BrunoTraveling

I am very torn on which hotel to book in Stockholm our first visit. Initially I thought we should stay in old town as it sounds charming and we want to be close to the cute cafes/bars/ restaurants/shops. We are not into clubs at all but more bar vibe at night time.

Can anyone please give me your opinion/experiences of any of these 3 hotels.

Hotel Story- Seems unique and I think its in a good area not sure if the area is a good fit for us.

Hotel Reisen- In old town looks charming not sure if we will get bored in old town area after day 3 or if we should stay more on the out skirts.

Hotel Rival- got great reviews but not so sure its completely out of the way.

macdogmom

We stayed in the Story hotel in September. Very unique cool place and offered a huge free breakfast. We also appreciated the restaurant since we arrived late our first night. They have a very nice bar attached to the hotel that gets very lively. Maybe try to get a room that is inner courtyard so you don't hear people leaving late. We really liked the area. Lots of restaurants and stores-pretty upscale. Felt like we were in the middle of normal life in Stockholm. We rented bikes (through the hotel) and toured through old town (probably wouldn't be my first choice to stay), Sodermalm the hipster area where Rival is and the small island of Skeppsholmen. Had lunch at the Museum of modern art overlooking one of the many marinas. Don't miss the Vasa museum. We loved Stockholm!!!

BrunoTraveling

Thanks macdogma so you would not choose to stay in old town at all you would pick hotel story or hotel rival first?

Did you find hotel rival to be far away from everything? Where there any nice cute restaurants, cafe, pubs near hot story or did u think I need to go to old town for that kinda of environment?

Thanks so much ur feedback really needed

macdogmom

Lots of restaurants near Story -the bar at Story is a hot spot! I would stay at Story or Rival over old town.

oedipamaas

I can't speak to your specific hotels but to speak to the neighborhoods, I'll say that any of these are fine. You're not going to be spending all 3 days in any of them and any of them are connected by transit (or even walking) to other parts.

Gamla Stan (Reisen) is the medieval center of the city - the advantage of staying in this neighborhood is that it's central and has a lot of the historic buildings. The downside is that it can get mobbed with tourists during the day and early evening (at least in high season), but in the morning it is tranquil and beautiful.

Ostermalm (Story) is a largely 19th century (I think) area north of Gamla Stan. More shops and good restaurant options than Gamla Stan, and less touristy.

Sodermalm (Rival) is the hipper, less upmarket area with the best options for drinks or restaurants. To me it sounds like what you're looking for. The disadvantage is that there are fewer tourist attractions in this neighborhood.

BrunoTraveling

Thanks everyone really helpful advise

crefloors

My niece, brother, SIL, and I, stayed in Old Town a few years ago. We were there for a week and found it quite charming. We were there right after New Years and didn't find it all that overwhelmed with crowds except one day there was a Russian Tour group that seemed to take up a lot of the street.

It was very well located, and as mentioned above, so calm and quiet in the morning. My brother and I always took aqn early walk each morning and topped it off with a latte before breakfast. It was lovely.

We stayed at a Hotel called Lady Hamilton. It was a very historic building and I found it quite charming. The rooms were small so depending what you like, it might not be charming to you. They had a wonderful buffet breakfast each morning, included in the room price.