Hotel Reviews

The Best Western Mornington Hotel Bromma, a Designer Hotel on a Budget, Stockholm, Sweden

Published by
cheryl
at July 14, 2009 in Hotel Reviews and Sweden. 4 Comments

Breakfast oatmeal at the Mornington Hotel Bromma, Stockholm, Sweden 2009. Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson and Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC, 2009

What stuck in my mind was a comment in an online hotel review page on this hotel, a former guest said, – It was shocking at first…- Well, I kind of agree. You don’t think much of airfields since they are mostly located way out of sight and earshot, but this hotel, is right next to one. But, if you’re a heavy sleeper and can sleep past flight landings at 10 minute intervals after 7 am, then this hotel could just be for you.

The beds are crisply lined and this standard double, was fitted with by a large axel ball.

The hotel has wonderfully clean lines in its design. The large impeccably neat rooms and the pleasant staff soon make you forget any occasional noise during the daytime if you are even there, and not out exploring. This hotel is located in Bromma, just outside of the city of Stockholm. It is reasonably priced and asks a fraction of what for example the Sanderson in London charges for a night’s stay. Choosing this hotel actually leaves enough space in the shopping budget for a spree around Stockholm.

Public transportation is available nearby and the car parking spaces are for free. The globe trotter might want to take note of that taxi fares in Sweden are fairly steep. If you expect that a modestly priced hotel would need to have those 1970s brown interior, smelling of old dust and stale coffee and in dire need of an overhaul, I’m happy to report that this is not it.

Clean and simple, In the corner opposite the double beds, is a settee with an armchair and a coffee table.

The Zen-like interior rooms have lots of space, pine wood floors and curtains in block colours of grey, green and yellow to both relax and revitalise depending on which colours you like. The high ceilings and white walls are what I appreciated most in the designs. A standard double room comes equipped with a small coffee table with an electric boiler, tea, coffee and cups on the house. The sizes of the rooms are generous and offers all the storage space you need, comparable in size to the more luxurious rooms at the Majestic Barrière in Cannes.

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De Fyra Kungliga Klubbarnas Fest 2009, a Swedish Royal event at the Grand Hôtel, Stockholm

Published by
cheryl
at March 18, 2009 in FOOD, Hotel Reviews, Sweden and TRAVELS. 8 Comments

In a sea of tailcoats, in the Hall of Mirrors, Spegelsalen. I am wearing a red silk dress with pearl appliqués, designed by Francis Cheong in Singapore. The purse; a Louis Vuitton Monogram Vernis Sunset Boulevard in Amarante, from the LV shop in Stockholm. Kungliga Klubbarnas Fest, Grand Hôtel, Stockholm 2009.
Photo for CMC © J-E Nilsson and Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, 2009.

On Friday the 13th, March 2009, the bi-annual event of the Fyra Kungliga Klubbarnas Fest was held at the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm. Grand Hôtel is situated in the very heart of Stockholm beautifully overlooking the River Strömmen, which is such a defining feature of the city. Just opposite, on the other side of Strömmen, is the Royal Palace and Gamla stan (the Old Town) of Stockholm.

The event was hosted by the Royal Swedish Motorboat Club and co-hosted by the Nation of Italy, and was most notably graced by the presence of H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf and H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden.

Cheryl Marie Cordeiro and Jan-Erik Nilsson at the Fyra Kungliga Klubbarnas Fest at the Grand Hôtel, Stockholm 2009.

Champagne reception in the Hall of Mirrors

The evening began most pleasantly with a Champagne reception in the Hall of Mirrors (Spegelsalen), a magnificent ballroom decorated in gold, white and red. Ever since its opening in 1899 it has been the scene of countless conferences and brilliant parties. This evening was no exception as it held all the splendour of a White Tie event, a modern ball filled with a touch of magic! Ladies arrived dressed in their best fur coats only to reveal even more beautiful ballgowns in jewel toned fabrics. The men came dressed in full evening dress, some even with a top hat, and some in their mess dress.

The Hall of Mirrors, Spegelsalen, Grand Hôtel, Stockholm during the Kungliga Klubbarnas Fest 2009, its architectoral inspiration taken from the Galerie des Glaces in Versailles

The Hall of Mirrors has four large mirrored doors on either side, beautiful paintings on the ceiling and two giant crystal chandeliers with gilded frames. Standing in the middle of it, it most of all reminded me of the gallery at the second floor of the Opera Garnier in Paris. The hotel however, maintains that the hall’s architecture was inspired from its namesake, the Galerie des Glaces in Versailles. Perhaps both are versions of the same truth. Continue reading ‘De Fyra Kungliga Klubbarnas Fest 2009, a Swedish Royal event at the Grand Hôtel, Stockholm’

Staying at the Hotel Majestic Barrière, Cannes

Published by
cheryl
at September 14, 2008 in France, Hotel Reviews and TRAVELS. 4 Comments

The Hotel Majestic Barrière offers a splendid view across the La Croisette towards the Cannes Film Festival’s main building with its roof designed as a spacious helipad. To the left, is the beach where a bikini clad Brigitte Bardot introduced a new beach fashion to a whole world in the early 1950s. In the middle is the private entrance for artists to the festival building, right now leading into the Palais Club discotheque. Further out is the Port de Cannes where many large and comfortable private yachts are anchored.

Cannes – City of dreams.

Once a year the city of Cannes becomes the focal point to all who hold any hope of making it into the fame and fortunes of the international movie industry, as it hosts the most important film festival in the world, the annual Festival de Cannes.

The festival started in the 1940s and today attracts more than 200,000 visitors every year. Stars, filmmakers, fans and star-gazers alike plus more than 4,300 journalists, all gather in a city that would normally only house some 70 thousand inhabitants.

Cannes’ climate and location, that comfortably lets it bask in the sun along the French-Italian Riviera – the rocky coastline where Provence faces the azure blue water of the Mediterranean – has proved irresistible and has also become the European summer destination par preference of the rich and famous as it sits right in-between St Tropes, Nice and the miniature kingdom of Monaco.

On the top floor of the Hotel Majestic Barrière, a few unnumbered suites offer spacious comfort and an undisturbed view over the Cannes Film Festival area and the beach.

Continue reading ‘Staying at the Hotel Majestic Barrière, Cannes’

Staying at The Roosevelt, New York

Published by
cheryl
at May 16, 2008 in ART & DESIGN, Hotel Reviews, TRAVELS and USA. 1 Comment

Nibbling the Big Apple II

An official picture from The Roosevelt Hotel, showing the hotel lobby.
The picture, from their Internet web site.

The Roosevelt is a good place to stay close to the middle of what many may want out of a short stay in New York. Located at Madison and 45th, it’s a stone’s throw from the Broadway theaters, merely three blocks from the Times Square and just around the corner is the Grand Central Station with its old fashioned Oyster Bar Restaurant in the basement. With 5th Ave not too far away more or less “everything” is within reach, by a few short cab hops.
Continue reading ‘Staying at The Roosevelt, New York’

The Oriental Hotel, Bangkok

Published by
cheryl
at February 16, 2008 in FOOD, Hotel Reviews, TRAVELS and Thailand: Bangkok. 1 Comment

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A peek at the poolside with its canopied beds, The Oriental Hotel, Bangkok

The Chao Phraya river, with its deep green waters and numerous junk boats languidly making their way up and down its vast length, lends a sight of utopia to the many luxury hotels that make the Bangkok skyline today.

The oldest hotel in Bangkok, and even slightly older than the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, The Oriental Hotel parallels Singapore’s Raffles Hotel some, in terms of history of famous writers being there and era of being. At 132 years old this year, The Oriental Hotel is the grandest dame that sits by the warm and musky Chao Phraya.
Continue reading ‘The Oriental Hotel, Bangkok’

Staying at the Sanderson, London

Published by
cheryl
at October 2, 2007 in ART & DESIGN, Hotel Reviews, TRAVELS and United Kingdom: London. 2 Comments

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Entrance to the Sanderson, picture by Morgans Group LLC, from the Sanderson.

JE and myself had the privilege of staying at the Sanderson hotel in London when we were there earlier this year.

Upon entering the hotel

The Sanderson opened on 25 April 2000 and after a great success of St. Martins Lane, Ian Schrager again teamed up with Philippe Starck to create, what to me is a fairly eccentric hotel with an ecclectic mix of too much money and not knowing what to do with it, although they have phrased it rather differently in this article. A quote from the article

In a world where style is knocked off and mass-marketed at the speed of light, Schrager is keeping alive those most endangered of artistic species: experimentation, risk-taking, innovation and originality. Sanderson is all about charm, poetry, excess, glamour and elegance. It is an ironic combination – a balancing act – between extravagance and simplicity.

While I do agree on the originality of the idea of the design at the Sanderson, the “balancing act” as mentioned above, came across as none too well executed since the putting together of the pieces of art / furniture came across more as an indecision than statement purposeful.

The lobby at the Sanderson, picture by Morgans Group LLC.

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The ’60s murals and mosaics clashed specifically with the enormous and out of place Louis XV armoire. Set that right next to the African chair, an etched Venetian mirror and you hardly get sophisticated but rather, confused. Something that is most definitely difficult to categorize and impossible to define. One could almost get a headache out of looking at all the fantastic furnishings that would have indeed cost quite a bit to procure.
Continue reading ‘Staying at the Sanderson, London’