Swedish interior design showcase at Hotel Birger Jarl

WHEN traveling, what are the points you consider for when choosing a hotel?

Comfort and convenience, for sure, and your checklist may include these: easy access to and from the airport via public transport, centrally located in the city or wherever your destination may be, by/near the local transport system, ink in design and style, the amenities. But the over-all consideration might just be value for money.

Once in a while, surprises come your way. Good ones, if not beautiful. Just like the hotel Agoda pointed me to when I went to Stockholm, the second stop of my Scandinavian tour.

Hotel Birger Jarl can check all the entries on the criteria: it connects to the Arlanda Airport 42 kilometers away via the fast train; it’s at the heart of city, in the Normalm, where the shopping, trendy dining and entertainment districts are, but tucked in the quiet part; the art scene is in the neighborhood, if you’re into museums, theaters and antique stores; access to the rest of Stockholm is not a problem as the public transport -- train and ferries, are nearby.

All these considered, it’s already one fine hotel to stay in, but Birger Jarl has one surprise up its sleeve. Although it’s one of the most popular convention hotel in the city because of its capacity to host, the accommodation goes beyond what is expected of a business hotel.

Sure, the rooms are fitted with the modern amenities the businessmen and modern traveler would want, but how about getting all those in a well-designed space created by renowned interior designers? Hotel Birger Jarl wants its guest to “live, see and enjoy” its contemporary rooms designed to unite function and aesthetics.

The hotel borrowed its name from the founder of Stockholm and they say, “Our feet are firmly planted in our national heritage. It’s combining traditions with innovative thinking, and the best that modern design has to offer.”

On this aspect, Birger Jarl is successful in putting forward Sweden’s strength—good design, creations with a dynamic attention to detail, art-like objects that are thought provoking and engaging. From the point of entry to the rooms, Swedish design will embrace its guests.

There were 17 designers commissioned to make several spaces of the 271-room hotel into their personal canvases. With their aesthetic sensibilities marked in their opuses, the result was an impressive collection of livable artworks housed in a single building showcasing Scandinavian design ingenuity.

Lucky are those who get to frequent Hotel Birger Jarl often for they can get the chance to discover something new with each visit. Some who did find the space they are truly fond of, a room they return to whenever they’re at the hotel, a nest that they can make them feel at home at their personal hotel in Stockholm.

As to my nest in Stockholm, it was by Architect Jacob Waller, who was guided by these catchwords when designing his 23 livable canvasses: quality, timelessness and elegance.

The room’s hues are taken from the city, the polished facades and the sunset. All the fixed furnishing are especially designed for the room. A nice detail is Hotel Birger Jarl's B-symbol, which is carved on cupboards and wardrobe doors.

The single artwork in the room was designed by the Swedish design duo, Dizel & Saté, and of course, there has to be “that Swedish chair.” My room had the "Kennedy" stool from Johansson Design.

Perhaps of the hotel’s collection, the most popular is room 247, the spot missed during the hotel’s renovation, which was discovered unchanged during final cleanup. It’s now referred to as the Retro Room from 1974.

The room has undergone a facelift. “By respecting the carefully preserved original furnishings, we have recreated a 70's feel, but with a more eccentric and wild expression,” said the management. This room certainly added an interesting facet to this “home”.

Just like a nice “home” in a fine area, you’ll have good neighbors. Right next door to Hotel BirgerJarlis the home to Spotify.

Hotel Birger Jarl, Tulegatan 8, Stockholm. Visit their website at http://www.birgerjarl.se.

For great deals on this property, visit the Agoda website at http://www.agoda.com/hotel-birger-jarl/hotel/stockholm-se.html

For more photos about this story, and other travel and lifestyle stories, visit http://jeepneyjinggoy.blogspot.com/ and http://apples-and-lemons.blogspot.com/

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