Opening its doors on April 15th on Kluuvikatu, Hobo Helsinki brings a new form of community to the heart of Helsinki. The Hobo concept originating from Stockholm redefines the meaning of a hotel from the point of view of the city, locals, and travelers. A hotel is a building – Hobo is a community.
Hobo brings people together and with its activities aims to provide a space for encounters and break the decline of city centers – and of sense of community. Hobo invites you to experience authentic local experiences that have been influenced by the people who define and make Helsinki – the most influential representatives and creators of subcultures.
Hobo Helsinki has been designed together with Helsinki’s communities as an authentic meeting place colored by subcultures. The hotel’s program, and concept are constantly in beta mode – just like the city around it. Opening its doors in the center of Helsinki, Hobo Helsinki aims to counter the desolation of city centers through experiences and encounters. One of the most important ways to enliven city centers is for Hobo Helsinki to be a meeting place for locals as well.
“Hobo is a meeting place both for modern travelers who want authentic, local experiences and for locals who want a piece of their city. With us, kitchen visits, local microbrewery beers, changing art, and live music are in constant dialogue with the city’s changes. The hotel has not only been created to serve those visiting Helsinki, but the idea has been to create a space and community where everyone can enjoy the culture and find their place far or near home,” continues Hobo Helsinki’s Hotel Manager Mika Makkonen.
Hobo Helsinki, which is in continuous beta mode, has already involved the local community in the so-called “beta phase” even before its opening. During this five-part beta phase, Hobo Helsinki tested how the hotel would look, sound, taste, and feel once open. Different opinions and thoughts can be seen concretely in Hobo through the impact of the local communities.
One of the beta phase events, Taste Beta, took place at the end of February. The head chefs of the hotels in Helsinki and Stockholm, Tommi Suviniemi and Sebastian Pettersson, gave 50 guests a taste of their vision of what Hobo Helsinki could taste like. Guests were able to vote for their favorites, one of which was, for example, semolina porridge with Hobo’s twist, contributing to Hobo Helsinki’s offerings.
Hobo Helsinki’s identity includes doing things in a way that deviates from the norm, and the Beta phase is not the only example of this. People – both Hobo’s guests and the employees themselves – are one of Hobo’s most important factors, which is why the recruitment process launched at the beginning of the year was also wanted to reach and resonate with a wide variety of target groups. This led to a creative recruitment campaign, where Hobo Helsinki produced branded toilet paper, which was taken in guerilla marketing style to relevant meeting places in Helsinki, such as the toilets of bars, restaurants, and event locations. Application instructions for Hobo Helsinki’s open jobs were printed on the toilet paper and these replaced the facilities’ toilet paper.
Hobo Helsinki, opens its doors to guests on April 15, and the booking calendar is open at https://hobohotel.fi/. The opening will be celebrated on the weekend of April 19-21, 2024 at Kluuvikatu 4.
