Introduction: Late Summer in Scandinavia
Flight Review: American Airlines B737-800 First Class, MEM-DFW
Flight Review: Finnair A350-900 Business Class, DFW-HEL
Flight Review: Finnair E190 Business Class, HEL-CPH
Lodging Review: Fairfield by Marriott Copenhagen Nordhavn
Our Time in Copenhagen
Lodging Review: Best Western Hotel Hebron, Copenhagen
Lodging Review: Next House, Copenhagen
Lodging Review: Story Hotel Studio Malmö
Our Time in Malmö and Ystad, Sweden
Lodging Review: IKEA Hotell, Älmhult, Sweden
Our Time in Älmhult, Sweden and High-Speed Train to Stockholm
Lodging Review: Motel L Älvsjö, Stockholm
Our Time in Stockholm
Flight Review: SAS A320neo Economy Class, ARN-OSL
Lodging Review: Comfort Hotel Grand Central, Oslo
Our Time in Oslo
Lounge Review: SAS Lounge, Oslo airport
Flight Review: Lufthansa A320-200 Business Class, OSL-FRA
Flight Review: Lufthansa 787-9 Business Class, FRA-MSP
Flight Review: Delta B737-800 First Class, MSP-MEM
Location
The hotel is located just a couple of blocks northeast of the Älvsjö train (metro) station. It was an easy walk though once again our wheeled suitcases took a bit of battering as they bounced over the cobblestones. But it made it easy for us to get back on the train for our time touring the city. Our German friend was joining us for the rest of the trip and she was waiting for us at the train station and guided us to the correct metro line and let us know when we’d arrived.
Motel L Älvsjö (credit: byggfaktadocu.se)
How This Stay Was Booked
We booked this hotel directly on the Motel L website. We paid a slightly higher refundable rate of about $95/night so that we could pay separately as we checked in. Once again this allowed us each to earn credit card points and we didn’t have to worry about reimbursing each other later on.
Check-In
The check-in desk is located just to the right of the hotel entrance. We arrived about 6:30 PM and were greeted promptly. We explained how we wanted to split the room charges and, though there was a learning curve, the front desk associate was eventually able to figure out how to do that. We’d booked two twin rooms for the four of us. They weren’t on the same floor but that was not an issue for us.
Oh, and if you don’t like the color orange, this may not be the hotel for you!
Common Areas
Ground Floor
The bar is located in the lobby, right next to the check-in desk. Across from that were some comfortable couches and low tables. It’s a relaxing place to have a drink or just socialize. The bar is open from 11 AM to 1 AM daily.
There’s a mini-mart right next to the front desk.
Breakfast Area
There’s no restaurant as such but there is a dining area by the complimentary breakfast buffet. While the buffet was somewhat busy in the mornings, it was never super-crowded and we never had an issue finding a place for the four of us to sit.
The buffet is open from 6:30-10:00 AM on weekdays and 7:30-11:00 AM on weekends. If you need to leave earlier than that, let them know the night before and they can provide a sack breakfast. The crew did a good job of refreshing the buffet as items ran out. The buffet is not massive but had a nice selection.
Gym
The gym is quite small, only about as big as a guest room. There were two guys in there when I stopped to take photos and the room felt crowded!
Guest Room
Our room was located on the seventh floor. If you’re not careful, the hallway carpet can make you dizzy!
While we’re reserved two twin rooms, we each were assigned triple rooms but that didn’t mean they were any larger!
As you can see on the photo below, over the (super-soft) twin beds is a pull-down, Pullman-style bed that can be used for a third person. Had our German friend decided not to join us for this part of the trip this was one of the candidates for the three of us to stay together. I’m pleased that we were able to go with four people in two rooms instead.
As you can see in the photos, the twin beds are barely a finger’s-width apart but we’ve rather come to expect that these days. As long as we can each control our own covers, we’re OK with it. We had a chair in the corner. The bed on the left has some shelves that can be used for storage. While it may be hard to see, on the right by the wall is an orange ladder that can be used to climb into the pull-down bunk. If you move the ladder, there’s a small open closet for hanging clothes.
The desk by the window only had a small stool, not that we were using it for anything other than to empty our pockets at night. We were pleased to see a safe though.
It had electrical outlets that were easy to reach. It also had something I hadn’t seen in awhile, a bottle opener!
The bathroom was quite compact as you can see. Once again the partition for the shower did not enclose it, leaving a mess on the floor – and no bath mat was provided. The mirror on the wall behind the toilet, which was opposite the sink, did help to make the bathroom less claustrophobic. But the hair dryer had the annoying feature where there was a button that had to be held down the whole time you were using it. There were no tissues provided anywhere in the room.
While there was a single wall-mounted dispenser for a hair & body wash, it was empty. Instead we had two small bottles, one listed as shampoo, the other as hair & body wash. No conditioner. Still, I like having something marketed specifically for my hair versus a generic “hair & body” product. Maybe that’s just because it’s what I’m accustomed to at home.I did find both products a little “perfumey” for my taste. 
It was also nice to see real cups available instead of disposable plastic ones, even if we only used them as toothbrush holders.
Our room did not have much of a view as it overlooked the railroad tracks close to the Älvsjö station. It was stuffy in the room and we opened the window to try to get a little fresh air but found the trains to be rather noisy. We did leave it cracked open all night and honestly it wasn’t too bad overnight. But we could tell when the city was beginning to wake because the frequency of the trains definitely picked up. Fortunately our friends’ room faced the other direction and they did not have this problem.
In the end
Is it luxurious? No. Is it convenient? Yes. Would I stay here again? Yes. For no more time than we spent in our room while in Stockholm, this was a perfectly acceptable hotel for our needs, especially at under $100 per night.
2B Traveling 
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