Estonian Air
I flew from Brussels to Tallinn on Estonian Air. I made the reservation on their Internet site. Once you’ve selected your destination, the site shows the flight dates in different colors, according to the fare levels – very convenient!
http://www.estonian-air.ee/index.php?lang=ENG
Estonian air doesn’t use e-tickets yet. My paper ticket was sent to me through regular mail at no extra cost.
The one way ticket cost me:
Air fare: 1395 EEK
Airport fees: 368 EEK
Surcharge: 16 EEK
Total: 1779 EEK
The luggage allowance is 20 kg in economy. My luggage was 1 kg overweight. No problem!
Airport Bus
I bought a ticket for the airport bus at the kiosk in the airport (10 EEK). Buses are frequent and will take you to the centre of town.
I wasn’t sure where to get off the bus, so I stepped out when I noticed plenty of hotels. Once I switched my phone on, the built-in GPS system showed me how to walk to my hotel. The wonders of technology!
Accommodation
Red Group Apartments
When I enquired about an apartment from Red Group Apartments, they replied promptly. But their answer stated: “All our apartments are non-smoking”. No fucking way!
http://www.redgroup.ee/tallinn-apartments
Non-smoking Hotels
When I checked out hotel options on Booking.com, I discovered that many Tallinn hotels exclusively feature non-smoking rooms as well!
http://www.booking.com
Domina Inn City
I finally made reservations at Domina Inn City, which offered substantial discounts with “Advance Purchase Rates”. And, of course, they had smoking rooms.
http://www.dominahotels.com/eng/tallinn_hotel_estonia_domina_inn_city
I paid 59 EUR/night through Booking.com, including taxes and a buffet breakfast. The room was smallish, but nice and I loved the Fellini poster on the wall.
One thing I didn’t appreciate is that both Booking.com and the hotel website mention that WiFi access is available free of charge in all rooms. In fact, they only offered high speed cable Internet access... at 9 EUR/day.
The hotel is perfectly girl-friendly. From the main entrance, the lift is straight ahead, while reception is way off on the left. The escorts could come straight to my room and walking in with a girl was no problem either.
Loso