  • 32 rooms with a natural atmosphere, of which 10 are Superior rooms (completed in the summer of 2023)
  • 41 previously renovated rooms with an industrial atmosphere
  • 15 traditional rooms to be renovated in the autumn of 2023

• Restaurants:
• O'Nelly's and Rosso, Hesburger and terrace in the new restaurant world
• Sauna facilities, featuring restorative and refreshing ice swimming showers
• Meeting cabinet for 14 people
• Once the renovations are completed, the hotel's address will be Louhenkatu 4 (currently Savonkatu 18), Iisalmi

Original Sokos Hotel Koljonvirta has been awarded the Green Key ecolabel as recognition for the hotel's work in promoting sustainable travel.

https://www.sokoshotels.fi/fi/iisalmi/sokos-hotel-koljonvirta