Photo by Bjorn Bore 

If your criteria for the perfect holiday spot are total isolation, intimacy and not the least a fresh breeze, Hotel Utter Inn is just the right place for you. The hotel is a one-room affair in the middle of Lake Mälaren northwest of Stockholm.

You show up and are paddled 1km out to the archetypal Swedish miniature house on the surface of the water. Here you are dropped off and left to yourself.

 
Photo by Tom Airaksinen

If you bring a companion make sure it is someone whom you really get along with, as the hotel’s living space is only a few square meters. Most extraordinary is the bedroom, which is 10 feet under the water. Down here in the ‘abyss’ guests can keep themselves entertained with observing the dreamlike undersea world through the big panoramic windows or by being observed by a curious fish.

Hotel Utter Inn has a tiny kitchen, but if you are on a romantic spree you should seriously consider booking the deluxe version where dinner is delivered by boat.

Written by David Rich

Find more hotels in Sweden.
 

Hotels 

Most hotels in Stockholm primarily make their money from people on business trips, so it’s quite expensive to sleep over in the city. But luckily a lot of hotels have cheap weekend offers. And there are several good hostels in Stockholm.
Some suggestions of hotels at various price levels:

Hotel Rival
                            

Hotel Rival, owned by Benny Andersson from ABBA, is momondo’s favorite hotel in Stockholm. The reason for that is simply that the service is so carried out in every detail. Great service, lovely rooms, lively restaurant, delicious breakfast, awesome café, private bakery, cinema and a cocktail bar, where you can let go of your inner Dancing Queen.

The hotel’s theme is movie stars, and there are big black-and-white photographs on the walls in every room. There are cool glass mosaic in the bath rooms that all have windows from which you can look into the bedroom. 

Every room has wireless Internet, big plasma screens, CD players and Playstation. In stead of pay-per-view, the hotel has a free DVD library where you can borrow all kinds of movies, from “Amélie” and “Cinéma Paradiso” to classics like “Citizen Kane” and “Dr. Strangelove” as well as newer pictures like “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “The Queen”. In the DVD collection you will - unsurprisingly - find “ABBA, The Movie”!

There is 24 hour room service, but you will probably be so well asleep in the soft Dux bed, that you will not lie awake and need any kind of service in the middle of the night.  Another thing that will secure you a good night of sleep is the hotel’s “pillow menu”, which offers you the pillow that suits you best.
The hotel frequently hosts various cultural events that add to the lively – but not too loud – atmosphere. To complete all of the above, Hotel Rival is situated on beautiful Söder.

160 € and up

Hotel Rival, Mariatorget 3
www.rival.se

Hotel Birger Jarl

Hotel Birger Jarl is located in a building from the 1970’s and it does not look like anything special from the outside. But inside, some fun surprises are expecting you.

Twelve of the hotel’s room have been individually designed by Swedish designers and have their own names. You can get your beauty sleep in The Polka Dot Room (number 705) or in Miss Dottie (709).

The rest of the hotel’s standard rooms are simpler with minimalist Scandinavian design and white walls.

225 € and up

Hotel Birger Jarl, Tulegatan 8
www.birgerjarl.se

SAS Strand Hotel

Even though the Strand Hotel is part of a large chain, the hotel sticks out from most chain hotels.

The location is charming, in the very center on Nybrokajen, with a view of the port and the cobble stoned quay. Close to the shopping areas, Dramaten (The Royal Theater of Sweden) and many great restaurants and bars.
In the lobby, you can sink into comfortable green leather couches and enjoy the wide selection of newspapers and the view of water and sail boats through the large windows.

The rooms are spacious and if your money allows, offer yourself a ”superior guest room” with a view of the harbor.

250 € and up

SAS Strand Hotel, ybrokajen 9
www.radissonsas.com

Hotel Hellsten                  

Hotel Hellsten is a new place with 80 rooms, and it quickly became a very popular hotel.

It splendidly combines new design, antique furniture and porcelain figurines, which gives you the feeling of being in a homey atmosphere in Stockholm.

195 € and up 

Hostels

Chapman                                        

Enjoy the fabulous view of Gamla Stan through your porthole, as your are rocked to sleep. The hostel Chapman is a full-rigged ship, docked alongside the quay of Skeppsholmen. A double room with your private porthole and a shared shower costs around 50 Euros.

50 €

Långholmen Hotel & Youth Hostel                       

A former prison that has been transformed into a combined hostel and hotel. The place is situated on the small island, Långholmen, in rural surroundings, despite its central location in Stockholm.

Most cells/rooms of the hostel have a private bath and toilet, as well as wireless Internet, and cost from 66 Euros and up. You can also sleep in the dormitory, which costs about 29 Euros per night.

If you’re not the dorm kind of person, you can get your beauty sleep in your own private redone prison cell at Hotel Långholmen.

Hostel: 29 € and up
Hotel: 100 € and up

Långholmen Hotel & Youth Hostel, Långholmsmuren 20
www.langholmen.com

More information on hostels in Stockholm and the surrounding area at:

www.svenskaturistforeningen.se

By Mette Lomholdt