During our recent trip to Sweden, we spent two nights at Grand Hotel Stockholm. This is typically regarded as Stockholm’s best hotel, and I was curious to check it out. Last summer I reviewed Bank Hotel Stockholm, which is a Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) property that’s bookable with World of Hyatt points.
Continue reading: Review: Grand Hotel Stockholm, Sweden
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
It's a nice hotel, but TBH Stockholm has multiple higher end Scandic Hotels that essentially offer the same amenities often at a significantly lower price. The Haymarket by Scandic, in particular, rivals most anything else in the city.
I remember staying here back in 2010 when it was an Intercontinental property, paying 5000 points/night on a Pointsbreak award. Best value IHG redemption I ever had!!!
In fall of 1977 I was a professional musician in Stockholm and we played one night gig in this hotel. Our van outside in the parking lot was vandalized that night while we played inside. We lost some stuff and my beloved 1969 Fender Stratocaster, I played my Gibson Les Paul inside. The security at the hotel saw the perpetrators, did nothing. They told us these were drug addicted vandals and they were afraid. I have some bad memories.
Looks like a beautiful hotel Ben I must compliment you you sure do or it seems that you eat and consume a lot of carbs how do you stay so skinny with all those carbs or am I off base because juice has a lot of carbs yogurt croissants etc etc etc if I'm off base I apologize but it just seems like you consume a lot of carbs I wish that were true in my case LOL LOL love the blog so much and I am fairly new to the blog how did you and your husband meet did you ever write about that?
Is it a common thing to call down to have your room cleaned? I don’t think I’ve ever done it, just relied on housekeeping to do it based on their schedule.
@ Scott -- It's what I always do, and I find that many hotels appreciate it. When I'm in the room I leave the "do not disturb" sign on, and then I inform the hotel when I'd like the room cleaned. That seems more efficient than housekeeping constantly knocking to see when I've left the room.
Furthermore, unless you leave your room for eight hours at a time, this is the only way to really make the timing work.
Once in a while a hotel will say that they don't have anyone who can clean the room right away, and that's totally fine. But when they say "we'll send someone right away," I expect that to be the case.
Gotcha. Typically I don’t spend too much time in the room in the morning. I might put the DND sign up if going to breakfast and coming back for a bit, then take off when I leave. But usually I’m out to head to whatever work-related thing or out sightseeing. We don’t typically do resorts, so I guess I could see that there.
@ John -- Thanks for reading and welcome! The reality is that I try to stay away from most carbs (at least at breakfast), so just because it appears in pictures doesn't necessarily mean I'm eating all of it. I also try to work out and get as many steps in as possible, since it's otherwise easy to put on weight when traveling.
@ Sean M. -- Totally forgot this used to be an InterContinental. Too bad it's not anymore. I updated the post to reflect this detail.
Will be spending a few nights at Ett Hem this summer which looks like a charming boutique (also SLH + Virtuoso).
I have had complimentary breakfasts in several Scandic Hotels and I booked the cheapest rate. Their breakfasts were actually quite good and had many selections, even better than some other 5* properties.
Given you gave the Bank Hotel the same 4.5 star rating, which would you stay at if you were to come back again?
"...in general the hotel is very much the place to “see and be seen” in Stockholm."
Well, a certain crew might say this. Check out Sturehof next time you're in the city!
This is the famous one and yes, historically is the best, but now I'd say Ett, Lydmar, and a few others have surpassed it. Grand needs a refresh, and if you're not facing the water or have a Jr. Suite+, the rooms are tight. Can't beat the location though.
Just loved this Hotel too. Had dinner at Mathias Dahlgren’s Rutabaga. It was really good. Stockholm is such a great city.
"This is typically regarded as Stockholm’s best hotel, and I was curious to check it out. "
Nope, not by a long shot.
Most regard Et Hem as Stockholm's best hotel and having stayed at both, I agree.
Off course, Et Hem is not a points and miles accommodation so likely to be overlooked on this site.
Why no love for American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts....? This hotel is also bookable there with the same perks as Virtuoso, unless I'm mistaken.
Ben - first a nitpick (sorry can't let it go since I recently spent 5 days in Stockholm) - it is Gamla Stan, not Gamia Stan as you typed. Now to add to info on this hotel - it is where the Nobel Prize award ceremony and dinner was held until they outgrew the space. If you go to the Nobel museum you will see many photos of how it looked during those ceremonies.
Good review, as always. I live in Stockholm and Grand Hotel is clearly in a whole different league than all Marriott/Hilton properties in Sweden, not to mention the lackluster Scandic/Nordic Choice/Elite hotels. I’ve stayed at the so called high-end Scandic properties that @HeathrowGuy and @Peter rave about, and they’re nothing to write home about (currently writing this from a Tru by Hilton in Ohio, and it’s waaaay better). That said, the hotel scene in Sweden is extremely lackluster.
The reality is that housekeeping is usually totally focused on first finishing rooms that are checkouts so they can be marked as available ASAP.
Worth noting for any winos: they have an amazing cellar and 150+ page wine list.
walked by a few times when in stockholm. looks very very nice. think I stay there next time. good review
Don’t let me spoil the end of the thread for you
Sorry to say that the Sheraton doesn’t have as food as location is a travesty Ben. First is 8 min walk to the Arlanda express. And actually closer to walk from there to all the sights including the famous city hall. So yes sorry. As far as location is concerned. The Sheraton has the best location.
Stayed here couple years ago in Ingrid Bergman suite. While the suite was lovely, the public area of the hotel can use a good renovation. This hotel is a perfect candidate for Four Seasons takeover to be honest. When we checked in, there was no bellman to lug our luggage into hotel. We had to go into the hotel and find one. Not exactly five stars first impression. The best part of the stay was a convertible drove by 11pm blasting Dancing Queen! That made me smile.
Just wanted to say that I greatly enjoy all your reviews. Not a prolific traveler but soak in all the info. Was supposed to stay at the Grand Hotel before my first solo cruise with Regent but had to cancel the whole thing as I was doing it for the St. petersburg part and, of course, it was cancelled. Not the cruise - that was just changed to different ports but….. thanks for all your info.
Nothing screams 'MURICAN more than a kale salad with a coke, lol. #mybodyisatemple
Decent enough hotel, but rather overpriced. Also the location is not that much of a selling point, there are plenty of other options around and in Stockholm everything is walkable anyway so it is not a big issue with any hotel.
The Grand is far more well known than the Et Hem, so yes it is considered Stockholm's best, rightly or wrongly. If you're going to lecture someone at least read the review and get your facts right, this is not a points hotel either.