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Jenni Kunnas is a returnee who was in a hurry to leave her homevillage of Halli as a teenager. Establishing a family has helped her see the village with new eyes. “Halli is surprisingly vibrant.”
“A small and safe place where the locals know each other and a beautiful village settlement located on the shore of a lake. What more could a family want?” Jenni Kunnas, 43, asks.
Jenni lived in Halli when she was still in high school, but then she moved to Rovaniemi to study tourism and marketing. Summers were spent working in Iceland and Norway.
“When I was expecting my first child, I returned to Halli and I have stayed here ever since. I believe that I will also find my last resting place here when the time comes.”
Jenni works as an assistant at Patria and is also a novice entrepreneur.
“Last year, I opened a boutique hotel and café in Halli, Villa Klubiranta. It is located on the shores of lake Eväjärvi, right on the edge of the village center, in a property designed in 1940s by the architect Bertel Strömmer.”
An attractive place to try
Halli has strong roots in aviation history and is a familiar destination for aviation enthusiasts. Its vibrant variety of large companies, as well as busy commuters traffic makes the municipality outstanding.
“When you look at the map of Finland, you notice that Halli is conveniently located in the middle of the most beautiful Finnish Lakeland. The busy National Road 9 or Ysitie, as locals call it, runs right next to it. To me, this tells all about Halli’s potential. Halli is greater than it looks. That’s why I decided to invest in it as an entrepreneur.”
In the future, Halli will become even more vibrant. Finland’s decision to acquire F-35 fighters guarantees that Patria factory in Halli, where the front fuselages of the fighters are assembled, will be bustling. More work places will be opened and more employees hired. That undoubtfully means more visitors to Jenni’s boutique hotel.
A family business with a big heart
Most of Jenni’s free time is spent working for her own company.
“I bake, prepare the hotel breakfast, clean, and handle check-ins,” she tells.
The hotel was renovated and decorated by Jenni and her husband. Also Jenni’s 17-year-old son and his girlfriend help out in the café.
“This is my passion. I have a personal secret goal to make Halli an even more attractive place and to make others see what a gem it is,” she reveals.
“Nowadays, I have a great deal of warmth and love for my hometown, even though when I was young I was in a hurry to get out of here. As a mother of 8-year-old twins, I couldn’t think of a better place for my family.”
Learn more about Jenny’s Villa Klubiranta hotel and café here.
