25 Stockholm Hotels Among the Islands
The 1874 Grand Hôtel of the Nobel laureates, a medieval Old Town house with a well in the cellar, a former bank with a glass-roofed hall, and ABBA’s own hotel on Sodermalm.
Stockholm spreads its hotels across the islands, from the Nobel-laureate grand dames on the Blasieholmen quay to the 17th-century houses packed into the Old Town, with a bank, a school, naval barracks and a steam mill turned into hotels along the way. This list has the 1874 Grand Hôtel, the medieval Lady Hamilton house with a well in its cellar, the former bank behind the Bank Hotel, and Hotel Rival, the Sodermalm hotel owned by Benny Andersson of ABBA.
The list is grouped by character, not ranked. Most of the hotels link to their own site, where the rate is current and you book direct; a few are listed without a link.
Grand names of old Stockholm
Grand Hôtel · Blasieholmen
The Grand Hôtel opened in 1874, started by the French hotelier Regis Cadier on the Blasieholmen waterfront, across the water from the Royal Palace. It lodges the Nobel laureates each December, and held the early Nobel banquets in its halls. Its Hall of Mirrors is modeled on the one at Versailles.
Hotel Diplomat · Ostermalm
The Diplomat was built in 1911 as an Art Nouveau residence on Strandvagen, one of Stockholm’s grandest boulevards, and became a hotel in 1966. It is still family-owned, looking out over Nybroviken bay.
Hotel Esplanade · Ostermalm
The Esplanade occupies a 1910 Art Nouveau building on Strandvagen, next door to the Diplomat. It is one of Stockholm’s oldest surviving small family-run hotels.
Elite Palace Hotel · Vasastan
The Elite Palace opened as the Hotell Palace in the early 1900s, near St Eriksplan, and has long been a Stockholm grand hotel. It is now run by the Swedish Elite Hotels group.
Old Town within the walls
Collector’s Victory Hotel · Gamla Stan
The Victory is set in a 17th-century Old Town house and named for Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory. It is filled with the owners’ collection of nautical antiques and maritime art. A 17th-century silver hoard was reportedly dug up beneath the building.
Collector’s Lady Hamilton Hotel · Gamla Stan
The Lady Hamilton stands in a house the hotel dates to the 1470s, steps from the Royal Palace, named after Emma, Lady Hamilton. It is hung with Swedish folk art and antiques, and guests can swim in a medieval well kept in the cellar.
Collector’s Lord Nelson Hotel · Gamla Stan
The Lord Nelson fills a narrow 17th-century house on Vasterlanggatan, packed with nautical antiques and named for Admiral Horatio Nelson. It is billed as one of the narrowest hotels in Sweden.
Hotel Reisen, in The Unbound Collection by Hyatt · Gamla Stan
Hotel Reisen stands on the Skeppsbron waterfront, on the site of Cafe Reisen, an 18th-century coffee house. It reopened in 2022 as Sweden’s first hotel in Hyatt’s Unbound Collection.
Hotel Sven Vintappare · Gamla Stan
Sven Vintappare occupies a 17th-century Old Town building, on a lane named for Sven the Wine Tapper, a royal wine steward. It is a tiny hotel of just a few rooms, furnished in Gustavian style.
Scandic Gamla Stan · Gamla Stan
The Scandic Gamla Stan is in a 17th-century merchant’s house on Lilla Nygatan, in the Old Town, done out in 18th-century Gustavian style behind its old facade.
Bank, school, barracks, mill reborn
Bank Hotel · Norrmalm
The Bank Hotel fills a grand early-1900s former bank on Arsenalsgatan, near Kungstradgarden. It opened as a hotel in 2018, with a glass-roofed atrium set in the old banking hall.
At Six · Norrmalm
At Six was built into a Brutalist former office tower on Brunkebergstorg, with interiors by Universal Design Studio, and opened in 2016. It holds one of the largest private contemporary-art collections of any Scandinavian hotel.
Miss Clara by Nobis · Norrmalm
Miss Clara is in the former Ateneum girls’ school, a 1910 Art Nouveau building on Sveavagen designed by the architect Gustaf Wickman. It opened as a hotel in 2014.
Nobis Hotel · Norrmalm
The Nobis fills two 1890s palazzi on Norrmalmstorg, redesigned by Wingardh Architects and opened in 2010. It stands on the square of the 1973 bank siege that gave rise to the term ‘Stockholm syndrome’.
Hotel Skeppsholmen · Skeppsholmen
Hotel Skeppsholmen is set in Langa raden, a row of 1699 buildings put up to house naval crews on Skeppsholmen island. It reopened as a design hotel on the museum island, facing the city.
Elite Hotel Marina Tower · Saltsjoqvarn (Nacka)
The Marina Tower was converted from the early-1900s Three Crowns steam mill at Saltsjoqvarn, on the waterfront across from the city. It can be reached from the centre by commuter boat.
Song, stage and screen
Berns Hotel · Norrmalm
Berns opened in 1863 as Berns Salonger, a grand entertainment hall by Berzelii Park. Its Red Room gave August Strindberg the title and setting of his 1879 novel The Red Room. It still pairs a boutique hotel with a live-music and nightlife venue.
Hotel Rival · Sodermalm
The Rival is owned by Benny Andersson of ABBA, set in a 1930s Functionalist building on Mariatorget whose cinema still runs as a theatre. It was billed as Sweden’s first boutique hotel when it opened in 2003.
Pop House Hotel · Djurgarden
The Pop House shares its building on Djurgarden with ABBA The Museum and the Swedish Music Hall of Fame. It has music-themed rooms, among them an ABBA Gold room.
Hotel Hasselbacken · Djurgarden
Hasselbacken grew from a Djurgarden tavern whose roots reach back to 1748, long tied to the island’s old pleasure gardens. It gave its name to Hasselback potatoes, created at its cooking school.
Haymarket by Scandic · Norrmalm
The Haymarket is in the former PUB department store at Hotorget, where Greta Garbo worked as a shop assistant before her film career. It was restored in 1920s-30s jazz-age style when it became a hotel in 2016.
Characterful one-offs
Ett Hem · Ostermalm
Ett Hem is set in a 1910 Arts-and-Crafts townhouse in the Larkstaden quarter, its interiors by Ilse Crawford’s Studioilse. It is run as a ‘home away from home’, the sense of its Swedish name.
Lydmar Hotel · Blasieholmen
The Lydmar sits on the Blasieholmen quay, beside the Nationalmuseum and facing the Royal Palace, known for its art- and music-led style and its waterfront terrace. It is now majority-owned by the neighbouring Grand Hôtel.
Scandic Grand Central · Norrmalm
The Scandic Grand Central is in a historic building on Vasagatan, beside Stockholm’s Central Station, and opened in 2010 as a design-led lifestyle hotel.
Hotel Anno 1647 · Sodermalm
Anno 1647 is set in buildings dating to 1647, near Slussen on Sodermalm. Its rooms keep their original wide-plank floors and period detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these hotels ranked?
No. The groups sort them by character, and the order within each group carries no meaning.
What made a hotel interesting enough for this list?
A story. Every entry was a grand dame, an Old Town house with centuries behind it, a bank or mill or school reborn, or a hotel tied to Swedish music and letters. Comfort alone did not qualify.
Why are there no prices?
Rates change daily and a priced list goes stale in a month. Where a hotel runs its own site, its name links there, so you see the current rate and book direct.
Which hotel puts me closest to the day trips on this site?
Most day trips from Stockholm run out through the archipelago by boat, to Drottningholm Palace on its island, or to the old university town of Uppsala. The Old Town and waterfront hotels sit closest to the ferries and the sights.
Do the small hotels book out faster than the grand ones?
Usually. The small Old Town hotels, the Victory, Lady Hamilton, Sven Vintappare, hold only a handful of rooms and fill first. Book those well ahead.