- Introduction: Five Country European Adventure
- Review: KLM Business Class Boeing 787-10
- Review: KLM Business Class Boeing 737
- Review: Bank Hotel Stockholm (SLH & Hyatt)
- Review: SAS Plus Airbus A320neo
- Review: Four Seasons Grand-Hotel Du Cap-Ferrat
- Review: Hotel Fiester Hannes Burbach-Holzhausen
- Review: Hyatt Regency Mainz, Germany
- Review: Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam
- Review: Aegean Airlines Business Class Airbus A321
- Review: Grand Hyatt Athens, Greece
- Review: Emirates’ Disappointing 777 Business Class
For our four nights in Stockholm, we decided to stay at the 115-room Bank Hotel (for those wondering about the name, it’s because the hotel is a former bank). This is generally regarded as one of the city’s best hotels, and it’s even affiliated with Small Luxury Hotels of the World and World of Hyatt, which is the icing on the cake for us points enthusiasts.
In this post:
How & why we booked Bank Hotel Stockholm
Stockholm isn’t generally known for its amazing hotels. Grand Hotel is usually considered to be Stockholm’s top hotel, but it doesn’t belong to any major hotel groups, and also looked kind of outdated to me. Of course as someone who loves points, I checked out the properties of the major hotel groups — for the most part, Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott have very few luxury options in Stockholm.
That’s where World of Hyatt’s partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) comes into play. Bank Hotel Stockholm is an SLH property that partners with Hyatt, meaning you can earn and redeem World of Hyatt points for stays here.
For our dates in the peak of summer, the cash rate was $450 per night. This is also a Category 5 World of Hyatt property, so we could redeem 20,000 World of Hyatt points per night to stay here, and that’s what we did. I sure do love Hyatt’s partnership with SLH…
Bank Hotel Stockholm location
Bank Hotel has a great location within Stockholm. It’s just a couple of blocks from the waterfront, near all kinds of amazing shopping, restaurants, etc.
The hotel is set back on a side street, so there’s little street noise, which is great. However, it also means that the hotel doesn’t have much in the way of views.
Bank Hotel Stockholm lobby & check-in
Bank Hotel has quite a grand entrance, with a red carpet going up a set of stairs. Reception was located inside the lobby and to the right.
There we were immediately assisted by a friendly associate, who had us checked in within minutes. We were assigned room 501, an “Elegant Exceptional Room” (yes, this hotel has weird room names, hah). Booking through the Hyatt & SLH partnership offers a space available upgrade, so that explains the upgrade.
Breakfast was included, and the employee also explained some of the hotel’s features, including the dining and gym options.
The lobby just had a small sitting area. Most of the public spaces of the hotel are taken up by restaurants and bars, which is understandable.
Bank Hotel Stockholm Elegant Exceptional Room
With keys in hand, we took the elevator up to the fifth floor (the hotel has eight floors), and found our room at the end of the hall.
Hotel rooms in most of Europe tend to be quite small, though this room was a reasonably good size, and well designed. This room category was described as being 280-320 square feet. The room featured an entryway with the bathroom to the left and a closet to the right, with the rest of the room straight ahead.
Once inside the main part of the room, the bed was to the left. Both the mattress and pillows were extremely thin, but I guess that’s pretty standard in Northern Europe.
Across from the bed was a sitting area with two chairs and a side table.
Then at the other end of the room was a table with a bench, the minibar, and a wall-mounted TV. The bench wasn’t particularly comfortable for working in terms of back support, but it was fine.
The minibar had a complimentary Lavazza coffee machine, as well as a variety of drinks and snacks for purchase.
There was also a welcome amenity consisting of fresh strawberries, as well as some sort of a vitamin antioxidant drink. I thought it was interesting that the welcome note was written in Swedish, especially since my World of Hyatt account was linked (so they knew my address, and I’m guessing most World of Hyatt members aren’t coming from Sweden).
The room had views of the rooftops of surrounding buildings, so the room was quiet, but there wasn’t all that much to see. The windows didn’t open much either.
The bathroom was back near the entrance, and had a sink, a toilet, and a walk-in shower.
The shower had perfect water pressure, and had both a rainforest shower head and a handheld one.
Toiletries were from Diptyque, and the scent was lovely. The only issue was that the bottles were really sturdy, and it was almost impossible to squeeze the liquids out of the bottles.
A couple more things to note about the room:
- Wi-Fi was fast and free; the only issue was that you had to reconnect with each use, which got kind of annoying
- While I imagine this isn’t an issue for most of the year, the room did get a bit warm during the day, and air conditioning wasn’t amazing (though also wasn’t terrible); fortunately there was also a fan in the room
All-in-all, I thought the room was nicely furnished and designed, though there were a few areas for improvement, including bed comfort (though I recognize that’s highly subjective, and in Northern Europe I’m probably in the minority when it comes to my preferences).
Bank Hotel Stockholm Bonnie’s Restaurant (breakfast)
Breakfast is included for all guests at Bank Hotel — it’s served from 7AM until 11AM on weekdays, and from 7AM until 12PM on weekends. It’s served at Bonnie’s Restaurant, the hotel’s signature all-day dining restaurant located in the lobby. The restaurant is a gorgeous space.
Breakfast included a buffet, and then there was also a menu you could use to supplement it (you could order as much as you wanted). The breakfast menu read as follows:
As far as the buffet goes, there was a station in the center of the restaurant with all kinds of fresh fruit, as well as fresh fruit juice and smoothies.
The rest of the buffet was in the corner of the restaurant, and included cold cuts, cheese, veggies, croissants, pastries, cereal, and bread.
Coffee was offered by the servers, and tasted good.
Over the course of our stay we also tried several of the a la carte dishes, including the chia pudding, oatmeal, scrambled tofu, croque monsieur, and omelet.
I’ve had some not-great breakfast experiences in Northern Europe, so I was pleasantly surprised by this. The setting was great, the service was excellent, and I loved the flexibility of being able to order off the menu and select items from the buffet.
Bank Hotel Stockholm Le Hibou Bar
Le Hibou is Bank Hotel’s rooftop bar, open in the afternoons and evenings. Oddly the bar can’t be accessed from the hotel directly, but rather you have to exit the hotel and walk next door, where there’s an elevator leading upstairs.
Le Hibou is super cute, with both indoor and outdoor seating.
There’s nothing more beautiful than a summer afternoon in Stockholm, so we sat outside.
There was a selection of light snacks as well as an extensive cocktail list.
I, of course, was being my typical idiot self, and ordered a dirty martini. Dirty martinis are my favorite cocktail when they’re done correctly, but of course outside the US they’re awful 90% of the time (based on my preferences), even when I explain in detail what I’m hoping for. Yet I keep making the same mistake. The other drinks were good, though.
Bank Hotel Stockholm gym
Bank Hotel has some impressive gym options for guests. For one, the hotel has a small gym for guests that’s roughly what you’d expect for a boutique hotel. It has a selection of cardio equipment and weights.
But it gets better than that — Bank Hotel guests have access to the incredible NK Padel & Social Club that’s right next to the hotel, which is 3,000 square meters (32,000+ square feet). I didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures there (it was busy), but it’s a very impressive facility.
Bank Hotel Stockholm service
Probably what impressed me most about Bank Hotel was the service. Across the board, the staff were phenomenal:
- The front desk agents would warmly greet us every time we returned to the hotel, and ask how our day was; they always offered us either a popsicle or bottle of water
- We had to check out at 3AM on the day we left, and the front desk agent proactively insisted on making us some coffee to take with us
- Not only that, but when we checked out the front desk agent didn’t just ask us how our stay was, but also asked what the hotel can do to improve; that’s a really great question most hotel employees aren’t brave enough to ask
- Service in the breakfast restaurant was excellent, with the servers not only being friendly and attentive, but also remembering our coffee preferences and room number
There’s only so much interaction you’ll have with staff at a city hotel, but my impression of service at this hotel is very favorable.
Bottom line
I was happy with our decision to stay at Bank Hotel Stockholm. The hotel has nicely appointed rooms, great food & beverage outlets, hospitable employees, and a central location. Best of all, the property belongs to Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and is even part of the World of Hyatt partnership.
To mix it up I’d probably stay somewhere else the next time I visit Stockholm, but I’d absolutely recommend this hotel if you’re looking for a boutique luxury property.
If you’ve stayed at Bank Hotel, what was your experience like? What hotel should I check out the next time I’m in Stockholm?
When I was in Stockholm 2 years ago, there was NO Hyatt presence, so this seems to be a good addition to broaden the reach of the chain. Marriott had the most choices at the time (most were transfer-ins from SPG, the only Marriott-branded hotel was a far-away Courtyard) along with Radisson, but the problem is that many chain hotels were way outside the city center or a far-out island so not good for tourism....
When I was in Stockholm 2 years ago, there was NO Hyatt presence, so this seems to be a good addition to broaden the reach of the chain. Marriott had the most choices at the time (most were transfer-ins from SPG, the only Marriott-branded hotel was a far-away Courtyard) along with Radisson, but the problem is that many chain hotels were way outside the city center or a far-out island so not good for tourism. And even so, most of them were mid-range hotels and high-priced for what you get (at most uniqueness/boutiqueness rather than outright luxury).
I stayed at a Design Hotel (Nobis) using a 35K certificate and overall it was a nice upper-mid-range boutique hotel though room was very dark. Also would recommend the Boeing 747 hotel near ARN Airport- I stayed in one of the emptied out engine housings and even if it's not luxurious, it's just the experience that won the day.
Having spent nearly 200 nights in US hotels during the past year I have really come to appreciate the standard of Scandinavian hotels. You're far more likely to have a bad stay at a US hotel, additionally when you factor in the rates which on average are three times higher. The breakfasts in Scandinavia are a million times better than the garbage served at many US hotels who still keep their restaurants shut under the...
Having spent nearly 200 nights in US hotels during the past year I have really come to appreciate the standard of Scandinavian hotels. You're far more likely to have a bad stay at a US hotel, additionally when you factor in the rates which on average are three times higher. The breakfasts in Scandinavia are a million times better than the garbage served at many US hotels who still keep their restaurants shut under the guise of "covid". Paying 300 dollars only to get instant scrambled eggs in a microwave cup is just sad, and it happened to me at a DoubleTree in Los Angeles this summer.
With that being said I'm surprised you didn't stay at Story Hotel Riddargatan which recently joined Hyatt JdV earlier this year.
What does a Doubletree Hotel in the U.S. have to do with comparison? Scandinavian hotels may well be more consistent as to offerings, but, sorry, $450 a night in the U.S. will get you far more than a Doubletree you describe. Perhaps you should look more to FS, or some of the Hyatt properties like Thompson. Not only will you get a fantastic environment but a much nicer room. At the same. Further, in comparison...
What does a Doubletree Hotel in the U.S. have to do with comparison? Scandinavian hotels may well be more consistent as to offerings, but, sorry, $450 a night in the U.S. will get you far more than a Doubletree you describe. Perhaps you should look more to FS, or some of the Hyatt properties like Thompson. Not only will you get a fantastic environment but a much nicer room. At the same. Further, in comparison to Germany, Austria etc...this hotel is complete junk for the price. I get Scandinavian prices, but I weigh value, and for the value I would prefer to zip in, grab a cheap Mercure style room, and get out of there. I'll save my value money for the properties and places that offer something complete.
Did the staff and customers wear masks?
@ Johan -- Nope, they didn't. People in Stockholm really just don't use masks.
How can you make a Dirty Martini wrong? The IBA approved recipe is straightforward, Vodka, Vermouth, Olive Juice and then you stir it.
@ Mark -- Hah, that's a great question, and I don't have a good answer. I think that's why I always make the same mistake, as I assume that explaining that I just want vodka, olive juice, and a bit of vermouth, is straightforward enough. But somehow it never turns out that way. Usually it has a lemon twist in there, and some other stuff too.
Well from the pic it looks like most of your martini was actually just olives! I'd consider that an appetizer, not a cocktail!
Hotels in Sweden are awful by international standards (I’ve lived in Stockholm all my life and I stay in a lot of hotels in Sweden and abroad). Truly awful. It’s a rare exception if you end up in a hotel deserving a rating of more than 3/5. I would probably recommend a suite at Hilton Slussen - similar to an average Hampton Inn (but with an executive suite) but still okay.
True, Stockholm is short of interesting points hotels, although I wouldn't go as far as calling Sheraton a dump. That said Stockholm has some solid 4/5* options. However, there is one hotel that really deserves to be mentioned. I would say Ett Hem (SLH) outperforms all other hotels in Sweden. In my experience Ett Hem in Stockholm and Nimb (also SLH) in Copenhagen are the only two true 5* boutique options by international standards in all of Scandinavia.
I would recommend the new Villa Dagmar now if you want this “scandi boutique, 4* dressed up as 5*” experience in Stockholm. The two leaders of the pack otherwise are still Ett Hem and Grand Hotel. Bank Hotel is very up and down. I have heard some dreadful reviews of the restaurant for lunch and dinner
Stockholm sorely needs a proper 5 star operation that isn’t Grand, even if it is a standard chain. There is a market here for it
What about the Lydmar Hotel? We were debating between the Grand and Lydmar since they are next to each other but ended up going with Lydmar since it looks more stylish and has a boutique feel (50 rooms at Lydmar vs 300 at Grand). (I believe the Lydmar is actually owned by the Grand, and that guests of the Lydmar get to use the Grand’s spa.)
Right now, we’ve booked Ett Hem and Lydmar for...
What about the Lydmar Hotel? We were debating between the Grand and Lydmar since they are next to each other but ended up going with Lydmar since it looks more stylish and has a boutique feel (50 rooms at Lydmar vs 300 at Grand). (I believe the Lydmar is actually owned by the Grand, and that guests of the Lydmar get to use the Grand’s spa.)
Right now, we’ve booked Ett Hem and Lydmar for our trip since those felt like the only true 5* hotels in stockholm with lower room counts (which we prefer). However, since the trip is still a ways out, we are open to making adjustments based on recommendations.
This is a second endorsement for the Grand Hotel. It use to be quite frumpy (decor) and grumpy (staff) but no more. The lobby is still unappealingly dowdy (I want to take a hammer to that tacky faux greek statue) but the Cadier Bar (!!) and both of Chef Dahlgren's restaurants are truly beautiful. I was last there in August and stayed in a newly refurbished junior suite. It was a riotous explosion of color...
This is a second endorsement for the Grand Hotel. It use to be quite frumpy (decor) and grumpy (staff) but no more. The lobby is still unappealingly dowdy (I want to take a hammer to that tacky faux greek statue) but the Cadier Bar (!!) and both of Chef Dahlgren's restaurants are truly beautiful. I was last there in August and stayed in a newly refurbished junior suite. It was a riotous explosion of color and over-the-top (in a good way) design with a view of the waterfront.
Service is solidly good with many stellar individuals and, regrettably, a few holdovers from the grumpy days.
Unfortunately, the Grand seems to be popular with the cruise ship set. And the lovely Cadier Bar can get frustratingly crowded. Still, I enjoy the Grand. It's a breath of fresh air in Stockholm's rather stale & sterile hotel scene.
For me, the Grand is the go-to hotel. Nothing dated about it, it went through a multi-year refurb which I think now is complete. I absolutely love the hotel, the Nordic spa and the restaurants in it. Usually book it through Amex FHR. No chain affiliation but I think it does give 700 SAS miles per night - at least used to until recently.
Next time you're in Stockholm, I would recommend you try the Hotel Rival owned ABBA's Benny Andersson. Scandi chic, glittery, and brimming with gay sensibilities. Also, the JumboStay (a 747 converted to a hostel) at Arlanda is a fun experience for one night.
Wow – I see absolutely nothing five-star about this place. Happy to hear that the staff was friendly, but you basically got a small 4-star hotel room, with shower only, an uncomfy bed and bad A/C, and that's it. Stockholm is expensive, but who in their right mind would pay 450 USD for this?
My thoughts exactly. Seems like a nice hotel but not 5* and definitely not $450 a night place.
Happy to report the bed is really not so bad and my AC is working well on these relatively hot days. However, despite being on a quiet side street during the day, music is booming well past midnight on all sides of the hotel from the terrace bar at the theater 2 blocks away. So unless you are a sound sleeper or stay up late, avoid.
Appears to me that this city looks ripe for hotel development on the luxury or mid-luxury scale. While the Food and Beverage outlets look interesting, the rooms and the rest, not so much. A hard pass at $450.00 a night for that room you showed, despite prices in Sweden. A redemption, ok, maybe.
@Lucky, do you know what "Smash the Piggy Bank" was on the breakfast menu? I can't be the only one who's curious...
Nope, I'm curious too. It looks like that comes to about $40 USD. So a small piggy bank compared to the nightly rate.
Smash the piggy bank is Bonnie's signature dessert made of chocolate, ice-cream, fudge, meringue and some candy. It’s big enough for two persons. It comes with a small hammer to smash the chocolate shell with to get out the candy and ice cream inside. Kids loves it.
The building originally used to house a Bank, hence the Bank theme reflected in the nicely made pictures.
The Piggy Bank is an Instagram-friendly desser where you crush a chocolate Piggy Bank at the table. See https://www.google.se/search?q=the+piggy+bank+stockholm&client=safari&hl=sv-se&sxsrf=AOaemvJV_9WItP9x_foL7EvvtybYzDahEQ:1636190903885&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=2lNGunRQvqRXHM%252C1CepA0wfeUFJeM%252C_%253BOwEOtE3ch_P-mM%252CT3r_-kn0XcmlvM%252C_%253BLplnDRAc0m6K5M%252CksdcLupKle-wTM%252C_%253B5DALItafY5pbFM%252CihnyNdsoGsu4zM%252C_%253BCWXWZvVn7UzGKM%252CgbO1Muy3zv8XyM%252C_%253BXKEjTXhrlPGSdM%252Cg-ihBM69DTXgZM%252C_%253Bbwk8EIVXTsKZjM%252CNW4vajlj-DPaVM%252C_%253B3niofIspSVe1eM%252CC3m9FSjS0lVN6M%252C_%253Bz5ynrmFch22PAM%252C7folXBq4ct-hwM%252C_%253BoAQEJ92724CjGM%252CBG0TZBNfJpkjzM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kTMVYCdpCdhRXUPED5vJb7O6W8qjg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjv-fCMtoP0AhWIjosKHW0qBWEQ9QF6BAgkEAE#imgrc=LplnDRAc0m6K5M for images.
Regarding the 450$ rate, this is steep even for Sweden. But this includes 25% tax, breakfast and no reason to tip so no hidden extras.
The Piggy Bank is an Instagram-friendly desser where you crush a chocolate Piggy Bank at the table. See https://www.google.se/search?q=the+piggy+bank+stockholm&client=safari&hl=sv-se&sxsrf=AOaemvJV_9WItP9x_foL7EvvtybYzDahEQ:1636190903885&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=2lNGunRQvqRXHM%252C1CepA0wfeUFJeM%252C_%253BOwEOtE3ch_P-mM%252CT3r_-kn0XcmlvM%252C_%253BLplnDRAc0m6K5M%252CksdcLupKle-wTM%252C_%253B5DALItafY5pbFM%252CihnyNdsoGsu4zM%252C_%253BCWXWZvVn7UzGKM%252CgbO1Muy3zv8XyM%252C_%253BXKEjTXhrlPGSdM%252Cg-ihBM69DTXgZM%252C_%253Bbwk8EIVXTsKZjM%252CNW4vajlj-DPaVM%252C_%253B3niofIspSVe1eM%252CC3m9FSjS0lVN6M%252C_%253Bz5ynrmFch22PAM%252C7folXBq4ct-hwM%252C_%253BoAQEJ92724CjGM%252CBG0TZBNfJpkjzM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kTMVYCdpCdhRXUPED5vJb7O6W8qjg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjv-fCMtoP0AhWIjosKHW0qBWEQ9QF6BAgkEAE#imgrc=LplnDRAc0m6K5M for images.
Regarding the 450$ rate, this is steep even for Sweden. But this includes 25% tax, breakfast and no reason to tip so no hidden extras.
In Scandinavia, it's chocolate pig dessert.
In USA, it's animal cruelty, wealth inequality, racism (why no option for chocolate of color).
The menu is at risk of being a victim of cancel culture.
You are an idiot.
It appears to be a dessert offering:
https://m.facebook.com/bankhotelstockholm/photos/a.967158620102907/1117666355052132/
I was in Stockholm recently, too. I was at first booked at the Sheraton, but it’s a dump and I refused to stay there. Bank Hotel was fully booked and I ended up using the $200 Amex Platinum hotel credit for Hotel Diplomat, which is part of the Amex Hotel Collection. Carl at the reception delivered OUTSTANDING service. Really polished. We got a round of champagne on the house at the bar and we were...
I was in Stockholm recently, too. I was at first booked at the Sheraton, but it’s a dump and I refused to stay there. Bank Hotel was fully booked and I ended up using the $200 Amex Platinum hotel credit for Hotel Diplomat, which is part of the Amex Hotel Collection. Carl at the reception delivered OUTSTANDING service. Really polished. We got a round of champagne on the house at the bar and we were upgraded to a high-floor room with stunning views of the harbor. The room was still rather small, but we absolutely loved our stay. The icing on the cake was that there’s a private spa you can book. There’s a sauna, steam room and shower and even a room for treatments with chairs to relax (I don’t think they have spa attendants there all the time, you’d have to book treatments in advance). Scandinavia usually isn’t exactly amazing in terms of hotels by international standards, so this was just amazing. The only thing I didn’t love was the breakfast: I ordered scrambled eggs with bacon and I got just that: A small portion of scrambled eggs (Scandinavians seem to love small portions…) with no seasoning whatsoever and a few strips of bacon on the side. Other than that, I can highly recommend it. And Carl was probably the nicest front desk agent I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.
Next time you are going: try Hotel Riva or Hilton Slussen - not sure if they meet your definition of luxury but I liked both very well (stayed at Slussen when it was still the Scandic Slussen - but I don't think much has changed).
Also Söder(malm) is my favorite area of Stockholm (even though Östermalm seems to have better nightlife)
I Sweden most of the hotels are either with chain Nordic Choice hotels or Scandic hotels.
Stayed here in June. Was very pleased but the rooftop bar can be noisy until late on the weekends. Location is exceptional.
Great review @Ben! Just wondering since I've yet to go to Stockholm but do you prefer Copehagen to Stockholm?
I prefer Stockholm as a prettier city than Copenhagen, but Stockholm is also sort of more sterile than Copenhagen with its edges.
Most of the times when I have been to the Hyatt-affiliated and other US brand-affiliated hotels in Sweden, the plurality to big majority of guests are Swedish and/or Scandinavian. Traditionally, summer is the primary exception to that. This summer, however, was sort of different than pre-pandemic summers; and in large part that was...
I prefer Stockholm as a prettier city than Copenhagen, but Stockholm is also sort of more sterile than Copenhagen with its edges.
Most of the times when I have been to the Hyatt-affiliated and other US brand-affiliated hotels in Sweden, the plurality to big majority of guests are Swedish and/or Scandinavian. Traditionally, summer is the primary exception to that. This summer, however, was sort of different than pre-pandemic summers; and in large part that was because of the pandemic coming broth smaller foreign crowds than usual and thus not changing the seasonal demographic profile of guests at the hotels as much as usual for the better Stockholm hotels. What’s typical for this property and the other hotels around the same stretch of town throughout most of the year: Scandinavian guests as the plurality or majority.
Even I have been getting more and more of my hotel welcome notes in Swedish at hotels across the country; and usually they know I’m not Swedish.
While WOH members are barely going to register in Sweden compared to Radisson, Scandic, Nordic Choice and Best Western numbers, there were surprisingly many Starwood and Hilton members in Sweden because of Swede’s foreign business and leisure travel. Hyatt isn’t there yet; but as of this past spring, five Swedish properties are now participating in the Hyatt program and only one of those five is SLH. But Hilton had a better position than Hyatt yet has despite the property numbers now being much greater with Hyatt in Sweden than Hilton.
@ John R -- I'll admit I'm not an expert on either city and haven't spent that much time in either place, but personally I think I generally prefer Stockholm, but prefer the dining scene in Copenhagen. The truth is that I love either city in summer, but the rest of the year not so much...