Sweden Travel Guide
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New Hotel Nobis Has 21st-Century Stockholm Syndrome
Ever seen that Charlie Sheen movie The Chase? Remember how he steals the beautiful blonde's car and takes her hostage, but he charms her so well that she ends up straddling him as they cruise down the highway, her back to the steering wheel?
Typical Charlie, we know, but it's also a perfect example of what's called the Stockholm Syndrome -- when the victim begins to identify with the person holding the gun. It doesn't take a genius to figure out this phrase stems from Sweden, but how? And why? According to the FBI, roughly 27% of victims show evidence of Stockholm Syndrome during or after an incident.
Why compassion arises for captors is still up for debate, but we got an up-close look at the origin of the phenomenon last week during a visit to the new Hotel Nobis in Stockholm. In 1973, Stockholm made headlines around the world when a bank robber held four people hostage for six days. The southern part of the hotel building (the white part adjacent to the Nobis in the photo below) was where the bank used to be, where the hostages were held.
Ice Hotels / Sweden Hotels / Canada Hotels / Montreal Hotels / Quebec City Hotels / → All Tags
Famous Swedish Hotel's Guests Can Get Busy On Ice
Raise your hand if you've had sex on the beach.
Congrats, you're one of a million. You got sand in your shorts (or worse). You positioned yourself in the corner of the small lifeguard stand. We're awfully proud. Did you watch the sunset and brush her hair behind her ear, too? Yawn.
Now, a show of hands, who's melted a forearm into a bed before? No? That's what we thought!
But, seriously, our headline is meant to be taken literally, kids. Ice hotels can be hella romantic, and the novelty of the experience will knock your socks off. Though keepin' 'em on is a special kind of sexy we can't imagine.
We're fresh off a stay at Sweden's Ice Hotel, and we can tell you firsthand the stories of individuals breaking a sweat in the heat of the night are totally true. Can you get sticky in your sleeping bag? Youbetcha!
So instead of moaning about the plummeting temps outside, we'll show you how it can get steamy, even in the Arctic.
Sweet Suites / Sweden Hotels / Stockholm Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
Radisson Blu Stockholm Unveils New Garbo Suite
It’s no secret we love a swanky suite, but ones dedicated to Hollywood divas of yesteryear are even better. The Radisson Blu Strand Stockholm is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a new suite named after one of its most famous guests, Greta Garbo.
The Greta Garbo Suite is inspired by the star's costumes and jewelry, as well as art and items from her movies of which grace the black and gold room, and were given to the hotel by Garbo’s family, who still holiday there and had a hand in the design.
Garbo, who was born in Sweden, first visited the 152-room hotel as an aspiring actress back in the ‘20s and it continued to be her favorite spot well after she made it big in Tinseltown.
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No Instruction Manual Will Be Needed To Stay At Ikea's New European Budget Hotels
Though they've dabbled in the real estate business for a while now, internationally-known furniture megastore IKEA is getting ready to dive into the hotel business with a string of 100 "budget design" hotels across Europe—and the first one is scheduled to open in Germany.
The announcement came yesterday, about a week after the company's net worth was revealed to be a staggering €9 billion.
Clearly, they've got the dough to build whatever the heck kind of hotels they want to. But, in the interest of making even more money, the company has decided to focus on the trendy (and lucrative) budget hotel market. And though the hotels will not be branded or operated by the company, IKEA will build, develop and own them.
We assume, of course, that they'll also be supplying all the furniture.
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Rich Swedes are Mad About Plans for a Tiny, Seemingly Non-Posh Hotel in Their 'Hood
Engelbrekt Church, a Stockholm monument near the site of a proposed boutique hotel that has locals "up in arms"
Residents of one of Stockholm's most well-to-do neighborhoods are throwing a ritzy hissy fit over the construction of a new hotel, though it's unclear whether they take issue with the fact that the boutique property will require converting a historic building, because it won't live up to their posh standards, or a combination of both.
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Hotel for Sourdough Bread Hits Sweden
Hotel Chatter admits a soft spot for Swedes, what with the bounty of pop culture gifts with which they've furnished the world (like, you know, Robyn, IKEA, and The Fun Theory campaign). The notably upbeat Scandinavians harbor a mutual love for aspects of American culture, such as…sourdough bread?
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At The Värdshuset Hotel, The Furniture is Proudly IKEA
Lots of unhappy hotel guests slam budget hotel furniture, or just ugly hotel furniture, by saying it's been store-bought from IKEA. So we're guessing they should probably never visit Vardshuset Hotell and Restaurang, the official IKEA Hotel, located next to the company's headquarters in Almhult, Sweden.
We learned about the existence of the hotel through the New Yorker's recent story on the IKEA culture, when the reporter, Lauren Collins, actually spent a night at the hotel. Here's what she said:
That night I stayed at the IKEA Hotel. Its web site promises, "Guests sleep well and wake up refreshed without art or frills." The lounge area was bright, like a scene from the IKEA catalogue. I sat on a candy-striped KARLSTAD chair and listened to supply managers discuss the respective turn-around times of China and Pakistan in global English. Swedish-speaking men with mustaches wore short-sleeved plaid shirts and drank Eriksberg beer...
Behind the reception desk was a series of candy jars filled with gummi bears and caramels. Why was the receptionist smiling so broadly? were the toasting salesmen bit players in some sort of Almhultian "Truman Show"?
Later that night, when she went up to her room for bed, there was a "pair of spartan single beds" and on top of the pine desk sat two books--the New Testament and the IKEA catalogue.
Hotel Sex / Love Hotels / Sweden Hotels / → All Tags
Where You Can 'Make Love for Three Days Like Indian Gods'
Where: Sweden
Hotels are not ones to shy away from sex what with all the sex kits we've seen in the minibars in the past years, but this hotel goes far above and beyond a black box full of condoms, lube and massage oil and even the porn offerings on the TV.
The Venusgarden Hotel near Malmo, Sweden offers a professional orgasm coach on staff. Actually the coach is Ylva Franzén, the proprietor of the three-bedroom farmhouse as well as the author of a best-selling book Orgasmera Mera (Orgasming More).
Each of the three "Rooms of Love" are sensually-named--Kamasutra, Tao, and Venus, and all feature "feathers, massage oils, perfumed candles, erotic illustrations, and a basket of love toys, along with a copy of Franzén’s book", of course.
But that's not all. Up in the Tao room (in the attic) there's a big round bed and a mirror on the ceiling to further get you in the mood. The Venus room promises a "magic pill" for him (Viagra?) and a swing above the bed. But the Kamasutra room might be where you want to spend your stay as the canopy bed in the center of the room is a place where "you can relax and make love for three days like the Indian gods." And don't forget, Franzén is on call to help you should any issues, um, arise.
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The Icehotel Gets Even Cooler with a 'Tron'-Inspired Suite
The Swedish Icehotel attracts adventurous types with its all-ice accommodations 12 miles north of the Arctic Circle. But the sci-fi squad and design geeks will want to make reservations at the hotel to check out the new Tron-themed suite.
Inspired by a nightclub the upcoming Tron: Legacy flick, the "Legacy of the River" suite is pimped out with futuristic lights using technology the hotel's never used in its 20-year history.
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Looking for a Wintry Getaway? Sweden's Icehotel Will Reopen Next Month
While we hate it when we walk into a hotel room and the A/C is blasting a below 72-degree temperature, we'll have to make an exception at The Icehotel, which is opening for the season early next month in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden.
The hotel is actually an 80-room hostel which is rebuilt annually from snow and crystal-clear ice.
The Icehotel is a spot where half the fun is in staying there. It begins from the moment that you open the main, reindeer-skin-clad doors and are greeted by a grand, ice-pillared hallway illuminated by a spectacular ice chandelier. The interior temperature, hovering around 23 degrees Fahrenheit, actually feels almost balmy, especially when compared to the outside temperature which can drop to minus 34 Fahrenheit.
Balmy? We'll see about that. Guests do get special gear to wear during their stay such as a one-piece thermal suit, mittens, hat and thermal waterproof boots. At night, you'll snuggle down into your thermal sleeping bags.
The room categories at the Icehotel start at a standard Snow Room and work up to an Ice Room (complete with actual ice "furniture") and the Art Suite (individually themed with ice art). Looking for a special getaway for your honeymoon? The Art Suite has lockable doors and double sleeping bags available. We're guessing that candles are out of the question though. (Incredibly, the hotel has a very popular Ice Chapel where several weddings are held each season.)
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Swedish Porn Publisher Wants to Roll Out Webcam Sex Hotels
This idea makes the Standard New York look amateurish.
We've been chronicling the adventures and misadventures of sex in hotels for a while now, from hotel sex kits to in-room porn, love hotels and even recommendations on where to do it. But never have we seen something as saucy as this--a collection of sex-themed hotels.
That's the new hotel concept being floated around by Berth Milton Jr., a Swedish porn publisher, but wait--it gets kinkier. The hotel wouldn't work like your usual hotel spot where you check-in, hand over a credit card, get your room key and head on upstairs. No, no, no.
Instead, guests will be given free rooms in exchange for broadcasting their sexytime on the internet. Yes, this will be the ultimate webcam sex hotel.
Hotel Technology / Keyless Hotel Rooms / Hotel Key Cards / Stockholm Hotels / Clarion Hotels / → All Tags
Stockholm's Clarion Hotel is Now Testing Keyless Hotel Rooms
It seems as if Holiday Inn isn't the only hotel to begin testing keyless hotel rooms.
The Clarion Hotel in Stockholm has also started to replace hotel room keys with guests' mobile phones. But while Holiday Inn uses Open Ways technology, whose software guests download to their phones, the Clarion is using Near Field Communication technology so that guests can simply hold up their phone to the room door to open it.
The technology also lets guests check-in before arriving at the hotel and to check-out remotely. And the hotel hopes the keyless technology will actually help with guest saftey.
If a mobile phone is lost, the access credentials can be revoked remotely and then reissued. This makes it impossible for unauthorized people to use a lost or stolen NFC mobile phone.
