GLO Hotel Sello: A sustainable base to explore Espoo and Helsinki

Snug in Espoo’s dynamic Leppävaara district, GLO Hotel Sello is within easy reach of Espoo and Helsinki city centre. Guests can play their favourite albums on a turntable in the unique Vinyl Record Room. And the hotel puts sustainability first, drawing up a comprehensive programme to that effect.

Petri Uronen, the hotel’s general manager, plans for GLO Hotel Sello to become a forerunner for sustainability in Finnish hospitality. The hotel was awarded environmental certification by Green Key Finland in 2015. Last year, it received a Sustainable Travel Finland certificate from Visit Finland, and earlier this year the hotel added its signature to the UN Tourism’s Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism. The declaration commits the tourist industry to work together in order to half the emissions by 2030, and to reach net zero as soon as possible before 2050.

GLO Hotel Sello sits in Espoo’s lively Leppävaara district. Photo: Studiokuva Jarno Koivula

GLO Hotel Sello backs onto the vast Sello shopping centre, where guests can enjoy its activities and services. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in the GLO Grill Kitchen, and the outdoor terrace enjoys frequent use in sunny weather. In the summertime, guests could ask at reception to hire bikes free of charge. Uronen confirms that the hotel also welcomes pets. There is plenty on offer nearby and only 15 minutes to Helsinki city centre via public transport, with Leppävaara station just 200m from the hotel.

The hotel’s Vinyl Record Room. Photo: Studiokuva Jarno Koivula

The one-of-a-kind Vinyl Record Room

The hotel’s Vinyl Record Room is a unique theme not shared by any other hotel in Finland. “I think there are only 12 rooms like this in the whole world,” Uronen explains. “An archivist donated 50 records. The donator wanted me to do something for the community, and asked that I present scholarships to a few schools that were taking action against bullying.”

Two months ago, the hotel began working with Urban Climate Leaders in Tourism, a Finnish collaborative group that brings together Visit Tampere, the Helsinki city council and a host of other major tourist companies. Uronen says that GLO Hotel Sello is also working with Skål International, another organisation that connects tourist companies worldwide. He adds; “With small and responsible actions, we can all make the world a better place for our future generations.”

The hotel terrace is the perfect place to wind down on summer days. Photo: Studiokuva Jarno Koivula

Web: www.glohotels.fi/en/hotels/glo-sello