I’d love to start with “most of you couldn’t point to Estonia on a map”, except that’d be true for me too, until I took a trip there recently. I’d have probably flapped a hand in the general direction of “down a bit from Scandinavia” and got pretty ‘precisely’ within 1000 miles, but now I’ve been, it’s an absolute treasure.
Speaking with one of our casino clients there, she told me that it’s a lovely medieval old town centre, and the whole place is so compact you can actually walk there from the international airport. I took this with a pinch of salt – you can walk from Heathrow to central London if you’ve got a spare half day, a sturdy pair of shoes and a death wish - but arriving at Tallinn on a glorious summer’s day, it was a 7-minute cab transfer from airport to my hotel.
I’d booked the same hotel the Olympic Casino is located in, and at around £100 per night was expecting a fairly standard city hotel experience – but that’s when the Estonian value started to show. It was considerably posher than you’d get for anything like that price in most European city hotels, and served a superb local beer, Saku. I was won over already!
Ther are all sorts of low-key gambling options in Tallinn, but I kept to two of the more upscale sites – that Olympic Casino “Park”, and the Bombay club. Opposite ends of the spectrum, really, Olympic being more of a mass market site. They had the usual poker, slots and tables – slightly unusually you walk in straight into the poker area – but in any case, it was a fun night. Super attentive staff always make the difference, and while my wallet was emptied, I had a good time – perhaps the ideal casino measuring stick.
The Bombay Club is a different animal, a super high-end site with décor that has to be seen to be believed. It wasn’t open at the time of my visit, but the surroundings were incredible, and I was lucky enough to be treated to dinner – quite the experience. It’ll be interesting to visit when there are players in situ.
The city itself is an absolute gem, with the central “Old Town” being compact enough to wander around without having your head stuck in Google Maps. That’s for the best, too, with incredible architecture in every direction. Climb up to the castle-y bit and the views over the city and harbour are stupendous, and there are plenty of green spaces around the bottom (including part of the original moat) to chill out and enjoy the peaceful vibe.
I’d never been before, but at 3 hours flight time and that near instant transfer to the city, I’ll go again – I can’t wait.