The Best Hotels to Book in Estonia

One for romantics, the Schlössle occupies a medieval merchant’s house in the gorgeous old quarter of Tallinn that harks back to the glory days of the city as a major trading port. Exposed wooden beams and mottled stone walls, tapestries, rustic fireplaces and arched cellar-restaurant ceilings conjure a beguiling old-world ambience. Modern amenities skilfully complement rather than compete with this heritage atmosphere, while the restaurant offers contemporary Nordic cuisine. The summer garden features live music on weekend evenings.

In the old quarter of Tartu just below the hilltop observatory, Lydia Hotel has an austere-looking wing that almost wraps around the original 19th-century townhouse – something that will appeal to design types. Sober Baltic cool pervades the property, the sleek modern rooms bearing a muted palette of white, cream and beige brightened with subtly patterned carpets, wallpaper and headboards. Sporadic flourishes in public areas – potted plants in huge face-pots and lattice screens – lighten the mood, while the well-regarded Restaurant Hõlm revives traditional 1920s recipes.

Built in 1878, the Telegraaf has unrivalled (in Tallinn old town) spa facilities, making it a top choice for the wellness crowd, though an idyllic central location ticks the usual “heart-of-the-action” boxes, too. The name alludes to the building’s former role as a post office; today’s modern annex is discreetly fused to the original, but their respective rooms retain a distinct character and feel. Spa treatments and amenities include a sauna, steam baths, massages and a 10m (33ft) swimming pool beneath a skylight roof.

Architects and designers might appreciate the lure of the Three Sisters in Old Tallinn, a handsome trio of gabled 14th-century merchants’ houses. Standing at the northern and quieter end of cobbled Pikk Street, one of the main thoroughfares, it has 23 unique rooms and suites. The clever sympathetic design makes a virtue of timbered beams and trusses, while oak floorboards and retouched frescoes are married to modern downlights and Persian-style rugs. Quirky wooden furniture includes items hewn from hefty stumps or remodelled from driftwood.

Overlooking Freedom Square, the Palace is a landmark building in Tallinn. Designed by prominent Estonian architect Elmar Lohk in the 1930s, the prized blend of Art Deco and Chicago School architecture has spurred several renovations, the last of which upped its game and now appeals to a mainly business clientele. Room decor favours clean simple lines and Scandi-style furniture; the so-called “garret floor” rooms have skylight windows and all feature reproduction landscapes by Estonian artist Konrad Mägi.

Adopting the historic name for Kuressaare town on Saaremaa Island, the Arensburg appeals to the well-travelled wellness crowd. The converted 300-year-old manor house plus modern annex mixes old-world charm and uncluttered swanky rooms. An array of treatments utilise the famed island mud, juniper oil and organic hay, plus there are the usual saunas, jacuzzi and pool. Against such virtuous cleansing must be set the decadent cigar room.

Aimed at holidaying families, Rüütli has an enviable location opposite Kuressaare Castle and its splendid moat on Saaremaa Island. It’s a conspicuously unpretentious resort: straightforward practical rooms occupy a functional, almost motel-like, facade. For children, it’s probably more about thrashing about in the pools and zooming down a 52m (170ft) waterslide. The spa and treatments embrace an almost bewildering array of procedures, from multi-head showers to magnesium foot-baths, via serums, peeling, massages and mud.

The ESTONIA injects a bit of style into this long-favoured stretch of the Baltic coast at Pärnu and, though popular with families, is ideal for couples. Rooms and suites are distinguished more by size than style; all feature sensible uncluttered Scandi-like decor and have unlimited access to the adjoining SPA & SAUN complex. There’s a smorgasbord of therapeutics including nine saunas, an ultra-saline Dead Sea pool, herbal baths in two-person barrels, along with spa treatments ranging from hemp oil massage to magnesium and “home beer” baths. Be brave.

The office-block exterior hardly suggests an arty-hipster hangout, but here on the edge of Tartu old town, the newly renovated Art Hotel comes close. “Pallas” derives from an eponymous early 20th-century arts collective that formalised the first art school in Estonia. Consequently, each room features at least one artwork ranging from demure landscapes in polite frames to raw Bacon-Esque figures and bold wall-creeping frescoes resembling urban cartoon-graffiti. Whether you find it bonkers or banal probably depends on your room and mood.