An absolute gem. Wonderful staff, great decor, good location with lots of cafes/shops in the neighborhood. Cafe, restaurant and bar in the hotel. FREE DVD movie library. Two blocks from the subway. Mostly though, the Rival stands out from the hundreds of other hotels I've stayed in because it IS unique. Every other good hotel I've stayed in blends in with all the other good hotels, ... if you showed me a photo of the lobby or "my" room I couldn't name the hotel. Not true in this case. The Rival has great character and charm but in no way sacrifices comfort, service or style. I rarely rave about such things but Hotel Rival is the real deal.

Hotel Rival is located in the Sodermalm region of Stockholm, an area referred to as Stockholm’s answer to New York’s Greenwich Village. There is definitely a bohemian feel to the neighborhood, which the Hotel Rival certainly exemplifies.

Upon our arrival at the hotel, I was immediately struck by the hip lobby, with its artistic use of color. It felt very much like the lobby of a W Hotel: warm, welcoming, comfortable, but also more light and airy. After passing through the main lobby, reception was to the right. Check-in was quick and courteous. Even though we arrived early in the morning (10:30am), a room on the 5th floor (room #525) was made available to us right away.

The Room - Upon entering the room, it was clear that we had been upgraded from the standard room I had booked (at a rate of 995SEK) to a superior room with balcony. The room itself was decorated in a very contemporary style, with walls of a deep, rich red, a flat-screen plasma TV hanging on the wall, and a modern bathroom with heated floors. The bed was extremely comfortable and contributed to wonderful nights’ sleeps for both me and my son. The drapes were more than adequate to shield us from the late-setting and early-rising sun (only about 3-4 hours of darkness per night in the summertime). Finally, one of the most convenient aspects of the room was WiFi access, at a reasonable cost of 99SEK per 24 hours.

The Bathroom - While small, the bathroom had great fixtures and a wonderful shower, which was unique in that it had a direct view to the bedroom through a window of its own (with blinds, thankfully, for much needed privacy). The shower had two showerheads, one of which could be handheld and the other, which came directly from above, like a rain shower. Temperature controls were intuitive.

The Balcony - The balcony was an unexpected surprise and a nice addition to the room. Each evening, my son and I sat out on the balcony and recapped our daily adventures. It was also a nice place for me to sit in the early morning before my son woke up, allowing me to see the city come to life for another glorious summer day.

The Breakfast - A full breakfast was included in the daily rate. The breakfast room itself was located on the 6th floor and the spread was fantastic. There were hard- and soft-boiled eggs, cold cuts, cereals, breads, jams, scrambled eggs, crackers, yogurt, granola, and cute little tubes of cod roe. We sat outside on a narrow balcony each morning, which overlooked Mariatorget Park.

The Service - The entire staff at Hotel Rival was wonderful. From check-in to breakfast service to housekeeping and check-out, the service experience was incomparable. You truly feel like a special guest, which is unusual for a property with nearly 100 rooms.

Official Hotel Website

As with most hotels in Europe, the prices are high and the accommodations are small. Very small. Luckily, there was room under the bed to put our empty suitcases. The very comfortable queen-sized bed (with down comforter) filled almost the entire room. There was a small desk and chair in one corner, with access to a network connection (which wasn’t needed since they offer wireless high-speed Internet in every room). A closet covered most of one wall, while the TV (a 32" plasma) faced the bed. In the closet was a space for your clothes, a safe, and a mini-fridge (with just enough room for overpriced hotel snacks).

The windows looked out over a courtyard and the back of an apartment building. The bathroom was really the highlight of this room. The marble floors were heated, meaning you never had to stick your feet on cold floors! The only really odd thing was the window in the shower, which looked over the desk. That, combined with the clear shower doors, left a direct view from the toilet to the desk if you forgot to close the blinds before having a seat (on either side!). One of our companions who was staying on a different floor of the hotel realized that his room left a direct view from the shower to the outside window, which he realized once he was in the shower. He's fairly certain there was an entertained old lady across the way!

The hotel sits directly across from a lovely park, in walking distance of a shopping district, and has it's own bar, cafe, and restaurant. It also offers an honor bar on the top floor, which is unstaffed. As the name implies, you serve yourself and report it on the honor system. It sits only about a block from the subway system, giving you quick and easy access to the entire city.

Another highlight is that after 10 nights, they reward you with a set of their awesome Egyptian cotton sheets as a gift. They use a punch card system, so if you're only there for a couple of nights at a time, you still get credit. The staff was very friendly and helpful, giving us directions and recommendations for all sorts of things. They were very attentive, as well, coming to recognize us and open the secured doors for us within a couple days of our stay.

They also have a theater on the lower level which offers movies and live comedy (in Swedish of course), and the comedy shows are often taped for broadcast. It's a fairly hip spot, so you never know whom you might see; at least that’s what the locals say. We witnessed several TV crews there and wandered through a couple of red carpet nights at the front door (it’s the only way in and out). The whole place is owned by Benny Andersson of ABBA fame, who seems to have gone out of his way to make things interesting.