Hotel Hellsten is not a regular hotel. It is literally the museum of its founder: Per Hellsten, who became an hotelier purely by accident. He is an anthropologist who spent 10 years traveling and researching in Africa and Asia, so most objects exhibited in the hotel are from there, masks, drums and arrows, Asian cupboard and Chinese paintings. He is an ethnographer and during the 1970s studied amongst other things a village in Kenya. He has also worked as a journalist and documentary photographer. He also owned an advertising agency for over 20 years which led to a number of international projects.  At this point you can understand that if you are looking for a hotel with minimal Scandinavian design, you are not at the right address. The hotel is located in a house built in the 19th century in the heart of Stockholm, with beautiful and well preserved details, in a modern and functional environment. Four star boutique hotel where every room has its own style, colour and furnishings. The rooms are furnished with antiques from Sweden, Asia and Africa combined with modern furniture. Twelve of the rooms have tiled stoves and stucco, and some of the rooms also have balconies. Bathroom walls are lined with gray Karystos slate stone from a quarry on the island of Evia in Greece and bathrooms have floor heating. Because Mr Per Hellsten used to stay at hotels over 200 nights a year, you can obviously tell that he knows how a hotel shouldn't be. During my entire stay I would feel that cosy feeling of these places full of history and personal stories. And there's a great bonus: every Thursday night, the Bar turns into one of Stockholm's major jazz venues. Hotel Hellsten is the perfect family owned hotel to make the best of your stay in the Swedish capital.

-Yvan Rodic

Luntmakargatan 68 113 51 Estocolmo, Sverige 08-661 86 00