Mayor Matias Hilden and CEO of Peerâ Hotels & Cottages Hilla-Rina Palokari in front of Valtionhotelli. — Mayor Matias Hilden and CEO of Peerâ Hotels & Cottages Hilla-Rina Palokari.

Peerâ Hotels & Cottages announces: Finnish family business Peerâ Hotels & Cottages is the new owner of Imatra Valtionhotelli

Imatra State Hotel will be transferred to the company's ownership on September 1. "We expect a lot from the future cooperation to develop Imatra's tourism and event offerings," says Imatra Mayor Matias Hilden.

Peerâ Hotels & Cottages, a Finnish family-owned hotel and restaurant company, has acquired the property and hotel business of Imatra Valtionhotelli. Imatra Valtionhotelli will be transferred to the company on September 1st.

The hotel property will be transferred to Peerâ Hotels & Cottages from the Swedish listed company Pandox Ab. The hotel's previous hotel operator, Scandic Hotels, announced in April that it would not renew the lease agreement for the property.

Peerâ Hotels aims to continue the accommodation and restaurant operations of Imatra Valtionhotelli after a short takeover break as early as the second week of September. Valtionhotelli's staff will transfer as old employees to become part of the Peerâ Hotels & Cottages family of service wonders.

What Peerâ?

Peerâ Hotels & Cottages (Oy Rova-Rest Ab) is a Finnish, family-owned hotel chain. The company's founders Vesa ja Raili Palokari have been entrepreneurs in the hotel and restaurant industry for over 50 years. The family has experience from the growth phases of Finland's largest private hotel chain Lappia Hotels in the 1980s to the most challenging recessions in the 1990s.

Today, the company is managed and developed by the founders' youngest daughter, the CEO. Hilla-Rina Palokari.

In addition to the Imatra State Hotel, the chain includes seven properties in Lapland (Hotel Sodankylä, Hotel Karhu, Tietotunturi KeloVilla and Peurasuvanto Mökit & Camping), Kainuu (Manor Hotel Karolineburg, Hotel Kajanus) and Northern Ostrobothnia (Budget Hotel Raahe).

The word Peerâ is Inari Sámi and means family. With the name Peerâ, the company's owners want to highlight their Inari Sámi roots and the family values that are cherished at every level of the company's operations.

Peerâ wants to make chain accommodation less formulaic and more human-friendly. In addition, Peerâ Hotels & Cottages annually donates €0,10 for each accommodation night to the maintenance of Sámi languages and culture.

Peerâ Hotels & Cottages has grown strongly in recent years. In 2022, the company acquired Hotel Kajanus in Kajaani from Pandox Ab and Scandic Hotels. In Sodankylä, the company acquired Hotel Karhu in 2023 and has implemented a 13 million euro expansion project at Hotel Sodankylä over the past year, which will be completed in September 2025.

The company's turnover in 2024 was 6,4 million and the company employs an average of 40 service professionals at its locations. The company has received the Great Place To Work certificate as a testament to the work community's culture and encouraging work atmosphere in 2024 and 2025.

The addition of Imatra Valtionhotelli to the company's family of properties is part of the company's growth strategy.

Imatra State Hotel offers a unique accommodation and restaurant experience

The Peerâ Hotels & Cottages chain offers properties in four different categories: Premium, Unique, Casual and Budget. Imatra Valtionhotelli will be part of the chain's Unique category. The goal is to highlight the dignity and history of a unique hotel, as well as locality, as part of the accommodation and service experience.

"I am extremely pleased that such a valuable cultural and historical site will be added to our portfolio," says Hilla-Rina Palokari, CEO of Peerâ Hotels & Cottages.

Imatra State Hotel offers a wonderful setting for meetings and celebrations, as well as experiential accommodation in Finland's most beautiful building on the banks of the Imatrankoski rapids.

The website of Imatra State Hotel has been opened at www.imatranvaltionhotelli.fi and booking channels will open in September at the latest.

Tourist attraction in national landscapes

-The State Hotel has been a central part of our national landscape, the Imatrankoske, for over 120 years. The hotel is already a tourist attraction in itself: it has also been chosen as the most beautiful building in Finland. We at the City of Imatra are impressed by Peerâ Hotels' ideas regarding the development of the State Hotel, and we expect a lot from the future cooperation to develop Imatra's tourism and event offerings, says the Mayor of Imatra Matias Hilden.