Sweden Travel Guide
Sweden Hotels / Stockholm Hotels / Hotel Construction / Hotel Disputes / → All Tags
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.
Sweden Hotels / Theme Hotels / Quirky Hotels / Weird Hotels / → All Tags
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?
IKEA / Sweden Hotels / Hotel Furniture / New Yorker / → All Tags
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.
Sweet Suites / Ice Hotels / Unusual Hotels / Sweden Hotels / → All Tags
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.
Ice Hotels / Unusual Hotels / Odd Hotels / Sweden Hotels / → All Tags
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.)
Hotel Sex / Berth Milton Jr. / Hotel Porn / Hotel News / → All Tags
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.
Hotel Sex Kits / Hotel News / Stockholm Hotels / Hotel Minibars / → All Tags
What Would The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Think About This?
We've always been, ahem, excited by the presence of sex kits in hotels, often found in the mini-bar with products ranging from the merely protective (a packet of condoms) to the truly scintillating (vibes, silk ties, gold handcuffs, et.al.) But as with on demand hotel porn, sex kits aren't always an excitable amenity for everyone.
The Berns Hotel in Stockholm recently started offering sex toys in their minibars. Nothing as scandalous as pictured on this news site but the for-purchase options include handcuffs, stay ups and a vibrator. Yet apparently, these new offerings are not jibing with the police crackdown on prostitution:
The hotel is trying to glorify something that we are working to de-glorify," said Tom Eckerling at Stockholm police to the newspaper.
The hotel has no plans to change its minibar assortment however and reported that the response has been positive from guests, which it claims is made up of a chic fashion, art and music clientèle.
Treehouse Hotels / Hotel Openings / Sweden Hotels / Hotel News / Hotel Design / → All Tags
Is It a Hotel or a Treehouse? In Sweden, It's Both
If you haven't had your daily dose of caffeine yet, load up now. What you're looking at is one of the newest hotels in Sweden. No, we haven't lost our marbles. This is the Mirrored Cube room, part of the Treehotel which opens this Saturday in the village of Harads, just south of the Arctic Circle.
We're all for high-concept hotel design, but this has to be one of the wackiest rooms we've seen yet. And lest you think this is as out-there as it gets at the Treehotel, you should know that other rooms have names such as The Bird's Nest, The Cabin and The Blue Cone. These four will be ready for the grand opening, and another 20 will be designed and unveiled over the next five years.
Hotel Spas / Stockholm Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Sweden Hotels / → All Tags
No More Birch Beatings At Grand Hotel Stockholm's New Spa
OK so normally we wouldn’t be so excited by the idea of a “Nordic spa”. In our heads, Scandi beauty treatments scream naked saunas, self-flagellation with birch sticks and lots of snow. But we’re making an exception for the Grand Hotel in Stockholm which opened a subtly different “Nordic-inspired spa”, Raison d’Etre, yesterday.
Yes, they have the birch – harvested from local forests, don’t you know – but they do far more exciting stuff than beat you with it. The Be Rested package is a massage ad “hot birch pack” to make you sleep, while the Be Balanced treatment claims to “gently realign” your bones through the power of, um, mung bean pillows.
They’re pretty pricey – 2190 Kronor, or $318, apiece, but last two hours. And the website – which asks you questions like “How do you want to be today? Like a raindrop falling from the sky?” and “If you were a tree, what would you be?” – is really calling to us. And how idyllic does that pool look for a winter soak. Gimmicky, us? Never.
Unusual Hotels / MIne Hotels / Underground Hotels / Swedish Hotels / → All Tags
Spend A Night Way, Way Underground In A Swedish Silver Mine
Beginning in the Middle Ages and for centuries afterward, the Sala Silvermine produced copious amounts of silver for Sweden and its monarchs. Those monarchs, in turn, paid miners to dig ever deeper, until today the mine is a cavern of shafts and alcoves and pristine underground lakes. So naturally it was only a matter of time before someone tried to convert the entire thing into an underground hotel.
The Sala Silvermine Company that maintains the mine has two types of accommodations, which they manage in addition to their regular tours and events. The standard option is the above-ground Gruvfruns Bed and Breakfast, a hostel with 15 single and double rooms and shared bathrooms. Prices are 400 SEK per adult for a double and 500 SEK for a single, or about $55 and $70 respectively.
The real treat, though, is the Mining Suite: a double bed tucked into a small alcove, buried 155m under ground. Don't bother bringing a cell phone.
Popular Stories
Follow Us
Hotels In: Africa | Asia | Australia | Caribbean | Europe | North America | South America
Our Publications:
Jaunted | HotelChatter | VegasChatter
