The First Hotel

2000 · FOUNDATION Before Habbo became an international virtual world, its creators took the ideas developed through their earlier projects and turned them into something much bigger. In 2000, Finnish developers Sampo Karjalainen and Aapo Kyrölä founded Sulake and launched Hotelli Kultakala — Hotel Goldfish — in Finland. The hotel opened its doors in September 2000 and became the first true community built around the concept. Players could enter rooms, create characters, chat with other visitors and begin decorating their own spaces with virtual furniture. The name Kultakala came from the idea of a goldfish living in a virtual room — an early example of the playful world-building that would become such a big part of Habbo. At this stage, the hotel was still small and experimental, but its popularity showed Sulake that the concept could work far beyond Finland. What began as a Finnish virtual hotel was about to become an international phenomenon.