Monday 4 August 2014

Hotel Review - The Lord Nelson, Stockholm, Sweden - Small, but Perfectly Formed

The Lord Nelson is a small hotel situated right in the middle of  Gamla Stan, Stockholm's Old Town. It has the distinction of being the narrowest hotel in Sweden at just under six metres, but it does stretch a long way back. It is a very unique family run hotel, first opened in the mid 70's and now run by the children of the original owners.

The hotel is jam packed with naval memorabilia, much of it relating to Nelson. Each floor is named after a ships deck and the rooms after a ship. On each floor are beautiful grandfather clocks. On the first floor, overlooking Västerlånggatan, is a small library with comfy leather seating and a computer. It is a lovely place to sit and watch life pass by on the busy street below. There is also a roof terrace, again with comfy seating, tubs of flowers, blankets for when it gets cool and views over the roof tops of Gamla Stan. 
The Library


The rooms vary in size, (and are accessed by a real key!) but many are very small, like ship's cabins, with wooden floors and a port hole in the bathroom door, mine had a picture of a ship on the wall, a small desk an old fashioned wooden chair, a TV, and a few books and a narrow but comfortable bed, very homely. The bathroom was very clean and had all the modern fittings people expect, the water was always hot. The free WiFi worked very well. Note that there are no tea/coffee making facilities in the room, but on two nights when we arrived back at the hotel the receptionist happily made us coffee for no charge which we drank in the dining area.


Dining Area
Breakfast was taken in a small dining area beside reception. It had everything you could want including Swedish specialities such as herrings in a creamy sauce, crispbread and pink caviar. Everything was very fresh and constantly topped up by staff. They even had two baskets of boiled eggs, one containing three minute eggs and one six minute one, all wrapped in linen cloths to keep them warm. There was also a very good selection of bread/rolls.

The staff were delightful, very friendly and all spoke excellent English. They were very helpful with suggestions of places to eat and ordering taxis and the suchlike, nothing was too much bother for them. 

The location of the hotel right on the middle of Gamla Stan was perfect, in minutes you can walk to the Royal Palace, The Nobel Museum, Riddarholm Church, Storkyrkan and Stortorget. The centre of Stockholm and the main railway station are just a ten or fifteen minute walk away (depending on how fast you walk!) So if you are going on any organised trips the pick-up places are all within an easy walk.

Finally, the price for this hotel, considering its location (and the fact this was expensive Sweden) was very
Getting Acquainted with Lord Nelson
reasonable, I paid £200 for three nights bed and breakfast. If you want big, spacious rooms this hotel is not for you (though the same family run two bigger hotels in the same area, details on their website). But if you want a quirky, friendly, personal hotel that is well located and reasonably priced I have no hesitation in recommending the unique Lord Nelson Hotel.


Address:  Västerlånggatan 22, Gamla Stan, SE-111 29 Stockholm, Sweden.
Website: Lord Nelson Hotel

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