Hotel with incomparable level of cozy by design wizard Ilse Crawford in Stockholm
Ett Hem / Stockholm / Sweden
I am baaaaack! And trust me when I say that it feels better than great to be back at Ett Hem. My dear husband gave this to me for my birthday and I find it hard to think of a better present for someone like me. I guess he knows me after all these years.
Enough about me and more about Ett Hem.
We have stayed here once before (which you can read about here). That stay was during Christmas so the whole place was decked out in Christmas trees and all kinds of festive seasonal decorations. This time around we got to experience Ett Hem in all of her ”normal” glory. And the reason why normal is in ”” is because there is nothing normal about this hotel.
When owner Jeanette Mix hired Ilse Crawford to work on creating this hotel together with her they set out to create something truly unique. Something that the hotel world had never seen before. A hotel that doesn’t only use ”a home away from home” as a guiding principle but more like an absolute truth. And the result is stunning!
So what is new since last time? When we stayed here construction work was ongoing next door and when I am writing this Ett Hem has gone from 12 to 22 rooms (plus 3 long stay apartments and a gym). The opportunity came up to buy the two neighboring buildings and they went for it and now there is more Ett Hem for people to enjoy. Great timing for this expansion since Ett Hem celebrated 10 years in 2022. Also this time around Ilse Crawford (aka the Design Goddess) was involved in the work. I am realizing now that I have a very valid reason to book a third stay. I will let M gently know this when it is time to write my Christmas wish list.
And another little piece of info that I have heard through the grapevine is that they are looking at expanding the Ett Hem concept. There is already work ongoing at a farm in Tuscany and there are thoughts of finding something in the Swedish countryside. I am here for it!
Welcome to Ett Hem. The entrance doesn’t only look like the entrance to home, it feels like it too.
The reception looks like no other reception. So warm and welcoming where you are greeted more like a guest than a customer.
Ett Hem has all these different seating areas where you can retreat and basically just feel at home, which is kind of the whole idea with this hotel.
When Ett Hem was created there were new structures created, like these staircases but without loosing any of the original soul of the building along the way. Impressive!
How crazy is this! We had an upgrade (yay!) and ended up with the exact same room as last time (sounds like we stay here all the time. We don’t. This was the second time but hopefully not the last). We didn’t mind since the room is so great.
If you want to, you can have your fireplace I full swing in time for when you get back from dinner. Cozy, cozy, cozy!
And of course there are no modern keycards here but old school, proper keys. Anything else would feel wrong.
The bathroom with his and his vanity.
The sun is setting on our window sill and the Dr Westerlund plant placed there to increase the level of homeliness.
The view from our room, over Lärkstaden a part of the upscale area of Östermalm in Stockholm.
This truly looks like it could have been taken in someones home. Someone with a lot of money and really, really great taste when it comes to interior design. It is, like I have already mentioned, Ilse Crawford who is the mastermind behind this. She knows her sh*t.
A cozy fire to get warm by in those brisk Stockholm nights.
Downstairs in the basement there is this beautiful little spa/hamam. This is on first-come-first-served basis, so you just go down when it is available and use it for how long you wish.
M deciding what to order to drink, lounging in the orangerie.
One activity I can really recommend is to take one of the boats and leave Stockholm behind. This one has final destination, Sandhamn. A classic island in the outer rim of the archipelago.
It almost doesn’t get more Swedish than this. Sandhamn as you approach from the water.
Sandhamn is a cute little island with great beaches, cute traditional houses and some good places to eat.
RG inside info
This place is perfect if you…
…want to really go for it and reward yourself with a top notch hotel stay. A hotel where you are treated more like a guest rather than a paying customer. If you are interested in design and if you want to see up close what the result of a professional looks like. Then this is your place!
My favorite thing about this place…
…is the effortless interaction that the people working here have with us staying at the hotel. It genuinely feels like they are happy we have decided to stay at Ett Hem and they are set on making sure we’ll have a memorable stay.
What not to miss when staying here is…
…to leave central Stockholm (if you do decide to leave the hotel that is, which we didn’t do for a second the first time we stayed here) and go out to the islands. The archipelago outside Stockholm is so vast and so beautiful with hundreds of islands and islets, some inhabited and some not. So if the weather is good, pack your swimsuit and jump on one of the boats leaving from central town to one of the countless island destinations and experience something really unique. Like something out of an Astrid Lindgren story.
If you like this hotel you might also like…
Villa Arnica, Lana, South Tyrol, Italy
Maison Ceronne, Mortagne-au-Perche, Normandy, France
Breac House, Dunfanaghy, Co. Donegal, Ireland
