Changing Rooms: Design Hotels in Sweden

TEXT: CHRISTINE DEMSTEADER
PHOTOS: HOTEL J & PARK INN

A selection of six design hotels with exciting features to suit the moods of their guests.


A growing number of hotels in Sweden are showcasing local design in fully-booked surroundings. The design hotel concept has become a popular trend in the hospitality industry over the last decade. And now it’s sweeping through Sweden, with each unique establishment offering something stylishly different. Check into our selection of the country’s design hotels and experience something extra from your stay.

NORDIC LIGHT HOTEL, STOCKHOLM
A design sojourn in the Swedish capital offers a number of hotels to suit your mood, or even to change it. Guests can create their own ambience at this contemporary hotel, which is inspired by Scandinavia’s heavenly phenomenon, the Northern Lights.
        Working innovatively with light art, the hotel has 60 ‘mood rooms’ with multi-coloured light beds that enable guests to create their own atmosphere. “We want our visitors to be part of the design process and form their own environment” says the hotel’s Mari-Linn Stenlund.
        There is also a team of in-house designers to help with changing trends and the hotel introduces five design themes a year. “We are always looking for the latest design influences to incorporate into the hotel,” Stenlund says.

BIRGER JARL HOTEL, STOCKHOLM
It is what’s on the inside that matters at the city’s Birger Jarl Hotel. Named after Stockholm’s founder, the hotel was built in 1974 and the concrete mass has about as much grace as the decade’s memorable fashions. But step inside and there’s a treasure behind every door.
        The interior had a complete overhaul in the late 1990s and designers were drafted in to stamp their Swedish expression on 16 individually created rooms. “We try to use Swedish material wherever possible,” says the hotel’s Vibeke Stadling, “in order to give our guests a real feel for contemporary Sweden through design.”         Guests can also take advantage of the hotel’s design package – a two night stay with free entrance to an array of Stockholm museums, a complete do-it-yourself design tour kit, as well as discount offers from the capital’s top design stores.


HOTEL J, NACKA
A 15-minute boat trip from the city centre brings you to a waterside haven. Located on the Stockholm archipelago’s borders, Hotel J enables guests to get away from it all and even retreat from Sweden for a while.
        America’s east coast and the harbour of Newport is the design inspiration and the nautical theme befits the surroundings, where sailing is the catch of the day. The hotel’s 45 rooms are tastefully decked out in blue and white interior, designed by Swedish furniture store R.O.O.M.
        This is where locals come to escape the pace of city life and enjoy a tranquil setting with scenic views right on the capital’s doorstep.


PARK INN, SMÅLAND
The city hotel in the small southern town of Värnamo has been standing for 145 years. In 2000 it was fully renovated and renamed Park Inn. Småland is also known as Sweden’s ‘furniture country’ (möbelriket) and the hotel draws on its rich-picking of home-grown design talent and materials.
        “We chose classical form, designs that will last for decades and never become out of date,” says the hotel’s Lillian Broms Johansson. Park Inn’s three individual suites were created by local design companies Källemo, Svenssons in Lammhult and Bruno Mathsson.

HOTEL ODIN, GOTHENBURG
With its 120 suites, Gothenburg’s Hotel Odin is no ordinary design hotel. The newly built complex in the heart of the city hosts offers a new approach to home from home living and a much longed for alternative.
        Catering for their guests in a literal sense, the ultra-modern, apartment-sized lodgings come equipped with built in kitchens as well as spacious living areas and bedrooms.

FABRIKEN, GOTLAND
Swedish couple Anna-Karin and Johan Hellström left Gothenburg to set up home and business on Furillen, a barren island off Gotland’s north-east coast.
        The result was Fabriken, a unique design hotel in a unique setting, built on an abandoned limestone quarry. The hotel features Scandinavian design of the highest quality combined with the island’s handmade wares of rustic woollen textiles.
        With maximum capacity for 20 guests the hotel also has photographic studios, making it an ideal and intimate setting to capture the island’s beauty and nature.


For more information:
Nordic Light - www.nordiclighthotel.se
Birger Jarl - www.birgerjarl.se
Hotel J - www.hotelj.se
Park Inn - www.varnamo.parkinn.se
Hotel Odin - www.hotelodin.se
Fabriken - www.furillen.nu