Hotel reviews: Best Western Hotel, Stockholm

Kicking off my irregular series of accommodation reviews, this debut piece is dedicated to the hotel I stayed at in Stockholm, a chain of hotels called the Best Western Hotel. Hopefully they prove to be of some help when you next stay abroad.

The good

• Spacious rooms – the rooms I stayed in are quite large by European standards. The hotel is divided into two buildings, one building in the same place as reception and another adjacent. We were in the adjacent building. The rooms are accessed via a pass card, which also activates the lifts.

• The buffet breakfast was tasty and offered excellent variety – As I arrived on a Friday, the buffet breakfast for Saturday and Sunday operated from 7:30 – 11am, which allowed plenty of time to get a good feed before going on my travels. The buffet breakfast had a very generous variety of meats, cheeses, vegetables, breads, juices, coffees, teas, eggs and more. I particularly liked the local touch of having two varieties of herring available for sampling. I worried about the cost of purchasing the included buffet, but it proved to be incredibly convenient and economical. It made things so much easier to not have to worry about breakfast each day, especially when we could eat as much as we wanted.


• Staff exceptionally friendly – A hotel is meant to have excellent customer service, but there is good and then there is excellent. I broke a glass during the buffet breakfast and the staff member quickly cleaned it up, no questions asked. Staff were cheerful and friendly, and always willing to help.


• Mineral water included – The room came with complementary mineral water, which I gladly took advantage of. Surprisingly tasty and refreshing!

The not so good

• Late check in time – Check in is only offered from 3pm onwards, however we arrived into Stockholm at 11am. This meant that we had to drop our bags into the luggage room and then explore the city for around 4 hours before coming back to the hotel. This wouldn’t normally be a bad thing, except for the unlocked luggage room we were forced to use (see below). Check out is at 12pm.

• Unlocked luggage rooms – The luggage room to store our bags is unlocked by a switch at reception. However, during the day time it was unlocked so anyone could really enter the room and rummage through people’s luggage. This was disconcerting to say the least, but there wasn’t really anything I could do about it in the situation.

• The location – The hotel is slightly far from the city centre, around a 15 minute walk from the central railway station. For domestic flights this would be okay, but for an international flight, I did start to feel the pinch lugging around my 20kg worth of suitcase luggage and carry on backpack.

• The room safe malfunctioned slightly – I chose to use the in-room safe to keep my passport and laptop safe. Unfortunately, there was a malfunction with the coding system so the safe wouldn’t open on one occasion. This required me having to call reception and have them open the safe. Staff took around 5 minutes to come to my room, and a further 20-30 minutes to open the safe. Worryingly, the safe was opened by a key belonging to a different room’s safe, which does not seem too promising from a security point of view

Overall:

Best Western Hotel, Stockholm
Döbelnsgatan 17
Stockholm, Sweden

Location: 4/5
Facilities/Security: 3/5
Service: 4/5
Food: 4.5/5
Check in/check out: 3.5/5
Price: 4/5Overall: 3.83/5

In summary: If you’re looking for a relatively affordable hotel with great service and an included buffet breakfast, you can’t go wrong with Best Western. However, be warned that your luggage isn’t necessarily secure if you arrive a few hours prior to check in and that the room safe may in fact be 'too safe'.

Stockholm: Skansen, Djurgården, and Sodermalm

After exploring the Stockholm Gamla Stan Old Town yesterday, I ventured out of the city centre to the Djurgården island for a relaxing day out at the Skansen Open Air Museum.

The first open air museum in the world, Skansen is a tribute to the history of Sweden. A composite attraction filled with old-fashioned buildings, a zoo of some sorts (featuring lynxes, seals, elk, reindeer, wolverines, wolves and general farm animals) and numerous interactive sites to relive the old way of life – a pottery store, a glassmaking workshop and store, a bakery with delicious pastries, a Skansen shop with traditional Manchester, food products and more.

As an added bonus, Skansen also offers some nice views of the Stockholm city centre.


Skansen Open Air Museum - traditional Swedish buildings


Skansen Open Air Museum - traditional Swedish buildings


Lynxes in action

Attraction details

Name: Skansen Open Air Museum

Directions: Skansen is a short walk (20-30 minutes) from the city centre in the south west of Sweden. There are also numerous buses going to this popular tourist attraction.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars. Highly recommended for history buffs or those wanting a fun day out.

Traveller’s tip: Combine your visit to Skansen with a trip to the adjacent Djugardden garden and park areas and the famous Vasa Museum to get the most of your visit. Also try to bring your own food to avoid paying the overpriced fares for food and drink.

With Skansen done and dusted, it was time to find somewhere to eat. Encouraged by positive reviews of the chic Sodermalm area and its popularity amongst the young trendy folk, we decided on Östgötakällaren, a German restaurant highly rated on TripAdvisor in the vicinity.

With its attractive German décor and moody lighting, the place was very cosy. Many patrons could be heard enjoying the restaurants surroundings or indulging themselves in the adjoining bar.

I settled on the fish and shellfish casserole with a touch of saffron, which was served with an aioli sauce and garlic bread, while my friend chose beef with a red wine sauce and potato mash, washed down with a German wheat beer.

My expectations weren’t that high, given it was rated in the 100s of best restaurants in Stockholm, but I was in for a shock. Upon taking a bite of the casserole, the heady flavours of the soup were so intoxicating so as to cause me to exclaim in surprise. It was a real ‘Ratatouille’ moment for me. Tasting further, the fish and shellfish were so delicate and flavourful I was literally awestruck for a few seconds. I couldn’t believe what I was eating – the food was simply on another level. This also proved true from sampling my friend’s beef – with the meat unbelievably tender and succulent. Combined with the crusty garlic bread and aioli, it was a winning dish.


Fish and shellfish casserole with saffron, aioli and garlic brea

[caption id="attachment_59" align="alignnone" width="660"]
Fish and shellfish casserole with saffron, aioli and garlic bread

Service was brisk and attentive, although I detected a slight annoyance from the waitress when I didn’t choose to order a starter or a drink.

Name: ÖstgötakällarenAddress: Östgötagatan 41, 116 25 Stockholm, Sweden
Price: Mid-range 3/5
Service: Very good 4/5
Decor: 4/5
Food: Excellent 4/5
Rating: Very good 4/5

Sunny sojourns in Stockholm

After rounding out my terrific week in Helsinki, it was off to Stockholm to continue the next phase of my Europe 2014 trip.

The journey to Helsinki Airport was relatively straightforward, with a 5 minute trip via the Helsinki Metro to Sornainen Station and then a 15-20 minute ride on the 615 Bus to Helsinki Airport. Flying Norwegian Air to Stockholm was a very smooth and pleasant experience, as comfortable as one can be on a budget airline. The flight gets bonus points from me for not only leaving before its scheduled departure due to availability in the sky, but also for including free Wi-Fi on board! I had a great time with Norwegian and would gladly fly with them again. Within 45 minutes, I had touched down in Stockholm's Arlanda Airport.

Getting from Arlanda to the city centre was a little more challenging. You can get from Arlanda to the city via the Arlanda Express (a high speed train - around 25 euros one way) or the Airport Bus (cheaper at around 12 euros one way - similar to Australia's SkyBus). The Arlanda Express is a rip off for a one-way trip so the bus is highly recommended. Tickets can be bought from the machines (note: the machines only accept credit card) or can be purchased on board the bus itself. The trip takes around 40 minutes one way into the city.

Arriving early to the Best Western Kom Hotel before the 3pm check-in time, we decided to do a brief walk around the city and Gamla Stan Old Town area, which like its Tallinn counterpart, is filled with colourful architecture, quirky shops and numerous restaurants of traditional Sweden. After a quick sandwich in one of the nearby shops (115 kroner ~ 11.50 euros! - yes Stockholm is expensive), we continued our walk around the Old Town area, passing several of the picturesque Swedish islands dotting the landscape before returning back to the hotel around 3pm.


Gamla Stan Old Town in Stockholm

After taking a valuable rest to rest our aching feet, we were stumped on places to get some dinner that wouldn't break the bank. Researching on TripAdvisor didn't yield anything promising except an American Stakehouse so with nothing else in mind, we simply had a walk around to see what we could fine. We noticed a cheap kebab place offering dinner from 39 kroner which we both teased the idea of momentarily while I searched agonisingly for an ATM. Surprisingly for a major city, whether it be through my own ignorance or obliviousness, it took around 10-15 minutes to find an ATM! With my cash in hand, we set out to visit the kebab place but chickened out when we noticed it was completely empty (not a good vibe).

We were about to call things quits when I noticed a sign for a Thai restaurant - Jai Thai Food - promising free Wi-Fi and discounted dinner from 89 kroner (originally 159 kroner). It was better than anything else we had in mind so we took the plunge - and we weren't disappointed. We both chose the Panang Noodle Curry, and I added in a Rekorderling Strawberry Lime Cider for added effect, with my friend opting for a Swedish beer accompaniment.

The restaurant had a really cosy, peaceful vibe complete with faux palm trees, LED Christmas lights and a Thai atmosphere that made you feel right at home and want to linger for conversations. The food was delicious and incredibly good value in Stockholm, exceeding all of my expectations.