Helsinki’s new Hotel St George – a culinary and cultural destination featuring high concept design without the doormen

What is it? A new 153-room design hotel in a seven-storey, 19th-century building that has, over the years, been home to the Finnish Literature Society, the printing presses of the first Finnish newspaper, Suometar, and the Helsinki Finnish Club (for men “devoted to the ideology of Finnishness”).

Across from pretty Old Church Park, in the centre of Helsinki, the St George has been conceived around the idea of holistic well-being.

So far, so buzzwordy. What exactly is on offer?The design, as you might expect, is classic Scandi, with lots of natural materials and well-considered art. The rooms are satisfyingly soundproof and the steam room, sauna and pool are open early and late. Nordic walking sessions – an exaggerated, total-body way of moving that is aided by specially designed poles – are led around the surrounding area.

The spa is managed by former national handball champion and investment banker Linda Ekholm, now a nutritionist who gives consultations on healthy eating and sleeping (guests can have a state-of-the-art monitoring device fitted under their mattress, to aid with the diagnosis).

What else makes it different? Well, there’s the 400-piece art collection, the pièce de résistance of which is a large silk-and-bamboo dragon, by Ai Weiwei, suspended in the entrance hall. Most of the other art, in the common areas and guest rooms, is by Finnish artists.

This isn’t a traditional luxury hotel so don’t expect doormen or fawning service. St George’s creative director and the driving force behind the project, Mirkku Kullberg, doesn’t have a background in hospitality, but in design, and you can tell – in a good way. There is something refreshing and unjaded about the whole enterprise.