The Nordic Hotels –The Nordic Sea (NB 2023 this now Nordic C hotel) and Nordic Light – are two hotels facing each other from either side of the same road in Stockholm. They’re both worth going to for different reasons. Both are stylish and accessible but offer slightly different things.
The Nordic Light, a member of Design Hotels,
is the more unusually stylised throughout the hotel. The hotels design experiments with light as a way of altering guests moods – ‘the innovative lighting concept allows for a variety of moods from energizing to soothing’. This makes the Nordic Light a very interesting and unique place to stay.
They have good access there with disabled toilets in the bar and restaurant. But when we asked they said that although they do have disabled rooms there, the rooms across the road at the Nordic Sea Hotel were more accessible than their own.
At the Nordic Sea (C) the disabled access is better because the rooms are bigger.
On the other hand the majority of the hotel is not as stylish. Or at least, not as interesting. The rooms are all decorated with blown up photographs of Stockholm. On their website they note that some rooms do not have windows but instead have pictures of buildings that do have lots of windows. I’m sure this is a joke but it makes me wonder if having pictures of buildings with lots of windows in a room without any isn’t just rubbing salt into a wound. The hotel is less cool than the Nordic Light but more accessible.
Having said that the Nordic Sea does have a cooler bar than the Nordic Light hotel can offer . The Nordic Sea hosts the world’s first Ice Bar that is open all year round. Everything in there is made of ice and it is really cool (-5°c to be precise). It says on the website:
“Your 40 minute experience includes a warm cape, gloves, an ice-cool feeling of exhilaration and a cocktail of your choice from our drinks menu served in an ice glass. You can also bring home a souvenir from our shop.”
You just have to hope the souvenirs don’t melt before you get them safely back home.
To sum the Nordic Hotels up: The Nordic Light hotel is generally more stylish and unusual than the Nordic Sea. But the Nordic Sea has better access and a cooler bar (in more ways than one).
The Nordic Light Hotel gets a provisional 2 BBS Ticks and the Nordic Sea Hotel gets a provisional 2.5 BBS Ticks.
