The serene waters of the Swedish capital provide a beautiful backdrop for events and incentives, finds Rose Dykins
This month, Stockholm will experience up to 20 hours of light each day. During the peak of summer, the sun sets at 11pm, rising four hours later at 3am – and its citizens don’t like to waste a single ray. “As soon as they spot a sunbeam, people move outside,” says Henrik von Arnold, director of the Stockholm Convention Bureau. “The cafés come alive, and there’s an intense outdoor social life from mid-May to late September.”
The city’s strengths as a MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) destination are its natural beauty, its technical innovation, its eco-friendliness and its navigable size. It also has its sights set on attracting more UK visitors.“The UK is definitely our main target market – we haven’t seen it drop yet, and it seems the British are still travelling for meetings,” Von Arnold says.
Stockholm has added 2,500 hotel rooms to its portfolio over the past two years, with more than 9,500 of the city’s 15,000 rooms being four-star (1,600 are five-star). International hotel brands are slightly under-represented, and room rates are rather high – on a par with London and Paris. “Following Stockholm’s success in the MICE market, hotels had been raising their rates,” Von Arnold says. “On top of that, the Swedish crown is so strong. Last year we began to have these discussions with the hotels, telling them that clients will not pay £250 per night for a four-star room. It’s been an obstacle for us, but it’s starting to change now.”
This summer, the 30,000-seat Tele2 Arena will open south of the centre, following the unveiling of the 50,000-seat Friends Arena last year. The 3,000-capacity Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre opened in 2011, as did Kistamassan, a large-scale event venue in the heart of Kista, Stockholm’s answer to Silicon Valley. Medicine, ICT, linguistics, psychiatry, and clean tech are all key industries for the city’s international conference scene – this month, 9,000 delegates will meet for the Congress of the European Hematology Association at Stockholmsmassan, yet another of the city’s huge event venues.
Being a capital city made up of 14 major islands is central to its intrigue and appeal. “Water is extremely important for us when we try to sell Stockholm,” says Von Arnold. “And the 25,000-island archipelago beyond the city centre is a key thing for visitors to see. It’s so very special, and so easily accessible – within 20 minutes you can be out of the city and in a very different environment.” Here are some meeting and event venues throughout the city that benefit from a waterside location.
Operakallaren
Originally opened in 1787, along with the adjoining Royal Opera House, the Operakallaren was named after the wine cellar that connected to the dressing rooms of performers. Since then, it has expanded and undergone several transformations. The building now houses a Michelin-star restaurant, an art nouveau bar with a stunning stained-glass ceiling, and an exclusive nightclub, each of which are among the 13 flexible spaces available for hire for events. Its central location offers views of the Royal Castle across the water, which are best enjoyed from the second-floor Opera Terrace – a glass-walled indoor space with a panoramic vista that can hold 300 guests for dinner or 390 for a reception. Operakallaren hosted the dinner and after-party for the 2012 Swedish Grammy Awards, when it was hired exclusively for 1,000 people.
Operahuset, Karl XII:S Torg; eng.operakallaren.se
Junibacken
Best-selling Swedish author Astrid Lindgren – who penned the Pippi Longstocking stories – co-founded this special museum in 1996 to promote reading as an important aspect of children’s lives. Situated on the island of Djurgarden, a five-minute drive from Norrmalm (Stockholm’s most central area), it can be hired for events all day on Mondays and after 6pm every other day. Junibacken is known for bringing out delegates’ inner child. A magical 11-minute ride on a train presents scenes from Lindgren’s stories and transports guests to Villa Villekulla, the venue’s first-floor event space.
Here, they disembark, grab a drink and take in the supreme 180-degree view of Norrmalm across the bay through floor-to-ceiling windows. The room can hold 150 delegates for a reception, and be hired in tandem with the museum’s restaurant below. Bursting with colourful circus-themed décor – and with paraphernalia such as instruments, bunting and umbrellas hanging from the ceiling – the vibrant space holds 220 for dinner and has an terrace by the water for up to 80 guests.
Galarvarvsvagen 8, Djurgarden; junibacken.se
Hotel Skeppsholmen
Skeppsholmen is a green, largely unoccupied island and, upon arrival, after a five-minute drive across a bridge from Norrmalm, you feel like you’ve travelled far into the countryside. In 2009, the low-rise 17th-century naval building was converted into Hotel Skeppsholmen, a Design Hotels member. Set in tranquil surrounds, it has a contemporary country-retreat feel with a relaxing lounge featuring an open café area and pastel grey sheepskin blankets dotted around. Its 81 airy rooms have free wifi, and the hotel can host events for up to 150 people for a reception in its largest meeting room. Four of the hotel’s 11 event spaces are within the red-brick Skating Pavilion, a waterside, turreted building that can be hired exclusively for 50 people for intimate meetings.
Grona Gangen 1; hotelskeppsholmen.com
Grand Hotel Stockholm
The capital’s premier five-star property occupies a central spot on Norrmalm’s waterfront. A member of the Leading Hotels of the World, it’s an incredible building that has expanded over the years by combining with two palaces to its left. Since it opened in 1874, the hotel has been a hub for prestigious events. Its Hall of Mirrors hosted the annual Nobel Prize banquet between 1901 and 1929, and the reflections of gilded gold plaster and chandeliers in the huge panelled mirrors creates a beautiful warm glow. The venue can hold 240 guests for a banquet or 500 for a reception. The indoor Winter Garden features Romeo and Juliet-style balconies and murals of archipelago scenery – it can hold 800 delegates for a reception. There are several meeting rooms on the first two floors with views of the water, with capacities ranging from eight boardroom-style to 60 theatre-style, all with elegant 19th-century design themes. The hotel has 300 bedrooms – 100 sea-facing – and an impressive spa.
Sodra Blasieholmshamnen 8; grandhotel.se
Hotel J
A 15-minute drive east from the centre, Hotel J neighbours the Nacka Strand marina. The four-star property has a luxury beach-house feel – modern nautical décor and bright white furnishings run throughout its 158 rooms and most of its 19 meeting spaces. New England is the largest – it’s divisible by three, with a maximum capacity of 160 delegates theatre-style. Tornvilla is a mini 19th-century mansion by the water’s edge – guests can arrive by boat and use the entrance metres from the private dock. It’s set up for small meetings – four to 16 people boardroom-style – and has a restaurant that can seat 70 people for dinner. Oak leaf wallpaper, taxidermy, and all-white rooms are among the design features. The hotel’s second villa for events, Fabrikorsvilla, is a short walk away – it can hold larger meetings for 50 people theatre-style in the most sizeable of seven rooms, while harbour-side Restaurant J has a fantastic sun deck for receptions and seating for 250.
Ellensviksvagen 1, 131 28 Nacka Strand; hotelj.com
Fotografiska
Stockholm’s modern photography museum is housed in a former storage building for cargo ships on Sodermalm, a central district near the Old Town. Fotografiska exhibits the work of world-renowned artists as well as local talent – the innovatively curated exhibition areas can be hired exclusively for up to 2,000 people after they close to the public, but drinks are restricted to the designated event rooms. The seven white, minimalist spaces range in capacity from 12 delegates boardroom-style to 1,000 for a reception (when two ground-floor spaces are combined).
The 180-capacity top-floor dining room has large windows and a wide, arresting view of Skeppsholmen, Djurgarden and the Old Town beyond the expanse of water. The museum has Watchout AV technology in its 500-capacity room, which transforms the blank walls of the space via an eight-screen projector. When the images move in tandem, it produces a 180-degree cinema experience, and a range of atmospheric backdrops can be created – from sunny forest-scapes to pouring rain. Group photography lessons and lectures can also be arranged for delegates.
Stadsgardshamnen 22; fotografiska.eu
The Brewery
This dominant 6,000 sqm structure operated as a brewery from 1857 until 1971 – it’s known as the “Munich Brewery” in Sweden, as German beer makers were shipped over here to share their expertise. Located along Riddarfjarden bay’s south bank on Sodermalm, it now operates as a conference centre. The capacities of its 15 meeting and event spaces range from ten people boardroom-style to 1,000 theatre-style. The rooms have original beams, exposed brickwork and wooden floors, and many offer views of City Hall across the water, where the Nobel prizes are presented. Nobelterrassen can host 200 people for dinner, and has a 100 sqm outdoor balcony that can hold 150 for drinks. Galleriet, the brewery’s former quality-testing lab, has a gallery level, and can seat 120 people for a conference.
Torkel Knutssonsgatan 2; m-b.se/eng/om-munchenbryggeriet.asp
Berns
While this characterful four-star boutique property isn’t waterside, its top-floor suites offer views of the waterfront and can be hired for meetings of up to five people (the Clock suite has a round table for ten). Since the hotel opened in 1863, it has been a hotspot for socialising and culture – it hosts events for Stockholm Fashion Week and Stockholm International Film Festival. Its eclectic event spaces include a 50-capacity Hall of Mirrors modelled on that of the Palace of Versailles, a decadent concert hall with a capacity for 800 people for a party, and an underground 200 sqm nightclub, Gallery 2.35:1, with changing artwork – when I visited there were murals of wild animals made by an emerging German artist from neon Scotch tape. Housed in a stunning 19th-century hall, Berns Asiatiska, Sweden’s first Chinese restaurant, was established during the Second World War by members of a Chinese circus who had performed at the theatre across the road. Due to its special relationship with Berns, the 1,249-seat theatre can also be hired.
Nackstromsgatan 8; berns.se
Stallmastaregarden
One of Sweden’s first-ever inns dates back to 1638 – it opened as a four-star hotel in 2000, and is a Design Hotels member. While its location near a major construction project may initially seem unfortunate, turn off the main road and suddenly it feels as if you have stepped into a lakeside Constable painting, despite being a ten-minute drive from the central station. The serene view of the still, open water is mesmerising, set off by the greenery of Haga Park. The décor of the 49 bedrooms is traditional Swedish, while its new brown-hued brasserie is much more contemporary. Its eight homely meeting spaces range from eight people boardroom-style to 90 theatre-style – the largest can also host a reception for 250 people, and has a covered terrace facing the lake.
Nortull; stallmastaregarden.se
See visitstockholm.com. BA Cityflyer (ba.com) flies 11 times a week from London City to Stockholm Arlanda. Visit businesstraveller.com/tried-and-tested for flight reviews.
Incentive ideas
- RIB (rigid inflatable boat) trips around the archipelago. Island Lodge, a luxurious “glamping” (glamorous camping) experience, is also a quirky option. ribsightseeing.se, islandlodge.se
- Guided rooftop tours and Stieg Larsson-themed walks (inspired by his Girl with the Dragon Tattoo novels)are both possibilities. upplevmer.se; themillenniumtour.com
- Ice sculpting in one of the world’s first permanent ice bars, at the Nordic Sea hotel. nordicseahotel.se
- Vasa Museum Enjoy a banquet at the foot of a 17th-century warship. vasamuseet.se
- Abba Museum Hire the first permanent exhibition space dedicated to Sweden’s most successful band. Karaoke booths and a stage with holograms of the band are among the energetic, interactive exhibits. The Melody hotel, a 50-room property above the museum, has a piazza for outdoor receptions. abbathemuseum.com; melody.se
