Arriving in Stockholm after an excellent flight on Swiss, it was time to check into my hotel. I’ve set my sights on Miss Clara by Nobis.

Used many times for its location close to the station, the Sheraton Stockholm never convinced us. Olivier had an excellent experience at the Courtyard but I wanted to add a new hotel to the Travelguys roster.

So I decided to try the Miss Clara, a Design Hotel located in the heart of the city center.

For the record, articles related to this trip:

Booking

I booked a “standard single” room via the Marriott app. Given the high cost of hotels in Scandinavia and the fact that we were rarely convinced by the services offered, especially the size of the rooms, even in the luxury and superior categories, I “paid” for my room with my loyalty program points, as the number of points requested seemed more reasonable than the price in euros.

Miss Clara location

The Miss Clara is located in the heart of the city center. It offers relatively fast and easy access to numerous restaurants and bars.

From the main tourist attractions, it’s a good 20-minute walk to the Old Town (Gamla Stan) and 30 to the National Museum on the Blasieholmen peninsula.

It’s also about 20 minutes on foot from the central station, where you’ll arrive from the airport on the Arlanda Express (taking a cab from the airport to the city is infinitely longer and more expensive).

Arrival and check-in

So I arrive from the station on foot, dragging my mid-size suitcase. The sidewalks are wide and the journey is trouble-free.

I finally arrive in front of the hotel, housed in a superb art nouveau building, said to be one of the most beautiful in the city.

I make my way to the entrance, appreciating the architecture of the place.

I enter the reception area. It may be a little dark, but it’s very warm. A bit of well-being to compensate for the very autumnal weather outside, which I feel all the more because I was still in Dubrovnik 3 days earlier.

The welcome is more than friendly, a quality I readily acknowledge in the Swedes. It was almost like meeting up with an old friend!

The formalities were completed in no time, especially as I had already checked in online.

They thank me for my loyalty and announce an upgrade…without me really knowing what to expect.

It’s time to go to my room…

Standard double room at Miss Clara

First and foremost, it’s important to know that Design Hotel has a reputation for doing little or nothing to upgrade loyal customers, even when numerous superior rooms or suites are available. A reputation shared with Scandinavian hoteliers. So a Design Hotel in Sweden…I wasn’t expecting much.

Secondly, if you’re complaining about the cramped rooms in French hotels compared with the international competition, you should know that Scandinavian hotels have nothing to envy them. It’s often even worse.

The smallest room at Miss Clara is a 14 m2 “Small Single”, which gives you the impression of living in a closet. Having experienced this type of room at the Klaus K in Helsinki, I really don’t recommend it. I’ve never seen this size of room outside Scandinavia…except in Japan.

So I booked a standard single of 16/17m2 and was delighted to find myself in a standard double of 19m2. And I promise you that at this level, every square meter makes a big difference! But given the type of room available on the inventory when I arrived, the cheekiness of the loyalty program application is confirmed.

The bedroom opens onto a small vestibule with a closet.

Then there’s the room itself, and in view of my previous experiences in the region I find it pleasantly spacious.

It’s stylish, warm, sober and uncluttered. Totally Swedish. It took me a little while to get used to it (but then again, my head was still under the Croatian sun, so it was a bit of a shock), but I found the room very, very pleasant to live in.

I like to think of it as a cocooning place during the long local winters, which don’t make you want to put your nose outside.

On the negative side, there’s no desk to sit at in front of your computer. I’m going to miss it.

As this is a corner room, it will be very bright…when the sun deigns to make its way between the clouds.

On the other hand, another local specificity that I find unbearable: the two individual mini comforters on the bed. When you sleep alone in the middle of the bed, you almost always find yourself with nothing on. And even with two people, it’s anything but convenient. At least, the locals find it normal…

The bathroom, while not gigantic, is sober and functional. But a bit dark.

I’ll also find a few welcome gifts on the dresser. Attention welcome.

The caramels were delicious, and as for the trinket…

Let me finish by adding that, comforter aside, the bedding was very comfortable.

And here’s the video tour.

The Miss Clara setting

Not much more to say about the Miss Clara, once you’ve seen the room and the reception area, everything is just as it should be: a mix of design and warm sobriety.

On the other hand, it’s interesting to know the history of the building. Built in 1910, it was an all-girls school for over 40 years. It is named after Clara Strömberg, who is said to have passionately run the property in the late 19th century before it moved to these premises.

Facilities: gym and sauna

Being an old building in the center of town, you can’t expect much in the way of facilities, but the hotel does boast a gym and sauna.

Let’s start with the gym.

Located in the basement, blind, small, poorly equipped, it will not go down in history. Fortunately, I was mostly alone, as the hotel’s guests were clearly not fans of the thing, and the two or three I saw pushing open the door turned back at first sight.

As for the adjoining sauna, it’s also minimalist and I won’t see anyone using it anyway.

My opinion in a word: poor.

Bar and restaurant

The hotel has a bar and restaurant.

I’ll often see the bar packed at aperitif time. Rather friendly, even hip, I only tried to go there on the last evening of my stay…only to realize that it was closed on Sundays.

I will however try the restaurant on the first evening of my stay. This is an Italian restaurant.

Here’s the menu.

It’s a good thing I got there early, because it filled up very quickly. The setting is in keeping with that of the hotel, simple and warm.

On the other hand, the atmosphere is very, very noisy: the music is loud, the customers are talking loudly, it’s resonant… I’m not a fan.

Orders are quickly taken, and needless to say, the staff are eminently pleasant and friendly.

Let’s start with the carpaccio.

The presentation is nice and the dish overall good. Special mention for the truffle mayonnaise, which makes all the difference.

Then the beef tagliata with 3 sauces.

The three sauces will be a wine sauce, a truffle sauce and a homemade sauce. All three will be good;

The meat was a little overcooked and the accompanying potatoes and bacon far too salty (and yet I tend to add salt everywhere…).

It was good, but nothing more.

Once I’d finished my meal, the service was really slow and discouraged me from having dessert.

All in all, a very decent experience, but expensive for what it is. As we shall see, there are ways to eat better in Stockholm and get more for your money.

Ah, one last surprise: like the bar, the restaurant is closed on Sunday evenings.

Check-out

No mobile check-out possible on the app, I’ll have to go through reception again. Bad point.

Bottom line

Given the specific characteristics of the hotel business in these regions, the Miss Clara offers a very good experience. Whether you like the style or not, it successfully embodies a certain local atmosphere of sobriety (even a certain stripped-down simplicity that can be a bit “harsh” for the rest of us) and warmth. Scandinavian luxury is a concept…

Personally, I felt good and I enjoyed it.

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