Susan L.
Yelp
We stayed at this hotel during the last three nights of May, and overall we were very pleased. Some reviewers on Trip Advisor mentioned the distance from the city center and from the nearest subway station, but that was of no consequence to us; we walked everywhere in Stockholm (obviously the weather cooperated), and we took a taxi to the hotel upon arrival because it was very late and we couldn't have carried our luggage up-and-down lots of metro stairs (note that the cost of a taxi from the train station is quite high, and especially considering the abysmal exchange rate from dollars). Of course, that reality also meant the hotel was very costly.
The lobby is *very* attractive - with a lovely color scheme - and quite comfortable. There's also some outdoor seating. The rooms were a decent size and the bathrooms had nice toiletries & soaps. Everything was very clean. WiFi was free. The reception desk staff were all very pleasant and helpful. Also, we really liked the hotel's neighborhood; it's residential and attractive.
The absolute highlight was the (free) buffet breakfast. We thought the breakfast buffets in Norway were wonderful, but this hotel's was the *ultimate*! Seriously, it's worth staying at this hotel *just* for the breakfast buffet. Not only was the selection incredible and extensive, but everything tasted really delicious (the coffee was also very good). We didn't even have enough room to sample everything, much to our dismay - and needless to say, we didn't (*couldn't*) eat lunch on either day. The breakfast room was large & attractive and the workers were friendly. We had to leave for the airport at 3:15 a.m. (that's not a typo) on June 1, so we made arrangements for a "bag breakfast" (is there such a term?); the hotel provided bread & cheese and bottled water upon checkout (free of charge) and we also had them reserve a taxi for going to the airport (the driver arrived exactly at 3:15 and he was very nice).
Now, for the negative aspect (and the reason why I'm not giving five stars). There's no a/c (nor a fan) in the rooms and it was *very* warm during our stay. Our only option was to therefore open the "balcony" door ("balcony" is a misnomer, as the door opens to a space that's literally just big enough for one person to barely stand there). Of course, that certainly provided more air than if it had just been a window. Meanwhile; our room faced the street side of the hotel and lots of cars went by all night, therefore we didn't sleep well with the door open (but closing the door wasn't an option, since it was absolutely too warm). We spoke to the manager the next morning, and he moved us to a room at the back of the hotel. It turns out there's a school in the back, and it has a very large asphalt playground with two basketball hoops. It also turns out that anyone is allowed to play basketball there until 10:00 p.m. Further; the (young) adults who play basketball have no interest whatsoever in obeying the signs concerning 10:00 p.m., and let's just say that the reverberation from *multiple* basketballs is right underneath the rooms. We called the reception desk on both nights (when 10:00 p.m. arrived without a dispersal) and were told "Security" would be sent out there, but later we discovered "Security" doesn't consist of a hotel employee; it's a company that also has other clients in the area and they never arrived on either night. It was particularly bad on our last night, as we had to get up at 2:15 a.m. and the basketball "players" were very recalcitrant & rude. The woman at the reception desk first sent out a (young female) hotel employee, but the posse totally ignored her - so when I called again, the woman from reception (eventually) went out there herself and even that didn't help. By the time the four f--kers departed, it was late and we were livid.
If you have earplugs or if the weather doesn't necessitate keeping the door open, I highly recommend this hotel.
