For the last part of my stay in Gothenburg, I decided to try one of the city’s most beautiful hotels: the Upper House.

The Upper House is actually part of a huge hotel complex: Gothia Towers. It consists of 3 towers linked by a catwalk and adjoining a convention center, of which they are also a part.

As its name suggests, the Upper House occupies the top floors of Gothia Towers (53 rooms), of which it is the premium part. The rooms are larger and better designed. (although in the photos I had trouble seeing the difference, the styles are different but not necessarily “better”), it has its own gym, its guests have free access to the hotel’s renowned spa (Gothia Towers guests have to pay), it has its own reception. And therefore more expensive.

The hotel also boasts a number of bars and restaurants open to all, including one with a Michelin star.

On paper, the Upper House has it all: several times named Sweden’s best hotel, renowned restaurants and a spa that’s also collecting awards.

As a reminder: articles related to this trip :

• Hilton Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport – Executive Room
• Paris-Frankfurt, Lufthansa Business Class
• Frankfurt-Gothenburg, Lufthansa Business Class
• Restaurant VRÅ, Gothenburg
• Clarion Hotel Post, Standard Double Room
• Restaurant Koka, Gothenburg
• Radisson Blue Scandinavia – Junior Suite
• Restaurant Natur, Gothenburg
• Upper House Gothenburg – Deluxe Suite
• Restaurant l’Atelier Gothenburg
• Gothenburg-Frankfurt, Lufthansa Business Class
• Frankfurt-Paris, Lufthansa Business Class

Booking

I made the reservation from the hotel’s website. I took the opportunity to join their loyalty program (a loyalty program for a single hotel…even with low thresholds, you’d better spend a lot of time in Gothenburg), which enabled me to obtain interesting discounts on public prices.

After a “standard” room at the Clarion and a junior suite at the Radisson Blu, I’ll finish with a Deluxe Suite at the Upper House, to make my last days in Gothenburg the high point of this escapade from a confined France I was in no hurry to return to. The hotel also offers a duplex “Grand Executive Suite“, but at prohibitive prices (€2,000 vs. €600 for the Deluxe).

Location of Upper House Gothenburg

Compared with the Clarion and the Radisson Blu, the hotel looks a priori off-center, as this map shows.

Allow a 25-minute walk to cover the almost 2 km between the two.

To be honest, I was a bit hesitant. Despite the hotel’s reputation, I thought I’d be going off-center for a convention hotel with an excellent reputation but no charm. In short, a tourist trap, the kind of thing you book from afar but the locals wouldn’t recommend.

The experience was more positive than that. So yes, I prefer the Clarion and Radisson Blu areas, that’s a fact. Then, if you want to visit, you’ll have to walk between the two areas anyway, so it doesn’t matter. Finally, if you’re looking for a good restaurant, they’re usually located…between the two, and often even closer to the Upper House. But I still find the area around my two previous hotels more pleasant to live in, more conducive to walks and warmer.

But it wasn’t as “catastrophic” as expected, the hotel is only slightly off-center and not isolated, and once you understand how the city center is organized you understand that you’re never more than a 20-minute walk from the place you want to reach. Add to that excellent public transport links, and the location shouldn’t stop you from trying the Upper House experience…provided it’s worth your while. And that’s exactly what we’re going to see now.

Arrival at the hotel and check-in

I arrived by Uber from the Radisson Blu. It’s midday and the official check-in time is 3pm, but I’ll take my chances. By dint of going to hotels where I have “status” I’ve lost the habit of worrying about check-in and check-out times and anyway I have no other choice.

As you’d expect, the hotel lobby is gigantic and…totally deserted in these COVID times. Conventions are cancelled not because of the situation in Sweden, but because foreigners can’t get out of their country, and the hotel loses a lot of its natural clientele. I hear it’s full of Swedes on weekends. Unfortunately, it’s not the right time of year, as the famous park opposite the hotel is closed, and Swedes don’t need to be told not to move to be careful. No confinement or restriction here, but a kind of individual responsibility that makes you limit your interactions even more than usual, without the need to impose it.

It’s big, high-ceilinged and empty, so the impression is rather cold and gloomy, and the greyness outside in November doesn’t help the perception. And to be honest, the reception area looks more like a convention center than a 5-star hotel. Not very premium.

Cold atmosphere but warm welcome as always in Sweden. I am taken care of with a smile and a lot of friendliness. Ah, I’m an Upper House customer, so for me check-in is at the top of Tower 2. But they won’t let me go alone: they’ll accompany me, carrying my suitcase and making conversation.

So we headed up to the 25th floor for the upper house check-in. This is immediately more premium.

The welcome is warm and, once again, they really twist my arm to make me pay for the whole stay at check-in. The Swedes are strange. But in the end it doesn’t add up to a good check-in experience, let alone a premium one.

General style of the Upper House in Gothenburg

It’s a strange feeling that spreads from the Upper House. Yes, we’re in a 5-star hotel, perhaps one of the best in Gothenburg or Sweden, but something just doesn’t feel right.

Indeed, hotels of this size inevitably look empty when tourism is down and this contributes to making the atmosphere a little gloomy. When you can welcome thousands of people and only receive a few hundred, everything seems too big, too cold.

But that’s not all.

The lobby, common to all three towers, looks more like a low-end shopping mall than a 5-star hotel.

A bit like the reception, in fact. There’s an “unfinished” feel to it that clashes with the high standards claimed. Unless, of course, it’s an expression of Scandinavian-style luxury, more casual and less accomplished than elsewhere.

The same impression applies to the catwalk linking the 3 towers. The “upper house” carpets, laid randomly and anywhere, sometimes not even straight, give a feeling of improvisation.

Luxury hotel, large capacity, 3 towers – does this remind you of anything? Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands, for example? I found the Marina Bay Sands to be a huge station concourse, an anthill with neither charm nor soul. Well, the upper house is a bit like that, but with an added feeling of improvisation and approximation, giving a perception that’s a long way from the luxury positioning it claims. It starts with the aesthetics of the towers, which are massive and uninteresting.

This in no way detracts from the property’s many qualities, which we’ll be talking about in a moment, but luxury doesn’t tolerate sloppiness.

The Upper House Deluxe Suite

So I’m going to take possession of the room to which I’m being escorted. It’s on the 20th floor.

The entrance leads to the bedroom (opposite) and bathroom (on the left).

The room is very, very spacious, with high ceilings and a huge bay window that goes (almost) from floor to ceiling.

The design is both sober and warm. The desk area offers enough space to really settle in.

The lounge area is welcoming and invites you to relax.

The 20th floor offers an unobstructed view…but at this price I would have preferred a view of the city rather than the suburbs and the freeway. It’s uninteresting and a shame.

A suite means a separate lounge. It’s on the right as you enter the room.

Sober and without flaw, but I find it too small compared to the huge bedroom when it’s meant to be the room where you live. Another flaw is that you enter the bedroom before going into the living room. The bedroom has a lounge area, which makes this room anecdotal or even useless, as people don’t go there spontaneously. I can’t remember ever spending so little time in a hotel suite’s lounge, as it’s not logically positioned in the guest’s itinerary and feels too small and cramped compared to the huge bedroom, which also has its own lounge area offering a much greater sense of space. Without saying that this lounge looks cramped and suffocating, something is off in terms of balance with the rest of the suite.

The lounge has its own bathroom with toilet and shower.

This makes the transition to the bedroom’s main bathroom.

It’s all in length.

Toilet, shower (in the middle of the passage, but that’s not a bad thing), double washbasin, bathtub, you’re really at ease.

As for the bathtub, which is also in lenght, I can’t remember ever having seen such a long one.

Even with my size, I was very surprised. I think a person of 1m60 could almost swim in it and go back and forth.

I think the room is really well lit at night, which highlights the warmth of the tones and the parquet flooring…

The whole is very comfortable and the bedding of very good quality.

But I don’t know whether it was the COVID atmosphere or the legendary Swedish November sun that was beaming down on the room ( that’s a bit of humor…) but I didn’t really feel at home in this suite. Too big? Too high? Too cold? A matter of context? I don’t know, but even though I’m used to staying in suites, sometimes even bigger than this one, and generally feel at home very quickly in any hotel room, there was something wrong here that prevented me from really making the place my own. In the end, I used (a lot) the desk area, the bed (fortunately) and hardly any of the rest of the room, let alone the lounge.

Let’s also talk about approximations in service. I have nothing to say about the staff who looked after my room, who were very friendly, as is generally the case with anyone you might have to deal with in Sweden. But on the first day I accidentally broke a coffee cup. Three days later, it had still not been replaced.

In short, this sequel, which on paper was supposed to be the apotheosis of my stay, remains a half-disappointment, without me really being able to find a reason for it.

And, of course, we end with the traditional video tour.

Gym and Spa

Guests at the Upper House have access to a different gym from those at Gothia Towers. It is located on the floor just below the spa.

It’s well-equipped and bright, nothing to complain about, especially as I’ve always found myself alone there.

It’s modern, clean, new and very pleasant.

Let’s turn to the spa. The Upper House Spa is renowned throughout the city, if not the country. It attracts a clientele of hotel guests as well as outsiders, to such an extent that reservations are almost compulsory for access.

Free for Upper House guests, access to the Spa is not free for Gothia Towers guests, and therefore logically not for non-residents.

At around 70 euros at weekends, I’ll let you judge the relevance of this. But for addicts, the extra charge may justify paying more for a room at the Upper House than at Gothia Towers.

But here again I’m skeptical. It’s only logical that an exceptional spa (or so they say) should attract a large clientele. But the rule in any self-respecting property, especially a 5-star one, is to block slots and part of the capacity for hotel guests, and not force them to book as if they were just passing through. I saw a customer leave the spa reception in a rage, complaining that at 800 euros a night it was unacceptable to be told “no sir, not until tomorrow”.

As far as I’m concerned, I was able to go twice. The first because “you’re in luck, sir, there’s a place available right now” and the second because “tomorrow it’s possible, but when it opens at 8am”.

Anyway.

The Spa is located on the 20th floor, making it one of the places not to miss when visiting Gothenburg.

As soon as you enter, you’ll find a large basin with jets where the water is, of course, heated.

The view of Liseberg Park, another local attraction with its Ferris wheel, is pleasant, but we’d definitely prefer to come back in summer to enjoy the panorama.

A little further on, another basin with visibly cooler water.

It’s bright, airy and clean. The setting is pleasant and sober.

There’s also a women’s sauna, a men’s sauna and a mixed sauna. This is the mixed.

Again, it’s large, clean and, not so unusual, bright, with a superb view of the outside and the park. I’ve been to spas with a view, but in terms of saunas with a view, apart from the intercontinental Bordeaux and to a lesser extent the W Hong Kong, I have no other memories that come to mind.

On the floor below is a large and beautiful hammam.

But the highlight, the reason to flock to the Upper House spa, is its outdoor pool, virtually suspended in space.

Don’t worry, it’s heated and well heated, and in the middle of November it’s a rather pleasant feeling.

Of course, once again, it makes you want to come back in the spring.

The outdoor pool is perhaps the only place from which the architecture of Gothia Towers / Upper House can be seen as beautiful…

What makes this pool so successful is, of course, the fact that it’s outdoors, the view it provides, but also its transparent floor. Not for those afraid of heights.

In this photo, you can see the pool lit up at night, as seen from the ground…

On the lower floor there’s a relaxation room where you can sit back and enjoy a cup of tea or a snack.

I spent a very pleasant time there.

In conclusion, a beautiful place that deserves its reputation? Well, not necessarily, and I have a few comments to make.

Yes, the place is beautiful, but… The photos you see were taken first thing on a Sunday morning, at a time of year when tourists are less crowded, and in the middle of COVID.

The previous afternoon, the place was fuller, which is nota problem in itself, but much noisier. Of course, this is due to the number of people present, but it’s not just that: customer behavior also plays a major role. And here the atmosphere is closer to a resort swimming pool or leisure center than to a spa. If you’re looking for peace and quiet to regenerate, you’ve come to the wrong place! It’s a far cry from the calm and soothing atmosphere of the Radisson Blu spa!

A beautiful place, then, but an overcrowded place without much charm. Clients will come for the view, for the experience, to say they’ve done it, but we’ll be looking for nicer spas in Gothenburg, and there’s no shortage of them.

But I’ll remember the positive: I spent a pleasant moment chatting with an old friend who lives there, keeping in the back of my mind that the next day I’d be heading back to confined France, and that was enough to keep me happy. In fact, with hindsight, I could and should have extended my stay in Gothenburg by a week.

Bars and restaurants

I won’t be trying any of the hotel’s restaurants, as the Michelin-starred one is closed due to COVID, and besides, I’d rather experience the city’s restaurants than stay cooped up in this lifeless hotel.

I will, however, be testing two bars.

A fairly premium bar on the 25th floor to start with.

Nice view, good design, but the atmosphere is more like a funeral home. I’ll have an aperitif there before going to Natur for dinner and, as usual, I’ll have a Negroni so that I can compare with other places. Acceptable, but not more.

The bartender is very friendly and pleasant, but at one point “disappears” for a good 15 minutes as if there were no customers. There are times when a certain kind of Scandinavian nonchalance feels good compared to our Parisian rhythms, but there are times when it borders on the unbearable.

I’ll also be having a drink in one of the lobby bars. Sad atmosphere in station hall mode. I’ll leave as quickly as I arrived.

Check-Out

At the Upper House, check-out is at 11am. Not noon, 11am. Another friction in the experience. This, combined with the fact that they tried to twist my arm on arrival to get me to pay for my stay at check-in, tells me that there’s still a long way to go to deliver the experience you’d expect from a 5-star hotel claiming to be the best in the country. It’s far from it.

This won’t inconvenience me more than that, as my return flight is in the late morning, but in principle….

Bottom line: the devil is in the detail

I won’t beat about the bush: yes, Upper House disappointed me. Not because the experience was really bad, but because it didn’t live up to the promise and the prices.

Too many sticking points, small details that are not serious but which, when put together, give a feeling of approximation. Add to this the Scandinavian notion of luxury which, once you get past the great friendliness and bonhomie of the staff, can be a little “roots” and you realize that the result is not up to expectations.

So of course the COVID effect didn’t help. Maybe if the hotel had been full and lively…

In the end, I want to give the hotel another chance. Maybe not in a suite, maybe “just” at Gothia Towers, in the summer, with no virus…I really want to give it a chance to give me what I came for. But at more than 600€ a night, it’s clear that this time it wasn’t worth it and I’m afraid that too many of the criticisms I’ve made of the property are structural, part of its DNA and cannot be changed.

The Upper House is a bit like a Novotel pretending to be a Sofitel or even a Raffles. It’s nice, but sometimes the steps are too high. It was supposed to be the highlight of my trip, but it turned out to be the only half-disappointment.