Hotel Rival

Will stay there again

We loved the hotel. Lovely bakery and cafe downstairs. It is situated in an interesting and fun area with plenty of shopping and night life. Walking distance to the harbor area. Perfect in every way!

Traveler's tip on dining

The Pelican is in walking distance and served delicious traditional Swedish fare in an interesting setting. Very large portions!

Nice hotel & location, standard rooms small

The hotel itself is nice and the bakery and cafe are both tasty places for snacks. The location on the island of Södermalm is a 10 minute walk to Gamla Stan (Old Town) and the subway station is 2 blocks away for trips further out. The hotel itself is nicely designed and the beds ultra comfy, but we found our room wasn’t big enough to want to spend any extra amount of time it, which isn’t a bad thing if you are there to sight see. The peaceful park across the street is a huge bonus.

Traveler's tip

If there’s more then one of you going to this hotel from the airport, a taxi is only 10-20 kronor (sek) more than the high speed train and no transferring to a different train! It could be a challenging walk from Central Station here with luggage.

Outstanding hotel and service

When I booked the hotel I was a little worried that the hotel was too far from the sights in Copenhagen. I needn’t have worried. The location was PERFECT. A nice, 10 min. walk down to Gamla Stan and the all the sites -- with breathtaking views of Stockholm along the way. The Superior Double room we had was just lovely. Nice size for a European room -- gorgeous decor and a wonderfully comfy bed. The staff was as great as the hotel -- helpful, friendly, courteous. We will definitely go back!

Great Hotel...and I am picky!

This hotel was perfect! I cannot say a single negative thing about it. The room was fantastic and a great value for the price. The room was very quiet which I appreciated being a light sleeper. The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. I also loved the design. The location is great, just a 5 minute walk to the water and close to 2 metro stations. The entrance fronts a lovely, small park and has a great cafe that over looks the garden. This is one of the best hotels I have visited in Europe for this price point.

Traveler's tip on dining

There are many incredible shops along the main road that leads from the hotel to the water. Also, the food was great at every restaurant we visited. The Gondolen had amazing food and an even better view. The swedish meatballs were amazing at KB Restaurant in the old town.

Fantasic!!

We oved our stay here, wonderful quieter neighborhood very close to main shopping street and T-bana to other Stokholm sights.

RIVAL HOTEL _ WONDERFUL

The RIVAL HOTEL in Stockholm was a perfect place to stay - easy access to everything and quiet at night. The food excellent. The staff accommodating, friendly, and knowledgeable.

Chic Scandinavian Hotel

We stayed in the Rival for three nights at the start of our Honeymoon. Its a wonderful hotel - very Scandivian in its decor with some delightfully quirky touches - for instance they had a DVD in the room with the hotel staff singing a song written by Benny Anderson, the hotel’s owner (and formerly of ABBA). Our room was a decent size, with a big bathroom which had a seperate shower and bathtub. The room had TV / DVD (which you can also use to play music through, even pipe it through to the bathroom), a big comfy bed, desk and the most closet space I think I’ve ever seen in a hotel room. We were able to hide all our bags as well as hang up clothes in the closets, which made the room feel even bigger as we weren’t tripping over cases all the time. The staff were all very friendly and willing to help, giving us a few tips on places to go and eat etc. They all spoke perfect English (as do most people in Stockholm). The hotel is in a great location, facing onto a nice square with a park in the centre. The neighbourhood is quiet, but there’s plenty of sights to do within walking distance. Its about two minutes to the subway (which is then about 5 mins to the central station) and about 10 - 15 minutes walk to the old town centre. Downsides? WiFi is available, but is extra, which I think should just be free now. However there is a computer in the lobby which is free for guests to use.

Traveler's tip on getting the most out of your stay

Get a Stockholm card. These are a little pricey, but they get you into most of the major attractions for free, plus you get the subway (T-Ban) thrown in so you can save a lot of cash. Walking is easy around Stockholm and public transport is clean and very efficient. Taxis are very expensive and not necessarily the quickest way around as Stockholm’s traffic can get pretty snarled up in the centre.

Swedish Gem

Great hotel. Friendly staff and clean rooms. The decor is a kick and the restaurant is very good.

Great location and great staff.

We stayed at the Hotel Rival in January. The weather was very cold, even for Stockholm, but the room was so hotwe actually opened the windows at night so we could sleep! The only other minor complaint is that there wasn’t much lighting in the room. But overall, the room was very comfortable (great beds) and the staff was wonderful. The location is excellent. It is on a quiet square right near a subway stop. We would definitely recommend this place to others.

central, nice hotel - we’ll be back ;-)

excellent breakfast-buffet ! friendly staff

Nice hotel.

Hotel Rival has nice design features and it’s on a quiet little square off the main street with lots of trees. The staff were very helpful. But the layout of our room was not great - there was very little clearance between the end of the bed and the very small desk, so if one person was sitting at the desk, there was no way to get between them and the foot of the bed to go across the room.

excellent experience

I had an excellent experience at the Rival. Great unobtrusive service, friendly, comfortable and a terrific location. Close to a T-bana stop makes for extra convenience.

Hotel for business people who arrive by train, not for tourists

Very difficult to get close to the hotel with a car. Parking not very close. Some key service personnel not very friendly. You are staying in the upper floors of a train station. You can not open windows in the room. Very expensive phone calls. Breakfast quite weak. We left the hotel early for a less expensive and more comfortable hotel.

Traveler's tip on local attractions

Don’t miss the beautiful Trads garden!

Cool space, but very small.

The hotel had a great design throughout and the bar attracted a cool crowd on weekend nights. The neighborhood was more bohemian and upcoming versus other more central hotels. The price per night was a little high for the very small room that we got. The room was so small that you had to sit on the bed to open one side of the closet door and you could not open the other closet door that had a floor length mirror on it without moving a side table away. The room also did not include breakfast, while most other guests rooms did. We did notice that other rooms seem to be a little larger. The Rival Cafe is very nice with a great hip neighborhood clientele. Bottom line - Cool, but the small space was not worth the price paid.

Traveler's tip on recreational activities

The "Under the Bridges" 2 hour boat tour was great. An ideal way to see the city and its waterways.

Very impressed

Wonderful hotel. Service personnel couldn’t have been nicer or more helpful. Bit fonky, but delightful. Restaurant, while a bit expensive, was was excellent. While a bit away from main attractions, easy walk and bus and metro are right there. Benefit of location was it was very quiet.

Great stay; great neighborhood

Great location; fun rooms; helpful staff...all in all a perfect stay.

wonderful experience

Hotel Rival beautifully designed -- quiet inside rooms have french doors that open to beautifully lit courtyard. Free cappuccino/latte machine was a wonderful bonus. Only criticism -- night lighting in the room, although elegant fixtures, was poor.

Pleasant service, excellent room, great location

A very nice place to stay in a great city. The staff is professional and friendly. The room is very comfortable and exactly what one needs. The location is attractive because in ’real Stockholm’ with short walking distance to very good bars and restaurants where one is at ease among locals. In the evening the colocated lounge/coctail bar is lively in a ’smart’ way. Some bartenders is better than others in preparing caipirinha’s.....

Wonderful Experience at Hotel Rival

Stayed at this hotel due to glowing reviews by fellow travelers. I must say that the shower in this hotel was one of the best I’ve had anyplace. It was nice to have the bakery and cafe right next door to the hotel. Wonderful breads from the bakery and good coffee. Ideal location. Walked to Old Town and the central part of Stockholm easily. Our room was small but am used to European hotels being like that. Big screen TV was nice too. Just the general layout of the hotel room was excellent and well thought out.

Great place to stay

First time in Stockholm. Great boutique hotel. I don’t always like boutique hotels but I thought their service was great. Staff was very helpful. Good breakfast at the hotel. It’s not in the "downtown" area but easy walking distance to that area and in a cute neigborhood.

Former group -- Abba did this hotel right!

Really nice, roomy, very clean modern style hotel with typical Swedish furnishings conveniently located in the Sodermalm area of Stockholm.

Traveler's tip on local attractions

Very centrally located and walking distance to museums, restaurant, shopping. Short cab ride to train station.

Nice place in Stockholm

I usually like to stay at tanother hotel in Stockholm, but since it was fully booked, chose the Rival instead. The Expedia rate was very competitive and although I like other sections of the city better, the Rival was a great choice. The room was well-sized by Euro standards and the food was excellent (had breakfast and dinner in the restaurant). The only thing I would improve is the room lighting (kind of dim). Thank you Expedia!

Traveler's tip on saving a few bucks

Hard to save bucks in Stockholm - it’s really expensive, so bring lots of cash (or be prepared for a large Visa bill when you get home!). Great place though - you will love it.

Nice, but...

Hotel is very nice with superior and helpful Front Desk staff. Restaurant has poor menu variety. Free internet on their PC in lobby. Nice comfortable rooms with all amenities. No "good" window views anywhere in hotel. Hotel is very nice and in good area, but for a tourists it would be better to say a little closer to town-center (closer to Palace). Hotel IS within walking distance to town-center, but for tourist..get closer to center (Palace). However, if you stay at this hotel you’d be fine.

Traveler's tip

Weather in Stockholm (July) is very fickle; take umbrella, shorts, light-jacket, cap. All Europe cities are NOT ADA-compliant...if you have walking difficulty (stairs, cobble-stones, etc.), then you will not be able to go to many sites in any city. I loved Stockholm; spend 3-4 days.

Loved it

V cool, we had a great time. I mean, how groovy is the pillow menu! Staff friendly and in a nice area, away from the madness of too many tourists

highly recommended

definitely would return, great service, everything was perfect