Grand Hôtel Stockholm – staying opposite the palace today

Grand Hôtel has been welcoming guests opposite Stockholm Palace since 1874. This is what it's like to stay there today – the suites, Cadierbaren, Verandan, Mathias Dahlgren's kitchen, and the rituals found nowhere else.

From the windows at the front of the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm, you look straight across Strömmen to the Royal Palace. The archipelago boats moor at the quay below, and on the roof flies the row of flags that have become the hotel's signature. Grand Hôtel has welcomed guests here at Blasieholmen since early summer 1874, and few hotels in the Nordic region have an address that says as much in as few words: Södra Blasieholmshamnen 8.

This isn't a history book – Grand Hôtel's one hundred and fifty years have been told many times before. This is about what it's like to stay there now: which rooms to ask for, where to eat, and which rituals make the hotel into something more than a beautiful façade.

01A hotel of four buildings

It was the French chef Régis Cadier, who came to Stockholm in 1852, who took the initiative for a hotel that could compete with Europe's great establishments. The architect Axel Kumlien drew up the plans, construction began in March 1872, and two years later Grand Hôtel was complete.

What today looks like a single hotel is in fact four interconnected buildings: the main building from 1874, the Bolinder Palace purchased in 1889, the Grand Hôtel Royal from 1909 with its Winter Garden banqueting hall, and the Burman Palace, which was acquired in 2004 and opened as part of the hotel in 2006. The waterfront façade took on its current appearance during a major renovation in 2017–2018, inspired by the building's earlier façades. Since 1968, Grand Hôtel has been owned by the Wallenberg family, today through FAM AB, and the hotel is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World.

02Rooms and suites

Grand Hôtel's suites bear names that tell the hotel's history without it needing to be explained: the Bernadotte Suite, the Flag Suite, the Ingrid Bergman Suite, Princess Lilian's Suite and the Wilhelmina Skogh Suite – the latter named after the legendary hotel director who oversaw the construction of Grand Hôtel Royal and whose portrait, according to the hotel, still watches over the staff. At the very top are the Penthouse Suite and the Terrace Suite, and for those who want even more space, there are the duplex suites.

Insider tip

Ask for a room facing the water – the view of the palace is the hotel's greatest asset.

Ask for a room facing the water. It is the view over Strömmen and the palace that is Grand Hôtel's great asset, and it shifts with the season – from summer nights when it never gets properly dark to December evenings when the palace's windows shine over the black water.

Room service is available around the clock, and according to the hotel, the concierge in the lobby books everything from restaurant tables and theatre tickets to helicopter excursions.

03Where to eat: from Verandan to Seafood Gastro

Verandan is the hotel's drawing room facing the water. The glazed veranda became permanent for the centenary in 1974 and was opened by Prince Bertil. Here, the breakfast buffet is served with a view of the palace, along with lunch, à la carte – and the Verandan smorgasbord, featuring everything from herring and salmon to meatballs with lingonberry jam. The hotel recommends pairing it with its own snaps, 1874 Grand Aquavit, spiced with caraway, aniseed and fennel. The smorgasbord is currently paused and, according to the hotel, will return on 30 April 2027.

Grand Soleil is the hotel's tribute to the Riviera, with dishes from the French and Italian coast for lunch and dinner. And in the hotel, Mathias Dahlgren runs two restaurants: Matbaren, an informal modern bistro with mid-sized dishes and drinks by the glass, and Seafood Gastro, a tasting menu built on what lives in, by or on the water – fish, shellfish, seabirds, seaweed and coastal plants. The menu costs 3,650 kronor per person excluding drinks; the kitchen cannot offer a vegetarian version.

04Cadierbaren

The bar is named after the founder and is the hotel's most Stockholm-esque room. Both hotel guests and locals come here for afterwork drinks, meetings and late evenings with champagne. The hotel describes its bartenders as some of Sweden's best, the dress code is smart casual, and breakfast à la carte, lunch and afternoon tea are also served here.

05Nobel and Lucia

The very first Nobel Banquet was held at the Grand Hôtel in 1901. According to the hotel, it took place in the Hall of Mirrors until 1929, when it became too large and moved to Stadshuset (the City Hall); according to Wikipedia, the banquets before 1930 were instead held in the Winter Garden at Grand Hôtel Royal. But the laureates and their families still stay at the Grand Hôtel during Nobel Week, and on the morning of 13 December they are traditionally woken by Lucia with coffee in bed.

The hotel itself remains tight-lipped about the guest list over the years. However, Lennart Jarnhammar's book about Grand Hôtel mentions, among others, Martin Luther King, the princely couple Grace and Rainier of Monaco, Frank Sinatra and Greta Garbo.

06Spa and surroundings

Grand Hôtel Spa & Fitness offers massages, treatments, personal training and suite experiences with a bath for two and views over the water. The age limit is 16 years, and the hotel recommends booking a treatment in advance.

Outside the door, Nationalmuseum, Kungsträdgården and Strandvägen are within walking distance. See the neighbourhood on VERA PI's street guide to Södra Blasieholmshamnen and the rest of Norrmalm, or plan your walk with Metro Mode's Stockholm map. If you're coming in December, read our guide to Stockholm in winter.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.