HotelChatter

That Means Celebs
...that if you stay at the Grand Hotel Stockholm in the days running up to the annual Nobel Prize ceremony on December 10, you'll meet some pretty fantastic people in reception. It's been the official 'Nobel Prize Hotel' since 1901 so it's a safe bet if you book in advance. You might even meet the King of Sweden, who hands out the prizes, but if not you can always get a pair of binoculars and peer into his Palace just across the harbour from the hotel.

The Grand's location is superb, right opposite the Royal Drottningholm Palace on the harbour's bank in the upmarket (of course) central area of Stockholm. Two minutes to the Café Opera, a quaint, traditional afternoon-tea spot during the day and a blaze of unexpected extravagance at night. Two seconds from the ferries and boats that take you round the harbour to Stockholm's other islands.

That Means Style
The Grand Hotel's décor has all the old burnished wood, lush velvet curtains and gold trim you'd expect of a hotel from 1874 that was founded by a Frenchman (Regis Cadier), including more chandeliers than you can swing a cat from. But Stockholm's obsession with modern design adds an interesting twist - Klimt in the toilets, tall white vases, replica ice cubes in the bronze revolving doors and angled, coloured lighting.

The clientele shares the same odd mix of styles as the décor - preened and pressed gents and ladies with fur coats, expensive leather gloves, hand-carved walking sticks and dripping jewellery intermingling with tall, bright, blond bombshell extravaganza Swedes with cube-shaped handbags and dripping accents.

Even if you don't fit into either category, it's a fascinating experience.

See and Be Seen
The best place to see the people (and be seen by them) is the Cadier bar, which you should have a drink in even if you don't stay at the hotel. Refined style, cocktails in fine oddly-shaped crystal glasses and Ritz-style afternoon teas. The brand new restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel's new extension is run by one of Sweden's most famous (we're told) chefs, Mathias Dahlgren. It's not been open long and we couldn't afford to eat there (neither can you, probably) but it looked damn good from the outside.

The Grand's just finished building a brand new extension to one side of the hotel so spaces should be freeing up - there are now 376 rooms including 42 suites - even if the rates are never likely to go down. Double rooms go from SEK 3900 ($600) to astronomical, and if you have to ask the price before booking, to be honest you can't afford to stay there.

Class
But this hotel's got real class. "We are not the only 5-star hotel in Sweden," the receptionist informed me in impeccable Portuguese, upon hearing me chatting to my friend in Portuguese and guessing (incorrectly) our nationality. No doubt she would have switched to Cantonese or Polish if we'd been speaking that. "But we are the best." Not a blink. You've gotta hand it to them.

[Photo: Mink70]

Tags: Stockholm Hotel Guide / Sweden Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Monica Guy / Noble Prize Hotel

by femmefatale