Grand Hotel Stockholm

With not an ounce of blonde wood and not a single platform bed in sight, the Grand is Stockholm style circa 1874, and the place to stay if you’re a Nobel winner, foreign dignitary, or just an everyday movie star. The location can’t be faulted, in the heart of the city, across from the Royal Palace, with the better rooms looking out over the harbor and the old town. And though it’s been renovated from time to time, to keep up with the demands of modern hospitality, it’s good to see some things never change, like the hotel ballroom, still a meticulous copy of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.

If you are in the mood for something more contemporary within a "grand" venue, Burmanska Palatset - a property adjoining the original building - was acquired in 2004, and underwent a major renovation which was completed in 2006. The only way to ensure that you book a room in that particular building is to choose a "deluxe" or an "executive suite".

In the main building, rooms vary in size but all are decorated in the expected manner—classic furnishings and Italian marble baths. Suites are almost comically decadent, some spanning five rooms including salons and drawing rooms, and the service is impeccable, as you’d infer from the caliber of names in the guestbook. Breakfast is served in the Cadier Bar as well as the Grand Veranda, with a view of the city through panoramic windows. Three additional restaurants add a variety of choices.