This was my first time visiting Stockholm, and I had heard time and again about how expensive the city is. What I find interesting is that even though Stockholm seems to be a super "high end" city, it's sort of lacking when it comes to luxury hotels. There aren't any major luxury chains in Stockholm…
Continue reading: Review: Sheraton Stockholm Hotel
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We stayed at this hotel over Christmas last year and had a fabulous time. My hubby is a SPG Platinum and we used an upgrade cert to get a one bedroom "Superior Suite" corner room upgrade and it was one of the biggest rooms we've been upgraded to. In addition, there was a rather large multi-plate welcome gift of snacks, Swedish homemade Christmas sweets, and drinks. We had the lounge all to ourselves one night and again the next morning for breakfast. Then, the club closed for the rest of the Christmas holiday. Instead, we were given daily vouchers for the hotel's restaurant buffet for breakfast which included a huge spread of Swedish and continental breakfast foods that were all holiday themed. We got the same bar vouchers for the evening each day of the trip. We ended up eating at the restaurant on Christmas eve as well. They hosted a Julbord / Smörgåsbord that was pretty magical with 100s of different traditional Swedish holiday items. Lots to see and do very close to the hotel. We walked most places, but the city's major transportation hub is right there. I'd stay again in a heartbeat!
While the hotel is in the heart of the city it's in a pretty sterile part of town. There are much funner neighborhoods to stay in when in Stockholm. I purposely steered us clear on a visit a few years ago...even though Gamla Stan gets very quiet early and some small places on Vasterlanggatan require a walk to get to the atmosphere there is much better.
"We booked three nights at the Sheraton, at a rate of ~$320 per night. "
I'm pretty sure if you'd been willing to go outside of the self-imposed Starwood/Hyatt American Hotel Chain Ghetto you could have beaten that significantly, even with the promo kickback. It was pretty trivial to find hotels at $150-200 that look like they match star rating/location/review scores with the Stockholm Sheraton.
This is where your fellow BA blogger Ric Garrido shines, at getting value for points in Scandinavia (chains like Best Western or Choice)... or even something simple like using hotels.com rates for what is in effect a 10% discount (1 room night at the average of 10 rentals once you get to 10 rentals) and not being locked into what looks to be pretty bad value. This is probably a case where chain loyalty isn't really called for.
Stayed there a couple times in 2012. Enjoyed location, friendly staff and the club lounge (yes, too small for the peoperty). The really fancy hotels in Stockholm are not chains, but rather historic independents.
Gosh, this is disappointing.... Stockholm is such a wonderful place, and although I agree there aren't a lot of high-end American chains, there are some wonderful local options. We stayed in Stockholm for my guy's birthday this year and had a great time. Several of the Swedish hotels are spectacular... Hopefully you venture out and try something else next time!!
Ben, next time try the Hilton on the other side of Old Town. As a Diamond VIP we had a beautiful upgraded room on the top floor overlooking the river and all of old town. All nights were awards and the last night was free. The room was in a wing right over the freeway, but you could not hear a sound! Lots of charming restaurants in all directions from the hotel. The only negative was the mediocre hotel main restaurant and the executive lounge. We usually avoid hotel restaurants, so only the small executive lounge was disappointing. As you experienced at the Sheraton, the lounge was small, crowded and the offerings limited. The first morning we complained about the difficulty eating a breakfast in the lounge and they immediately offered us complimentary breakfast each day in the huge buffet breakfast room below the lobby. There must have been at least 8 separate buffet tables with one of the most magnificent buffets we have ever enjoyed, including a make your own waffle station with all the fixings. Also a separate egg/omelet station with a cook. There were assigned table servers for coffee, juice and beverages or for any special orders and they came around frequently to make sure you had everything you wanted. The buffet and the extra service is what you would expect at a luxury property like a Waldorf or Ritz-Carlton. The bread and cheese table had all the usual local pastries, breads and croissants stacked high on different platter levels.
We saw a most unusual bread knife with a handle for cutting the different loafs of bread. My wife spoke with the head Breakfast Chef to find out where she could buy these knives to take home for herself and our daughters. The Chef said he would check into it and let us know before our stay was over. Two days later there was a message at the front desk with four of these knives suitably wrapped up to put in our luggage. The invoice was what the hotel kitchen paid and it was charged to our room. I would have gladly paid twice as much. The front desk staff was also excellent and handled all the usual concierge services with directions, reservations and ideas. This was not your typical Hilton business hotel and I suggest you try it instead of the Sheraton next time you are in Stockholm.
There are so many better options in Stockholm, I wouldn't have bothered with $320/night for that room just to get the points and room stay, though I usually prefer finding places on airbnb. Even the Radisson Blu and Scandic locations I've stayed in looked far nicer. In May I had a very nice two night stay at the Scandic Anglais. Breakfast was in the Jamie Oliver restaurant downstairs and was very good. They did have a quirky approach to room service (I was worn out from work and travel one night), where you go downstairs and they give you a tray to carry up to your room. No room service delivery fee to pay, and excellent food for a hotel. 🙂
You'll find a similar experience in Norway where the better hotels tend to be local chains such as Thon.
I've stayed in Scandic hotels in other parts of Sweden and have had wonderful stays. Many places offer free breakfast and, honestly, when I'm in a new place I prefer to avoid typical fare and eat with the locals...why spend time in a hotel lounge when there's so much more to see? Ostermalm's Saluhall is a nice place to sample different stuff...
This is an example of where brand loyalty isn't such a good thing. This hotel is at the "center" of Stockholm in the same way that Times Square is in the "center" of New York; it's a sterile and touristy area that doesn't capture the local experience. I suppose that's not a bad thing if you're genuinely interested in the more touristy shopping areas (to each their own!). But local hotels in Stockholm can offer much more bang for the buck in terms of both local experience and location, especially if you only have a few days to explore the city. Stay in north Sodermalm or Gamla Stan or even on Skeppsholmen, not near the central train station...and save some cash while you're at.
But I suppose this website is not for fans of traveling, per se, but those who value miles and points and the perks therein! Not that they're mutually exclusive, of course, but still...one does recognize a trade-off.
"that’s not something I can really complain about"
Except, you kind of just did 😉
As mentioned above, get out of your comfort zone and try need hotels. Life isn't all about earning points for each stay. This blog used to be good. Nowadays the only good posts are the ones made by collaborators. Can you spare us from our "views" and post Matt's final report on his Lufthansa flight...
We stayed at the Sheraton a a few years ago on points and agree the location is about as good as it gets for location and that the center city is absolutely gorgeous. It is one plain Jane building on the outside, especially on such a prominent corner. At the time the hotel was undergoing a top to bottom renovation. The bad news was that the club was closed and the entire first floor except for the restaurant was a construction zone. The good news was that the hotel's health club was closed so they were giving guests passes to the local health club down the street. Let's just say I have fond memories of Stockholm!
Skip the chains, there are indeed excellent luxury options in Stockholm that are part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World club, such as Lydmar Hotel, which is excellent. Didn't you know that breakfast is traditionally included in the room rate for all hotel stays in Stockholm? You absolutely do not need the club floor to get breakfast! Breakfast at Lydmar was wonderful where the restaurant was absolutely peaceful, tranquil and classy, but the best breakfast I've ever had in Sweden is at another hotel, Hotel Birger Jarl, not as fancy as Lydmar Hotel, but still pretty good.
I am posting my comments from Sheraton Stockholm now. It's a business trip and Sheraton is just 10 minute walk from the office, Arlanda Express as well as gamla stan. As Ben said, perfect location.
The restaurant in the hotel is actually very good. High quality food and service, with reasonable price. I definitely will stay here again next time.