HOTEL J

Upon arriving at this hotel, we were told we had a choice of rooms. The one in the hotel didn't really have a view and the one in the back building up a zillion outdoor steps did have a fabulous view. I knew my 92 year old mother would not be able to climb those steps especially with luggage and she definitely couldn't climb up there with her walker. Fortunately I had driven a car there and thankfully there was an elevator located in the garage. We opted for the room with a view and that was special. I couldn't believe I did not have a hot water pot as we usually have a bit of tea and cookies in the evenings. We finally figured out how to call the front desk and they brought around a thermos full of hot water. The coffee shop/restaurant located in the lobby doesn't have very good food. Very disappointed with the quality. The restaurant located a 10 minute walk from the hotel was excellent and had beautiful views over the water. Yes, I had to drive my mother to the restaurant as she would never have made that long walk.

We stayed here for five nights during a stay in Stockholm visiting relatives. A lovely location and very clean and comfortable room. Good service. Nice Swedish breakfast and nice little bar/brasserie for drinks/light eats in the evening. Buses to town reasonably close, or you can get the ferry nearby. Although only other decent place to eat nearby is Restaurant J.

What a lovely hotel! Don't be put off by the distance out of town. Ferry worked well and it's worth it for this place. Big, comfortable rooms. Fantastic breakfast. Beautiful surroundings. Only downside would be lack of dinner options nearby. They have their own restaurant on the water which is ok, otherwise not much local. Didn't really matter though. Stay here!

Before I go on, with evidence, of how very, very below average this all was may I just say the tall, dark haired girl with glasses on reception was brilliant. She was helpful, friendly and tried to get stuff done; replicate her please. Secondly, having read how badly the Director responds to any form of criticism on these posts, this place will only ever trundle on as it is surviving primarily because of location and business trips. For the record, I run my own successful business and I listen to all my customer feedback, not just the bits I like. This holiday was booked as a surprise reward for my daughter passing all her exams. After 24 hours it had become, with regard to the hotel, 'make the best of a bad job'... Firstly, by U.K. Standards this is not a 4 star nor close to it; it's a 3 star at best. The bulk of the rooms are not luxurious but more like Ikea meets Premier Inn. The good stuff is the view and the location, they're lovely; the restaurant food we directly paid for was very nice, the included breakfast average, after that I'd struggle to say something particularly good. I think the slick advertising for this hotel is also worth noting, as there's little or no mention of the real layout of the buildings or what the bulk of guests get i.e. No proper sea view and pretty basic accommodation. If you stay in the main, original body of the hotel, in one of the very expensive suites/rooms, I think it would be great. Elsewhere on site.. well. Arrived on the 25th August '17 after a decent 9 hour journey to find that the room I'd booked and paid for and been promised on email hadn't been sorted out. Complained to a somewhat bemused and unpleasant staff member, who seemed to think he was doing me a favour sorting out what I'd paid for, was now being overcharged for (as they'd put us in a lesser room) and what I'd been assured in writing via email by a member of hotel staff (which I showed him). Eventually it was resolved, upgraded apparently... though I'm still no clearer on what I actually paid for on the online site versus what we eventually got... and we got settled after not being offered any assistance in dragging bags to and from the different rooms twice. We were asked when we first booked in 'do you have heavy bags', nothing else; I confirmed they weren't too bad. No help was offered beyond that question, nor was any advice given i.e. You have to climb a significant set of outdoor steps to the room block or walk three times that distance up an incline. I tell you, I'd hate to be elderly or have major health problems or arrive when it was raining. In the room, and please see pictures as evidence where possible: - Dirty old sock under bed - left on side for cleaner with note, still there 48 hours after commencing stay and the room had allegedly been cleaned. The sock tells you that they do not clean under the easily moveable twin beds in the room. - Ordered hotel restaurant food on night one, sat outside to eat accompanied by the lovely view. Young cook/waiter brings the hot food out and drops a knife by mistake. No problem, 'I'll get you another Sir'...thank you... etc... he then walks straight over and starts chatting to another set of guests.. I wait patiently for a couple of minutes, food going cold, then go myself to the food area and try and find one. He follows me in and finds me one whilst laughing about it...' - Day one, 25 days out of date nuts in the fridge - reported to same (less unpleasant this time) member of staff the following morning. I'd tried two nuts, surprisingly without checking the best before date, they were rotten and I threw the rest in the bin. Replenished with more out of date nuts with the same best before date of the 1st August 2017! Left on side in room asking to be changed, day three, no more rotten nuts. Day four, out of date nuts appear again! 😂 - Pillows were like wafers , no extra in the room so had to ask at reception; provided. This is another good example of it not being a proper 4 star. - No tea or coffee facilities in the room; that's obviously just down to saving money, not being generous and making you overpay in full for all that you use via the 'honesty bar' next to reception which in reality is a tiny cup at an inflated price of £3.50-4 (Sterling). I think in 2017 tea and coffee making facilities in an allegedly upmarket hotel room in Europe should be standard; having now checked a load of comparable hotels in Stockholm I couldn't find one that doesn't provide this. - The TV didn't work; I like to watch the CNN news when away which is in English , impossible as the pictures was so bad or didn't show at all. Amazingly the pay per view cinema movie channel worked just fine, so we watched that at £9 (sterling) a time as we had no choice as we knew there was no chance of being moved room, as occupancy was full over the first 2 days and we didn't want to move again after that. - Room phone had no details on it of how to ring reception etc.. the first, wrong, room we were put in did; the second room didn't. Again, these details tell you that hotel staff and management don't fully check basic room standards. - No bedding change at all until night 4, cost savings again. - Bedside reading light on one side broken and falling out of wall mounting; live wires visible, the plug was hot so we took it out of wall socket. Reported to same bemused and unpleasant member of staff and nothing done in 9 hours whilst out that day. On reporting it again on our return, as some bright individual had plugged it back in, it wasn't even recorded on the system they use, which was confirmed by the much more helpful younger female staff on reception in the evening. 'The Janitor' isn't apparently in over the weekend so we may be able to put some electrical tape over it...' Still nothing done by night three; and to not have access to basic support or maintenance staff over the weekend is very poor, is also about cost savings and doing it 'on the cheap' and again not in keeping with 4 star hotel ratings. - Room service night two, got order wrong; poor girl had to go and run up and down 4 floors to get me what was actually ordered and would no doubt be charged for. - 'Free wifi' mostly didn't work throughout the 5 night stay and throughout most the buildings. Bizarrely you could get a better periodic signal in the garden than in the room; good job I wasn't visiting on business. - Breakfast on day 3, after the busy weekend where standards were ok, was this day held in the lower room at the rear of the external building you walk to; the room was light and bright. The usual various food was on offer, though on this day all the hot food was cold and quite unpleasant. We arrived at 9am, service finishes at 9.30am so I'd hope staff would keep food warm till the end; maybe they need reminding the food is not free' The scrambled egg was tepid and congealed, the bacon greasy and cold and the pancakes stone cold, hard and stuck to the serving equipment. I checked to see if the heating elements were on under the serving bowls, none were. I left feeling a bit ill and my daughter had nothing but watermelon and a piece of bread. It was broadly the same on day 5. - No sanitary disposal at all in the bathroom; it's a pedal bin with a bin bag in it, no special lining. This breaches UK law and I'm sure EU guidance and is also about saving money and doing it 'on the cheap'. It's certainly about making staff handle 'human waste' in a totally unsafe way and demeaning women. - I've never been to a hotel, ever, without a 'do not disturb' or 'please clean later' notice to hang on the door. I have now. On the morning we decided to laze in the room for a few hours, we couldn't. After 2-3 days of this you start to laugh at it, you have no choice. You just can't be bothered mentioning stuff anymore to a member of staff or department......because you just resign yourself to it all being 'a bit rubbish'; that is this place.... lovely to look at, the directly paid for restaurant foods good but overall the place offers a hotel experience which is 'a bit rubbish'...... whilst charged at full rates well above its star rating. I'd love to come again to Stockholm but next time I'd stay somewhere they look after paying guests. This, for the most part, is a glorified, business meeting focused, average bed and breakfast hotel, undoubtedly with a view to die for...nothing more.

The hotel rooms are modern, clean and plenty large enough. Flat screen HD TV included. The room is trimmed out in all wooden floors, doors and trim. We had a room wth a little patio out the rear door. The front office area is a nice place to have a beer or a coffee or even a meal. It has a nice setting on the waterfront and is a 15 minute ferry ride to downtown (very convenient). Oh, breakfast is included in a separate building on site which is a treat in itself to tour. I recommend this hotel, especially if you want to avoid staying downtown.