Hotel Rival gets off to a pretty cool start - it's owned by Benny from Abba. How very Stockholm...

But, thankfully, that's not all - it gets better from there. Check in is great - very helpful, friendly staff, the room was fabulous (deluxe double - big, comfy, airy, fashionable and with a few very cool features that not many hotels have - dimmable lighting (very cool), iPod dock that used the TV but also had speakers and volume control in the bathroom, a bathroom with natural light (my absolute favourite thing in a hotel), great biiiig shower and bath and a little reading alcove with a leather chair and a teddy in it. Sweet. A selection of DVDs (the hotel's an ex-cimema) and CD's were there too. Including, of course, some Abba. Oh, and the bed was pretty comfy too.

Room service is great (and served on the 2 occasions I had it by the restaurant manager), the restaurant is equally good and the bar is very, very good. It gets kind of busy and noisy on a Friday and Saturday (like everywhere else in Stockholm, it has a DJ) so if you want super-quiet, you might not like this (I checked in late on a Friday night and it was on the go) but if you like a bar with some vibe, this is good. Top cocktails too - the Caipirinha's are spot on.
The Cafe Rival bakery adjoining the hotel's nice too for a cappucino and a cinammon bun for breakfast but, as with everything else in Stockholm, not cheap.

Location-wise, it really depends on what you're after. For Sodermalm (the slightly more grungy bit of town) it's pretty good but it is a walk from the centre. It's on a pretty major street with some cool bars but it's a bit of a walk to shopping or cafes either in the hip SoFo area of Sodermalm or Normalm, the main 'centre' of Stockholm. Nothing problematic, just expect to be walking or taking the T-Bana (subway) a bit - there is a station on the square though. Cabs are expensive - don't bother, use the subway unless it's really late or you're loaded - go for the 100kr 24-hour T-Bana ticket (valid for 24 hours from purchase, whenever you buy it).

I liked Rival - nice staff, a cool vibe, an excellent room with really nice boutiquey features, a good location for me and a great bar. This is what I like when I book a boutique city hotel. Pretty much spot on.

Just a very nice boutique hotel in a good location. Excellent staff, and nice bakery restaurant attached for breakfast or lunch! Large room, great bed all the amenities.


My partner and I would go back.

I would agree with most of the other reviews here about the good location, and good service that the hotel provides.

We paid about €430 for two nights at the hotel. For that money we got a medium-sized room with a balcony overlooking the park in front of the hotel. The room itself was tastefully furnished, with a very nice bathroom. However, the room did not have air-conditioning, and we ended up having to sweat out two very uncomfortable hot summer nights. Leaving the windows options was not an option because of the street noise and the mosquitos (the windows don't have insect screens).

One other thing: the on-line booking forms from the various hotel web sites indicate that breakfast is not included in the price for mid-week bookings (we stayed Tue to Thu). On its web site, the hotel web-site is not clear on this issue. However, when I contacted the hotel directly, they agreed to include it in the room rate. I don't understand the ambiguity - I would not have expected anything else for the price we paid.

We stayed at the Rival for three nights in July. The property sits across from a smallish treelined park and in an area that is convenient for getting to the metro or old town. There is a 7/11 on the corner to pick up snacks/razors etc. which is nice and it's not a far walk down into town. I wasn't bowled over by the hotel even though it has gotten great reviews. I travel alot and I would agree that is a trendy,modern boutique type hotel but not a great value for the money.

It has it's pluses-24 hr room service from the restaurant which is great when you are jet lagged and up at 2am -the attached restaurant bar was nice for breakfast and cocktails in the pm.

We had a deluxe room which was supposed to come with a balcony- but when we checked in the staff gave us a standard room and seemed non pulsed when I asked them if they had gotten the room wrong. After a switch, we had a larger view room and larger bathroom. The room was clean and modern in decor. We had the big photos of ABBA on the wall and large DVD library to pick from if we wanted to watch a movie. There was a water and coffee/cookie stand on the 4th floor which was complimentary and very handy. We had alot of problems with the internet and fuses blowing out which left us without light in the bathroom and the sitting area. We had to ask twice for lightbulb replacements. If the price of the room was reasonable then I would feel more kindly about the hotel-but since it was so expensive I felt a bit ripped off. I would not stay there again and only recommend it to people on an expense account!