Hubby’s birthday dinner at Kuusi Palaa
Hubby had his birthday on Monday and instead of a present, I booked a hotel and dinner for us. It almost felt like an extended weekend even though I did some work on Monday morning before heading to the hotel.
Renovated hotel Marski
The Scandic hotel chain had an offer for its members which I utilized. I booked a room at hotel Marski. The hotel was renovated in 2018-2019 and reopened in June 2019. Originally built in 1962, the hotel first only had rooms on two floors. It grew slowly and now after the renovation, it has 269 rooms. I chose a Grande Double room and requested a room with city views and a bathtub. Both wishes were met, and we got a lovely corner room. The room had been renovated to a high standard still keeping the old feel with e.g. gold and dark wood details. I really liked the room and would definitely stay here again. The hotel has a theme called Finnfulness, which included various Finnish words spread around the room (on soaps, etc.) and a dictionary on the TV. I liked this idea and especially the fact that the hotel had decided to brand itself as Finnish. In 2020 & 2021 the hotel won the World Luxury Hotel Awards’ continent award for Luxury city hotel in Northern Europe.
Dinner at award-winning Kuusi Palaa
I had booked a table at the hotel restaurant called Kuusi Palaa. We have visited this restaurant a few times before and always enjoyed the food. In 2020 the restaurant won the Northern Europe Contemporary Cuisine category in the World Luxury Restaurant competition. The restaurant serves “a tapas-like” menu of small dishes plus regular mains and desserts. You can order 3, 6 or 12 of the small dishes depending on whether you want them as a starter or as a meal on their own. As I have recently had weight loss surgery and cannot eat much in one sitting, this concept was perfect for me. I could enjoy three small dishes while hubby had three small dishes and a main. We kicked off dinner with drinks and as I cannot have any alcohol at the moment I chose a mocktail that was refreshing. For my three dishes, I ordered Salmon, butternut squash & marjoram, Spinach, quail egg & nutmeg, and Wild mushroom, thyme & sour cream. Hubby’s dishes were Pork cheek ravioli, gravy sauce & apple, Smoked vendace, bread & fresh cheese, and Peas, corn & bell pepper and for his main, he chose Lightly smoked arctic char, buttermilk sauce, stewed red cabbage & hash browns. The food was delicious and we enjoyed our visit very much.
Comfy beds and nice breakfast
The bed was comfy, and I slept super well. In the morning we had breakfast at the hotel. I love hotel breakfasts but due to my surgery, this was quite different than before as I am focusing on protein and avoiding carbs. Nonetheless, the breakfast was still enjoyable. Since it was a very rainy morning, we took a taxi home. All in all, we had a great minibreak and hubby enjoyed his birthday.
