Lydmar was Stockholm's first design hotel and one of the city's most beloved living rooms. Today it is located in a palace from the 1880s on Blasieholmen, between Grand Hôtel and Nationalmuseum. This is what it's like to stay at Lydmar.
In this story · 7 sections
On Södra Blasieholmshamnen in Stockholm, between Grand Hôtel's Burmanska palats and Nationalmuseum, stands a white stone building overlooking Saltsjön and the Royal Palace. This is Lydmar Hotel – a small hotel that is both an address for travellers and a place where Stockholmers themselves come for brunch and an after-work drink.
Lydmar describes itself as a luxurious lifestyle hotel, simple and straightforward, in a relaxed setting where personality matters more than uniforms. It's an approach that goes back to the hotel's beginnings.
Lydmar Hotel
Hotel · Blasieholmen, Norrmalm
© OpenStreetMap contributors · OpenFreeMap
- Address
- Södra Blasieholmshamnen 2, Stockholm
- First hotel
- 1993, Sturegatan 10
- On Blasieholmen since
- 6 October 2008
- The building
- The Edelstam House, rebuilt in 1881–1882 to designs by Axel Kumlien
- Rooms
- 46
- Owner
- Grand Hôtel, since 2013
46 rooms in the 1880s Edelstam House with a view of the palace, The Dining Room, jazz brunch and photo exhibitions.
01From Stureplan to Blasieholmen
The hotel is named after its founder, Pelle Lydmar, who in 1993 turned the Eden Terrace Hotel at Sturegatan 10 near Stureplan into Stockholm's first so-called design hotel. The 62 rooms were decorated with art, including works from exhibitions held at the hotel, and the lobby became known for its live music – mostly soul and R&B, usually unannounced and free. In 2005 alone, 650 artists and DJs performed there. When the property owner wanted to convert the building into offices, the hotel closed in 2006, despite public protests.
In 2007 Pelle Lydmar announced that the hotel would be revived, and on 6 October 2008 it opened at its current address. Since 2013 Lydmar has been owned by Grand Hôtel, but it still operates under its own name. The hotel is a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World.
02The Edelstam House
The building is known as Edelstamska huset, the Edelstam House, after the developer Carl F. Edelstam, and took on its current appearance after a rebuilding in 1881–1882. The drawings were made by Axel Kumlien – the same architect who designed the neighbouring Grand Hôtel. Between 1920 and 1945, the building housed the German legation in Stockholm.
Insider tipBook a table for the weekend jazz brunch in good time.
When the house was converted into a hotel, 46 rooms were created. The renovation won the ROT Prize in 2009 from the Stockholm Master Builders' Association (Stockholms Byggmästareförening) for best conversion and received the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce's (Stockholms Handelskammare) City Environment Award.
03The rooms
Lydmar has 46 rooms in five categories – Classic King, Medium King, Large Street, Large King and X Large King – and the hotel describes them as individually decorated. Each floor also has shared living rooms where guests can sit, read and socialise, which adds to the feeling of staying in a large home rather than a hotel.
Ask for a room facing the water: the view of the palace and Strömmen is Lydmar's great asset, the same view that the neighbouring Grand Hôtel is known for.
04The Dining Room, the terrace and the jazz
The Dining Room is open from early morning to late evening every day: breakfast, lunch and dinner from 7am to 11pm, and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. The hotel describes the restaurant as a place where Stockholmers and travellers mix, rather like sitting in a friend's living room.
At weekends there is a jazz brunch. The music comes from Stockholm Jazz Records and the drummer Robert Mehmet Ikiz, with new line-ups every week; brunch is served on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5pm, and the band plays, according to the hotel, from 1pm to 4pm. The bar is one floor up, and in the warm season there is the terrace Villa Minuty and a courtyard, The Patio.
05Photography in the lobby
The music from Sturegatan lives on in the stage programme Lydmar Live, but on Blasieholmen photography has taken an equally large place. The first exhibition was shown in 2008, and since then the hotel has shown more than 60 photo exhibitions in the lobby, most of them documentary stories from around the world. From each exhibition, the hotel keeps a couple of works for its permanent collection, and many of the photographers have stayed at Lydmar themselves.
06Who Lydmar suits
Lydmar is the hotel for those who want to stay on the same quay as the grand palace hotels but skip their formality. Here personality rather than uniforms sets the tone, the restaurant belongs as much to Stockholmers as to guests, and the art on the walls is documentary photography rather than portraits of founders. With 46 rooms, it is also small enough to feel private. Those who want a marble lobby, several restaurants and a large spa choose the neighbour; those who want jazz with their brunch and the view thrown in choose Lydmar.
07Blasieholmen around the corner
Lydmar is in one of the city's most central spots: right next door to Nationalmuseum, with Kungsträdgården and Strandvägen just minutes away and boats to the archipelago leaving from the quay outside. See the quay in VERA PI's street guide to Södra Blasieholmshamnen, explore Norrmalm and plan your day with Metro Mode's Stockholm map. And on your walk along the quay, point your phone at the façades with Metro Mode Camera to find out who designed them and when.
