Downtown Camper by Scandic — Hotel in Stockholm

I am a big fan of this hotel, and I find it perfect! I come to Stockholm every March for a big Swedish music festival, and every single year I stay specifically at this hotel. First of all, I find the hotel’s location ideal. The hotel is located in the city center, very close to Stockholm Central Station, which is great if you take the Arlanda Express train from Arlanda Airport; the walk from Stockholm Central Station to the hotel is only 6 minutes. Another big plus of the hotel’s location is that it is right next to the main shopping promenade street with many different shops, cafes, and restaurants. The hotel is very modern, and I love its design. The lobby is decorated very nicely! It has a lot of comfortable chairs and sofas to sit down and relax. Also, there is a big restaurant on the lobby level. There are many elevators (if I remember correctly, 5 of them), so you never wait for one. Plus, they are all very fast and big, fitting many people. The front desk is huge! During the daytime, a lot of people work there, so there are no lines (I personally never had to wait). All the staff are extremely nice, polite, and professional. Every year I have three major requests for my room: a high floor, a city view, and a bathtub, not a shower stall; and every year, the staff tries to find me a room that fits all these requests. I usually book a Classic Double Room with Twin Beds, paying approximately $150 per night, and I find this deal reasonable for the highest and nicest room quality! By the way, my favorite room from this category that I have stayed in is Room #809, which is a corner room with windows on two sides, giving a lot of natural daylight into the room. In general, rooms of this category are pretty big; they all have a similar design, which is very nice and cozy; it feels like a room in a cabin in the woods. All the furniture in the rooms I have stayed in was in perfect condition. I especially love the fact that every room of this category has a little bed right on the window; the windowsill area is made like a bed, which fits me perfectly (I am 6’1’’). A few times, I fell asleep there instead of the real bed, and it felt amazing! Also, this windowsill area has a little coffee table if you need to put a drink or snacks next to you. So nice, love it! The regular bed is super comfortable, with great soft pillows and very warm, high-quality blankets! The Classic Double Room has all the necessary amenities to feel super comfortable. I also love the fact that every TV in the rooms has a fireplace option (with fireplace sounds) to use as background; it really helps to relax, fall asleep, and sleep in peace. The bathrooms in Classic Double Rooms are kind of tiny (especially in Room #809, which had the smallest bathroom I have seen). Basically, the bathroom’s length is the same as the bathtub’s length, which almost fits me (6’1’’ tall). But the bathtub is very deep; I can absolutely stay there for a long time and relax. A big plus of the bathroom is the heated floor. All bathroom amenities are of very high quality and smell wonderful. Wi-Fi at the hotel always works very fast; I never had even a little issue with it. I also need to mention that the hotel has a little spa with a pool on the top floor, but I personally never tried to use it. They charge for using this facility. The hotel also has nice bicycles for rent (I believe for free), but I never used this option because of the winter weather in March. Finalizing my review, I absolutely want to recommend this hotel for a stay in Stockholm, whatever the goal of your trip to...

Delighted!

Whenever I travel, I try to seek out hotels with a promise of a surprise, offering a delightful experience, and revealing new trends. Upon discovering Downtown Camper online, I knew it was a must-visit—and it absolutely lived up to my expectations!

To start with the name, camping in the centre of the capital is my favourite type of camping 🏕️ !

The concept is respected to the tiniest detail, from the fireplace TV screensaver in the room to the smoky butter on your bröd (bread in Swedish).

🛏️ The rooms are small, but cozy, with design elements that remind you of the camping experience, but with all comfort needed! The window sofa was appreciated. On higher floors you might even catch a falling star, gazing in the sky from here. Do check your room category, as there are some rooms WITHOUT windows, oddly! I hadn't noticed during booking and had to upgrade for an extra 60 euros.

🚿⏳ Nice touch with an hourglass in the bathroom, to remind you delicately to reduce time under shower and save water.

🗓️ The activities proposed by the hotel are various, from roasting marshmallows at the fireplace in the bar (free), to exploring the art in the Stockholm subway (free), to seeing a movie (free) at their comfy cinema, to a dip pool at the rooftop and sauna (~40 euros. I found it quite expensive for hotel guests), to renting a skateboard (price on demand), to recording a podcast (45 euros / hour in their small equipped booth)!

🍴 The dish I tried at the Campfire restaurant (charcoal grilled 🔥 chicken and eggplant) was excellent. I also thank the bartender Vale for his expertise. When you arrive with doubts which cocktail to choose from and the barman invites you to “close the menu, tell me what you want”, that is the attitude I am looking for from a true expert.

🥖 The breakfast was one of the best I have ever seen and tasted in hotels! Amazing choice of bread, porridge, yogurts, cold cuts, hot dishes, fruits, juices, pancakes (bonanza!), waffles, a gluten-free corner, and quality coffee.

Great quality and a concept that makes sense, I can only congratulate the Scandic Group teams for keeping it up since 2017 with...

If you are used to proper hotels with good service, the Downtown Camper is an absolute letdown. Staff at the reception is basically snoozing and only takes absolutely minimal effort. When we arrived the receptionist had no idea that the room charge had already been prepaid (travel agency). It took him 10 min. to figure out that this was actually the case. Also, only minimal effort to help with a parking spot for the rental car. The basic idea of this hotel is that you take over the hotel's work so they can save cost (or as they like to call it "help the environment") and the hipster interior is just there to distract you from this. Room cleaning is only done every 3 days unless you specifially request it, and if you dare to do that the guys at the reception only very reluctantly arrange it. It did not work 2 out of 4 times I requested cleaning. I don't think room cleaning (without towel od linen switch) is much of a request from a hotel which charges you full price for your stay. Also the pool and SPA must be pre booked, and of course it was completely booked during our 4 day stay. If I pay for a hotel I dont want to have to stress and compete with people for using the facilities which the hotel uses to advertise itself. Also, my 9 yo, well-behaved son could not use the pool. So parents, I advise you to stay elsewhere if you want to enjoy the trip with your kids and give them nice memories.

Breakfast during rush hour 8 - 10 was extremely packed and of course instead of providing sufficient seating for guests, the hotel likes to put blame on the guest and basically tells you that it is your own fault if you come to have breakfast during this time, so please accomodate the poor management and arrange your breakfast around the hotels needs. Coffee was awful if you are used to proper coffee. So, in a nutshell, I will not come again and I hope people see beyond the hipster look, because what is left is a hotel with really poor service for full charge. On a positive note, location of the...