A sneak peek inside Rival, the ABBA hotel

The lobby of the Rival Hotel.

 

A room with a view and balcony overlooking Mariatorget. And yes, that’s ABBA that you can see in the photo above the bed.

 

While I’ve had lunch in the cafe, dinner in the restaurant and drinks in the bars, I have never stayed at the Rival Hotel. But I’ve always been curious to see inside the rooms. After meeting the hotel’s concierge Sean recently, he offered me a tour. I couldn’t resist, so I met up with him on Friday for a look inside several of the rooms and suites. (Sean writes a helpful blog called The Stockholm Tourist where he shares things to do in Stockholm.)

Located on a beautiful square called Mariatorget on the island of Södermalm, the Rival bills itself as a design hotel. Owned by Benny Andersson of ABBA fame, the hotel does indeed have a very stylish Scandinavian look to it, but with lots of unique touches as well, including teddy bears in the rooms and collector movie cards on the restaurant walls.

 

Suite 705, complete with Ingrid Bergman on the wall.

 

Another view of the room. I could have easily stayed for a long time in this pretty suite. (Or, for that matter, in any of the other rooms I saw.)

 

Another room. A teddy bear is included in every room.

 

Originally opened as a movie theater in the 1930s, the Rival now has a hotel, performance theater,  restaurant, cafe and cocktail bars. Taking off from this history and since it is owned by Benny, it only makes sense that music and theater are the theme behind the design. Each room has giant photos from Swedish films. All the rooms have DVDs and CDs and more selections can be ordered from the front desk. And there are lots of other unique and personal touches everywhere you look. It feels cool and cozy all at once.

I have to say that I really liked the look of the Rival. Even though it’s in my neighborhood, I think I have to stay there sometime soon.

 

It’s the unique touches like this door in the art deco cocktail lounge that give the hotel its character.

 

Tagged as: Södermalm, Stockholm hotels