First Hotel Amaranten, Stockholm

...memories for me, for the first time in this hotel in an area quite familiar to me as you shall see.

As for the title? Well you'll have to read on won't you!

'''KUNGSHOLMEN ISLAND'''

The Amarantan hotel is situated on the island of Kungsholmen. Now what does Stockholm have in common with Venice? Well, they’re both cities built on islands, and “ The Kings Island” just across Kungsbron (“The King’s bridge”) from ...
...entrance, then left at the first road you encounter, you are on Scheelegatan, home to several bars and restaurants, most notably the bar Lokal and the Spanish restaurant Mamas and Tapas, worth a try if you can get over the terrible pun. Walk to the end of Scheelegatan and you will get to the junction of Hantverkargatan (“handy craft street”). To the left are more restaurants and eventually the Stadshuset (Stockholm City Hall), the big tourist draw ... more

INTRODUCTION

Having lived there for a few years, Stockholm is always a favourite destination of mine and it still feels like a second home. Strange then, that up until this point I haven’t covered anything from there in my reviews. Here is where I put that shameful record straight. Almost every year I manage to go there for a course of some kind, and last year was no exception. In the middle of winter, I found myself back in the city that holds many memories for me, for the first time in this hotel in an area quite familiar to me as you shall see.

As for the title? Well you'll have to read on won't you!

KUNGSHOLMEN ISLAND

The Amarantan hotel is situated on the island of Kungsholmen. Now what does Stockholm have in common with Venice? Well, they’re both cities built on islands, and “ The Kings Island” just across Kungsbron (“The King’s bridge”) from the central railway station, T-Centralen, used to have the reputation of being an ageing district. Over the last 10 or so years, this has given way to a new trendy reputation, with many bars and restaurants springing up around the various districts of this island. Located on the end of Kungsholmsgatan towards Kungsbron, this is the part of the island closest to the city centre, with the aforementioned T-Centralen being a 5-10 min walk away. I actually lived on this road for nearly 4 years only a few doors down from the hotel, and passed it many times, wondering what it was like, and this was the time that I finally found out.

A EX LOCAL’S GUIDE TO LOCAL FACILITIES

I can see all of this in my mind’s eye, so it’s a veritable pleasure to fill you in on this locality. Turning right from the hotel entrance and following Kungsholmsgatan over the afforementioned Kungsbron bridge will lead to T-Centralen and lots of places the normal guide books will tell you about. A little historical note is that this area used to be the Klara area of Stockholm, which was apparently much loved but was redeveloped in the 1970s into an area of concrete mostrosities.

The hotel is right next to Rådhuset metro station (Tunnelbana, or T-bana), to the right of the hotel entrance. This is on the blue line, and one stop away from T-Centralen. As you walk down to the station, in the underground passageway, to the left is a rather incongruous Ethiopian restaurant. Its previous incarnation was Latin American. In all these years I've never tried either, sadly. Back onto street level, across the road is a café and a sushi bar. There is also an Italian restaurant, Dolce Vita, that does (or did, anyway) excellent takeaway pizzas, especially the seafood one. Go to the right a little from the hotel entrance and cross the road, and look for the red canopy.

If you walk left from the hotel entrance, then left at the first road you encounter, you are on Scheelegatan, home to several bars and restaurants, most notably the bar Lokal and the Spanish restaurant Mamas and Tapas, worth a try if you can get over the terrible pun. Walk to the end of Scheelegatan and you will get to the junction of Hantverkargatan (“handy craft street”). To the left are more restaurants and eventually the Stadshuset (Stockholm City Hall), the big tourist draw where they have the Nobel Prize banquet, but best to head to the right for eateries. Unless of course you have several hundred Swedish Kroner to blow at the Stadshuskällaren restaurant at Stadshuset - have a look at the price list if you want a laugh. Anyway back to the tour in the other direction, and If you walk right to the end, roughly a 15 minute walk to the right of the street is the lauded sushi restaurant Ruppongi. The tempura isn't bad at all.

Another fun walk is to cross the road from the hotel, then walk through any of the side streets onto Flemingsgatan, the main road parallel to Kungsholmsgatan. Here you will find more bars and restaurants, most notably Caliente tapas bar, the more discerning choice for Kungsholmen tapas fans.

You want to know more? Well OK since you ask. Instead of stopping to turn left or right on Hantverkargatan, if you carry on down Scheelegatan, you will reach the water, where if you walk along to the left, you will end up at Stadshuset. If you follow the pleasant path, overlooking the trendy island to the south, Södermalm, to the right instead you will eventually end up at a lovely park called Rålambshovsparken, where you can find a café and lots of Swedes hogging the grass in the summer. There is also bathing to the far side of the park which can be topless at the height of the short summer (nude Swedish blonde alert). That woke you up didn’t it?

THE BEDROOM

The floor was a light panelled wooden laminate. Swedes hate carpets; there was a health scare a few years back based around allergies brought on by carpets, culminating in carpets being hysterically binned. I have to say though, as with many things, I’ve been indoctrinated and have a wooden floor at home myself. A good tip when visiting a Swedish home is to take your shoes off when you enter. The walls were wallpapered in white. Behind the bed was a picture of some kind of beach scene

The room had a small, old fashioned CRT TV with relatively few channels, but English speaking shows are almost always subtitled, so you won’t have too many problems if you like Scrubs or suchlike. Next to the TV an ironing board and iron were propped up against the wall. A magazine rack on the wall contained some leaflets with hotel information including how to use the WiFi. Below it was one of those collapsible wooden thingies that you can put your suitcase on (at least that’s what I do; anyone any idea what it’s called or actually for?). The TV guide was on a shelf above the TV; next to it was a hairdryer hung on the wall. The wardrobe was mirrored, with 2 partitions for hangers. Contained inside was a fan and some extra laundry sheets. The desk was wooden, with a phone, pencil, paper, 2 wine glasses and a hotel guide on top of it. Hidden underneath was the room bin. Above the desk on the wall was a big mirror. Next to this mounted on the wall was a lamp.

To the side was a small wooden coffee table with some magazines, the room service guide and some sweeties in a woven basket that would have cost an arm and a leg. These were nuts, chewing gum, Lackerol (small liquorice sweets), chocolate, chocolate nuts, wine gums, Bilar (small. chewy candy cars), Daim bars (yes I spelt that correctly), another couple of local chocolate confections, Cheese Doodles (Wotsits in all but name) and Estrella plain potato crisps. I do not recommend these in Sweden; I think you can get Lays these days which are the same as Walkers. I find Estrella crisps a bit soggy, I mean you want proper crisps really don’t you? Not that you were going to buy the room ones anyway. There were 2 bedside tables, which were more like coffee tables as they didn’t have backs. These each had a lamp on top. No alarm clock was in evidence. There was a cream comfy chair in the corner of the room.

The mini bar fridge was under the desk, containing some Coke, Coke Light, mineral water, Fanta, Sprite, tonic water, Heineken, Barcadi Breezers (1 pineapple, 1 melon), small bottles of red and white wine and champagne. Tiny bottles of Gordons Gin, Absolut vodka, Johnny Walker Red Label, Barcadi and Baileys completed the lineup.

I had a surprisingly good nights sleep on the usual stingy Swedish single bed. Even when it’s a double room, many times it’s just 2 beds pushed together with 2 mattresses! But this was fine; usually on the first night in a hotel I struggle to sleep but I had no such problems here. The environment was also pleasantly quiet. This was impressive considering that I had to fight my way through reception to get to the lifts, as some sort of party seemed to be in full swing on the ground floor, complete with bouncers on the doors. I hardly heard a sound from my room.

On my last night though, I had some problems with some noisy, selfish guests (I’m sorry to say, but more than likely Swedes in my experience) who were playing loud music at 3am. I had to call reception 2 separate times to shut them up. This wasn’t particularly impressive, but probably comes down to the Swedish urge to leave things as they are. I suspect the staff only acted after my second call. Another annoying thing was the nylon sheets, always guaranteed to generate static electricity. Another irritation was the “click-click” of the water pipes expanding early and late in the day.

THE BATHROOM

The walls of this small, windowless room were white tiled. A box of tissues was on the wall and a bin under the sink. On the sink was a bar of green hand soap. On the sink were 2 glasses. A couple of towels were on a metal shelf above the toilet. On the wall were 2 soap dispensers, one body & hair shampoo, the other liquid soap. I found the water from the basin tap not to be hot enough to shave with effectively. The shower heat was fine though, and the water pressure sufficiently powerful. One funny thing was that it would go temporarily cold when the temperature was adjusted. After a couple of minutes it seems to settle again, though.

BREAKFAST

Breakfast, which was served in the main restaurant area, is partly enclosed in the dinng area and spills out into the reception area. There were lots of tables of 4, but not many for 2 which I thought was a bit odd in a business hotel. I managed to get a table for 5 to myself so it wasn’t a problem.

There was the usual selection of goodies on offer, as befits the usual Swedish hotel experience. I stop short of saying “the usual Smorgasbord of goodies” as it actually isn’t, otherwise it would have lots of different fish, meats and cheeses for it to be a proper one (Scandinavian pedant alert). Several teas were on offer, though I was disappointed that Rooibos wasn’t one of them, as it seems to be gaining popularity there as here. Filter coffee was of course on offer. Fruit juices were available from a machine, which I imagine mixes concentrate with water, as I never find them to be particularly satisfying.

There was a selection of fresh fruits and yoghurts. There were 4 or 5 cereals and mueslis to choose from. In Sweden they love to have cereals with yoghurt instead of milk. This takes some getting used to but I can quite recommend it. A selection of pates and meats was there to sate the local carnivore tendencies, as well as ham slices. There were several cheeses and some butter and margarine cartons next to them. Boiled and scrambled eggs were on offer. Some vegetables to go with your main selections included cucumber, tomato and red peppers. No Swedish hotel breakfast is complete without at least a bit of fish, and so here was the obligatory small “sill” pieces in sauces like tomato and mustard – cured, salted raw herring. I know what you’re thinking, but I love the stuff, especially “senap sill” – the one in mustard. I always get some at Ikea. The Swedes love their bread (though not as much as the Dutch but then again, who does) and so there was a decent selection of rye, brown and white rolls and loaves with big bread knives nearby. Also available was knäckebröd, which is Ryvita-like crispbread. There was also a toaster, amusingly titled “bread-roaster” if you directly translate from Swedish.

THE RECEPTION

The reception area was pretty sizeable. Part of it also doubles as the bar. It was quite nicely set out, with a real wooden floor covered with some nice rugs. An LCD TV with an image of a fire was in one of the corners, along with some sofas and comfy chairs. Along with wood panelled walls, the overall feel was that of warmth, which I’m sure is exactly as intended for the long Swedish winters. To the right of the entrance was the restaurant, bar and breakfast area. This is quite a sparse space, with the gift shop near to the entrance. There is also access to O’Learys Sportsbar, which I didn’t go to, but I am familiar with the chain and the spicy chicken wings are famous across the city.

OTHER FACILITIES

I didn’t use any of these, but they apparently also offer concierge, conference facilities, currency exchange, dry cleaning, fitness studio, garage, indoor pool, laundry service, limousine service, massage, room service, sauna and spa.

CONCLUSION

Overall, this was a very amenable hotel. The location is excellent, even taking into account my personal nostalgic angle. The facilities are reasonable and the room acceptable. This seems a decent recommendation for a hotel fairly close to the centre of town. Unfortunately (for you, anyway) I can’t comment on the price as this was a company rate.

CONTACT DETAILS

First Hotel Amaranten,
Kungsholmsgatan 31,
104 20,
Stockholm
Sweden.

Telephone : +46 8 692 52 00
Fax : +46 8 652 62 48

Email : amaranten@firsthotels.se

Website : http://www.firsthotels.com/en/Our-hotels/Sweden/Stockholm/First-Hotel-Amaranten/Rooms/

 

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