Hotel review: Courtyard by Marriott Stockholm Kungsholmen

This modern property in a residential district is a comfortable business hotel, good value for Stockholm and provides an up-to-date example of the Marriott Courtyard style. The reception is spacious, bright and leads straight through to the bar and restaurant on one side and up to the elevators for the 11 floors of rooms.

Staff were welcoming and spoke excellent English, explaining about the restaurant (which was about to close when we arrived late on a Friday evening) and also offering us the chance to book the bicycles outside (as it turned out, they were fully-booked all weekend).

In Kungsholmen, an island (though you wouldn’t know it) just to the west of the centre of Stockholm. The hotel is in the Marieberg district, just across from Rålambshovs Park, leading down to the water’s edge of Lake Malaren and a pleasant walk 30 minute walk into Stockholm city centre along Norrmälarstrand and past the famous Stockholm City Hall.

It is also a five-minute walk to the Fridhemsplan metro station, from where you have only two stops to get to the Central Station. In addition a coach (with free wifi) – the Flygbussarna – runs out to Arlanda regularly from Fridhemsplan and takes around 40 minutes.

The 279 rooms are in four room categories: Deluxe, Premium, Superior and Studio. All rooms have free wifi (as does the whole hotel), tea and coffee making facilities, laptop safe, good size work desk, plenty of plugs for powering your items and flatscreen televisions. Probably because of security and safety none of the windows open, although there is good air conditioning.

Rooms on one side of the hotel have great views over to the park and the water and are worth considering. Superior rooms are slightly larger and have iPod docking stations, while Premium rooms are on the upper floors (and are larger still), and the studio room is on the top floor.

The hotel’s restaurant on the ground floor is called Bjork (a strange name, since she’s Icelandic).

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We had a bar snack on the first evening and a meal in the restaurant on the second evening, and both were fine with a good choice and not too expensive (for Stockholm, at least).

Alcohol is expensive, of course, but rooms have empty mini bars so if you want to drink you have the option of shopping locally and then having a drink or two in your room before going out.

The hotel has 12 meeting rooms of different sizes on a dedicated floor (the second). As we were visiting at the weekend these were not being used but I imagine this is a big part of the hotel’s business and there is an onsite underground car park. In total there is 1,500 sqm of meeting space including a ballroom with capacity up to 400 people and up to eight metres ceiling height.

There is a good sized gym / fitness centre in the hotel with one large weights and cardio room and a small stretching area.

This hotel isn’t in the historic centre, but its position has lots of advantages, from the views across the park to good transport to all parts of Stockholm and the airport. You also get a better sense of Stockholm being in this smart residential area, and whether for business or a leisure break it s a good spot to explore both Stockholm and further afield.

Contact

• Courtyard by Marriott, Stockholm,  Kungsholmen, Rålambshovsleden 50 , Stockholm; tel +46 8 441 31 00