In the Pantheon of Swedish monarchs, King Oscar I (1844-1859) barely evaluated a mention. A first reformer, the second Bernadotte lost his nerve in the crossed currents of revolutionary uprisings of the time. After his death, her widow Josefina erected, in her honor, a house for older elderly women in the upper class, often soup widows. Designed by the architect by Ulrik Stenhammar and built between 1873 and 1875, the beautiful three -storey structure with two wings facing a central courtyard was one of the first Stockholm buildings to have rooms opening long corridors lit by arched windows. Charitable but in no case miserable, the House of the daring South district of Stockholm from Södermalm ensured comfort for almost 80 years.
But after the elderly residents moved in the early 1950s, the majestic building suffered decades of vicissitudes. Located directly above a new rail tunnel, it is seated empty for years – not precisely unloved, but dilapidated and apparently blocked on a grid of steel beams protecting its foundations from earthworks below. Finally, the work was completed and the city was ready to sell the building – but on the reserve that it is converted into a public space.
Thus, the Landmark Reborn property as a hotel of 32 bedrooms and suite, its metal roof elaborated with rounded dorms of sparkling characteristic dormitories, and its plaster facade repainted in its original sandstone color. On the eardrum above the elegant front entrance, original golden letters states its old name: Konung Oscar I: S Minne (the memory of King Oscar I). Below, there is the new building: Stockholm Stadshotell.
In English, it means “Hôtel de la Ville”, but for a Swedish, Stadshotell evokes something more romantic – a certain nostalgia, a bourgeois elegance. It also points out what type of establishment it is; So much so that when Södermalm's fiercely local residents learned the name, they were relieved. They feared that their darling building will become an exclusive destination hotel widely closed to its neighbors; Instead, they obtained a contemporary version of family inns that dot the country – social hubs, or statistics As they are well known.
“THE instead of This is where you are going for your first appointment, where you take grandmother for her 70th anniversary. This is the town hall, ”says Fredrik CarlströmA creative director who is one of the five founding partners of the hotel. The Swedish based in New York, which develops brands and real estate, is fascinated by the art of atmosphere. “In hotels and real estate, there is this trend of who has designed it, who is the architect, but I believe that people who are really excellent for creating an atmosphere are restaurateurs.” He wondered for a long time what would happen if a hotel was led by a cohort of the best of them, applying all their knowledge of hospitality to all customer experience: “Put people first and let design follow in the background”, as he says.
With instead of Carlström puts this theory into practice, after having joined forces with Johan Agrell, Jon Lacotte and Dan Källström, the trio behind very praised neighborhood curves Baby,, Nizza coffee,, Schmaltz And Tengu. They did not have to go far to meet: Carlström has been hanging in their restaurants for years, absorbing their special sauce. “I visit every time I come from New York. Babette feels particularly as a high -end cafeteria in an art college. ” In 2020, when Agrell told him about a wonderful heritage building in the heart of Söder (as the inhabitants call him) who had been made to rent and who would do the perfect hotel, Carlström was instantly sold. He recruited his friend and colleague Ian NicholsonA veteran director of the American hotel and developer whose CV includes the standard, the Mercer, Château MarmontHudson and Soho Grand Hotels. Their financial partner, Karl-Johan Persson, the third generation to direct the Swedish trade giant H&M (and a regular in Babette), also needed little persuasion.
The memory was succinct – a house where you can eat and sleep, but where the accent is overthrown. “A restaurant with rooms rather than a hotel, which must provide a place to have breakfast,” said Agrell, adding that the bistro’s opening before the hotel, as they did in December, said their particular difference. Although the name of the hotel means nothing for a non-Sweden, he says that he signals what they want to achieve. “It's like anti-infringing in a way. Stockholm Stadshotell is very institutional, which helps to send a message that it is the product, it is food, it is wine, it is service, it is inclusiveness; This is what we want. ”
Everything follows from there. Even the nomenclature is simple, if not prosaic: there is bistro, with tiles in the walls, bolted tables on the floor and a daily black manuscript board menu; Salongen, with Småland benches and chairs; the bar; And the high -end restaurant, Matsalen – “dining room” in Swedish. Just like the house, where you eat in the kitchen every day and use the The dining room For special occasions. Quite special, in this case: Matsalen is in the old chapel, with vaulted ceilings, ionic pilasters, golden angels and marbred walls recently repainted by hand. The staff could be rifted on the formality of gastronomy, folding towels in Bishop hats, for example, but it is not a muffled temple. The tasting menu is five generous lessons, not 15 years old, created under the stewardship of the executive chief and the alum from Panisse Olle Celltonand served with neither agitation nor ego.
The design of the hotel – Hall, salons and rooms – was supervised by Elin Martin and Michaela Hemlin de Studio escapeAnd align with this state of mind. A demanding luxury where nothing screams, and everything is comfortable and beautiful without ever being overworked; Carlström alternately calls it “Shaker Chic” and “Monastic Meeting Palazzo”. There are discreet heads in the history of Swedish design, of the functionalism imposed and Swedish to Biedermieier in functionalism of the 1940s and the 1950s. (Banc places in curved plywood in Bistro are a tribute to those of the Chapelle of Faith of Gunnar Asplund Wooded cemeteryWidely recognized as the most photogenic bench in Stockholm.) Vintage discoveries are combined with custom combinations in richly grained wood, like Burr Birch, and padded in dense velvet.
Thanks to the building itself, there is a lot of inherent character, an old energy and humanity which is always very noticeable even if a large part of the current interior has been built from zero. There are 150 years of bearing strip brands on the limestone stages on two original curved staircases, and the graceful corridors protected by heritage, with their views to large windows, which in many projects have been absorbed in larger hotel rooms. A sense of art and crafts permeate, the marquette intarsia capturing Stockholm patterns in the elevator towards traditional woven napkins Insjöns Väveri.
Södermalm is in itself a special place; Now, mired, but still with a hard -working grain, the city's self -proclaimed creative place – the Brooklyn de Stockholm, so to speak, whose residents prefer to socialize in their hood, says Agrell. He is not presumptuous enough to suggest that he and his partners have created a very necessary social center, but he is “super proud” if others say. (They are.) This is the beginning, but there is a feeling of life beyond the insularity of a luxury hotel, a neighborhood spirit in which a foreigner can share. Lacotte, a proud local of Söder who grew up in the nearby utilitarian station, is looking forward to summer, when he and his crew transform the courtyard into Italian piazza with wicker chairs and umbrellas, and really open the doors.
Stockholmstudshotell.comSKR3,500 (around € 325)
