Telegraaf Hotel

Stylish boutique hotels are still pretty thin on the ground in Tallinn, which is understandable — it seems to take years for the Soviet gloom to properly recede from a place, and only once that’s happened can it properly count itself among Eastern Europe’s most desirable destinations. In this case, however, it’s been just about long enough; and proof, should you need it, comes in the form of the Telegraaf Hotel.

It’s located in the city’s picturesque old town, and occupies a 19th-century building that used to be Tallinn’s telegraph center, back when there were such things. There’s a modern addition as well (which houses the Executive Doubles and the Junior Suites, if you’re keeping track) but it’s not the tragedy of taste that these things can often be — the main difference is in the area of carpeting versus hardwood floors.

Compared to its Western counterparts the Telegraaf is still a bit old-fashioned. Such bachelor-pad accoutrements as iPod docking stereos and plasma-screen home theatres are nowhere to be found. But what it lacks in sparkling newness, it makes up for in classic touches, including a fine Russian restaurant and a spa complex, complete with Finnish sauna and indoor pool.