We are from Columbus, OH and stayed for a week at the Stallmastaregarden from July 1st - 8th, 2007. Overall, this is a wonderful hotel. It is very clean, the setting on the lake is beautiful, and the staff is as friendly and helpful as you will ever find. As you will read in other reviews, this hotel is literally 100 yards to the bus stop from the airport. This is extremely useful. The bus tickets are cheap and they run every 15 minutes, 7 days a week. Also, the breakfast buffet is one of the true gems. Great variety of meats, cheeses, breads, cereals, plus the traditional eggs and bacon staples. We were able to load up each morning, so we didn't need lunch while we spent the rest of the day sightseeing.

The only drawbacks would be that the standard room is rather small and doesn't have air conditioning (however, the temperature in Sweden averaged 68F which still made it feel rather comfortable). Also, the hotel is about 1.2 kilometers from the nearest subway station. It really isn't a bad walk and by the end of the first day we had mastered the subway and train routes and used this exclusively for all of our trips. We discovered that we only needed the 7 day local pass (not the one that includes all of the museum entrance fees). This allowed us access to all of the subway stops, local ferry to Djurgarden and high speed train to Sigtuna. The subways were very clean, always on time, and felt very safe.

We tried day trips to Sigtuna and Uppsala, but truly enjoyed our time in Gamla Stan the best. We normally are not big on "tourist traps", but the Vasa Museum exceeds all expectations. Plus, Skansen was very fun and interesting, plus our tour of the royal palace was great. The amusement park at Tivoli Grund made for a fun evening. The rides aren't much, but the week we were there they had a free concert on the 4th of July and it turned out to be the Beastie Boys. It was a nice piece of home in a far away land.

As for dining - this was the most difficult piece of the trip, primarily due to non-english menus at many restaurants, plus just the cost of food and beverages. The MOMS 25% tax rate applies to EVERYTHING in Sweden, including the food. The cheapest beer I had was $7, normally closer to $10+. Every meal entree was over $20 - most closer to $45+. We used Frommers to find good restaurants in the "moderate" category, but meals were the most expensive element of this trip. That being said, we splurged for the greatest dining experience of our lives. About 8 miles north of the hotel is the Edsbacka Krog. This is housed in the first inn established in Sweden sometime in the early 1600's. This is a true 5 star experience. The service was impeccable, the presentation and food quality was unsurpassed. I have included a few pictures from our meal. The cost was about $350 for the two of us, but this is a meal we will talk about for the rest of our lives. If you can, you should...

Depending on what you are looking to do on your vacation, I do recommend this hotel. However, if we venture back to Stockholm, we would most likely stay closer to Gamla Stan since that is where we spent most of our time and enjoyed just walking the streets and browsing the shops. Stallmastaregarden allows you to "get away" from the hussle of Stockholm, but after a long day of walking and sightseeing, the extra 1.2 kilometers back to the hotel each night was a bit much.

As Americans who booked through Expedia, we were given the worst room in the hotel: facing a major highway and a road with the noise and dust that went with this setting. We were told we would have to contact Expedia, that no upgrade could be allowed, that the hotel could do nothing. We complained to Expedia, asked for the manager, and telephoned for help. We were wlling to check out rather that stay in a small hot noisy box on a highway.

The next morning, the acting manager moved us to a garden room. This was so much better, we began to relax and enjoy our 5-day holiday.

The problem is, the choice of rooms is too important to be left to chance at a place like this on a beautiful lake with a giant park behind it.

I chose this hotel based on the reviews on Tripadvisor and did nto regret it.

The setting is very pretty: an old inn on a lake but very close to the centre (the bus stops in front of the hotel). The executive room on two floors was nicely decorated. Breakfast was a good (not great) buffet in a room overlooking the lake. There is a good health club a short walk from the hotel.

The only negative comment is that there is no air conditioning in the rooms, and that it can get very hot on a sunny day (and night) in July.

Otherwise, this is probably one of the better options in Stockholm, a city with few outstanding hotels.

Oldfashioned, very nice hotel. Not centrally located; if that's what you need choose another hotel.

Very nice surroundings with tenniscourts, a lake and various paths to
walk.

Nice, clean hotel. Get an executive room if you can, it has two floors and two baths.

Couldn't buy a coca-cola at 11 a.m. from the restaurant-staff because
they didn't open until 1 p.m. Ridiculous...