Nordic Light Hotel

Under no circumstances should anyone be put off by the unashamedly dated exterior of this one-time office block. The Sixties are inevitably the new Fifties, and this populist-utopian strain of Sixties modernism is only just now distant enough to be coming back into fashion.

And whether or not you’re ready to revisit that era ceases to matter once you’re inside. Nordic Light’s interiors are all 21st-century modern minimalism, Scandinavian style, set apart from countless otherwise similar hotels by an inordinate attention to lighting; the “light architect,” Kai Piippo, has earned his fee several times over. An endless (and seasonally variable) array of lighting effects, both subtle and otherwise, engage the eye at every turn.

Standard and Superior rooms keep it simple, making the most of their allotment of natural light and, in winter, making up the difference in pure white. But it’s in the Mood rooms that Nordic Light has earned its reputation: here moving patterns are projected on the walls, and the backlit headboard cycles through a spectrum of wintry tones.

Some guests will be in the mood for some color therapy, and some won’t. With 175 rooms, Nordic Light is big enough that there’s something for everyone, thanks to its resident artist program, comfort-cuisine restaurant the Crooked Leg, extensive cocktail menu, and Absolut Icebar across the road in the sister Nordic C hotel. The Arlanda Express station is just around the corner, for easy access to the airport, and the surrounding Normalm district is central for business travelers and shoppers alike.