Part of the Old Town (Gamla Stan) of Stockholm, Sweden.
Old Town (Gamla Stan) Stockholm, Sweden
Travel Tuesday photo: Old Town (Gamla Stan) Stockholm
Categories: Europe, Picture of the Week, Sweden
Tags: Europe, Picture of the Week, Stockholm, Sweden
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Lodging Review: Motel L Älvsjö, Stockholm
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. Continue reading
Categories: Europe, Hotel, Lodging Review, Other Hotels, Sweden, Trip Report
Tags: Hotel Review, Lodging Review, Motel L, Stockholm, Sweden, Trip Report
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Our Time in Älmhult, Sweden and High-Speed Train to Stockholm
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
As I mentioned in my prior post, we had just one night at the Ikea Hotell and were also taking advantage of the free laundry facilities. As a result we did not do much in the way of exploring the small town of Älmhult at all.
Ikea Museum
As a guest at the hotel we were given free passes to the Ikea Museum, which is just across the parking lot from the hotel.
Continue reading
Categories: Attraction Review, Europe, Sweden, Trip Report
Tags: Ikea, Sweden, Train Travel, Trip Report
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Lodging Review: IKEA Hotell, Älmhult, Sweden
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
Älmhult is not a large town and the hotel is listed as a four-minute walk from the train station. It may be slightly more than that when wrangling luggage, but it’s a very easy walk and no cobblestones!
We arrived a couple of hours before the official check-in time but fortunately our room was ready. We seemed to be the only people around other than staff, at least for awhile.
How This Stay Was Booked
This hotel does not participate in any points programs I’m aware of and they only accept pre-paid reservations, as far as we could tell. Also, room reservations are not available more than 6 months in advance so we had to wait a few months after the rest of the trip was locked in to make this reservation. We booked a family room which had two sets of bunk beds for $127/night. Continue reading
Categories: Europe, Hotel, Lodging Review, Other Hotels, Sweden, Trip Report
Tags: Älmhult, Hotel Review, Ikea, Lodging Review, Sweden, Trip Report
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Our Time in Malmö and Ystad, Sweden
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
Our next stop was the city of Malmö, Sweden, which is practically a suburb of Copenhagen. We actually didn’t spend all that much time in Malmö itself. After taking the train from Copenhagen (and there are dozens of trains per day) we dropped our bags at the hotel and began exploring the area. We had the rest of the day in town but the following morning we took the train out to Ystad for the day and did not return until late afternoon. We then had the remainder of that second day in Malmö as well.
Malmö
We spent most of our time in the old town (gamala staden) of Malmö. This is an area to the southwest of the train station. While there are streets threaded through the area, there are lots of pedestrian-only areas. There’s lots of shopping and places to eat in this area, both for tourists and locals.
Lodging Review: Story Hotel Studio Malmö
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
Story Hotel Studio Malmö
Location
The hotel is super-convenient to the Malmö Train Station. If you come up through the main part of the train station and exit, keep the station behind you and you’ll be facing north. Turn left and walk across a bridge over a canal. Turn right and walk beside the canal (it’s a pedestrian area) and walk until you reach the next street. The Story Hotel is on your left! Once you’re familiar with the area, as you’re heading from the hotel back to the train station you can use the entrance that goes under the street that bridges the canal and enter that way.
How This Stay Was Booked
The Story Hotel is a category 1 Hyatt, which meant I was able to book one night using the free night certificate I get with the Chase World of Hyatt Visa. There were no rooms that allowed for three adults, but it was so cheap that I was fine spending 5000 points per night for two rooms. So total cost was 15K points + one free night certificate for two rooms where the refundable rate was $259/night though I could get a corporate discount for $233/night. If I value Hyatt points at 1.5 cents each, it means we got each of the rooms for $75 per night which is quite a bargain! Continue reading
Categories: Award Travel, Europe, Hotel, Hyatt, Lodging Review, Sweden, Trip Report
Tags: Award Travel, Europe, Hotel, Hotel Review, Hyatt, Lodging Review, Story Hotel, Trip Report
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Lodging Review: Next House, Copenhagen
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
Next House Copenhagen
As we were planning this trip we’d created a shareable spreadsheet where we plotted out our flights, lodging, ground transportation and things to do in each area. For some reason, when we booked our stay in Copenhagen we (that is, I) ended up booking two nights instead of three. And I only realized this during the flight on the way over, despite the fact that at least two of us had been staring at that spreadsheet for months on end! After arriving at the Fairfield I took the train over to the Best Western Hotel Hebron to try to add another night on to our reservation, but they were completely booked, although they did put us on the waiting list in case of a cancellation. But since we needed a room for 3 people I wasn’t counting on that. I then researched several other places in town but did not book anything until my friends arrived on Monday. Continue reading
Categories: Denmark, Europe, Hotel, Lodging Review, Other Hotels, Trip Report
Tags: Denmark, Europe, Hotel, Hotel Review, Lodging Review, Other Hotels, Trip Report
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Travel Tuesday photo: Base of Egyptian obelisk in Istanbul
The base of the Egyptian obelisk in the Hippodrome at Istanbul, Turkey
Base of the Egyptian obelisk
Categories: Uncategorized
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Lodging Review: Best Western Hotel Hebron, Copenhagen
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
Best Western Hotel Hebron (credit: Agoda.com)
Location & Transportation
The Best Western Hotel Hebron is about a 6-minute walk from the main train station, Kobenhavn H, or about a 4-minute walk from the Kobenhavn H metro stop. Be aware that many of the sidewalks in this area are cobblestone so rolling a bag across them is always “fun”. My friends took the train from the airport directly to the main train station. As I was coming from the Fairfield, I took the M4/Blue metro train to the metro stop.
How This Stay Was Booked
We booked this stay directly through the Best Western website and chose to pay a slightly higher rate upon arrival so that we could each pay separately. This not only allowed us to each earn credit card points while paying, it was one less thing we’d have to worry about reimbursing someone for later on. Our rate was about $191/night for a room with two twin beds and a daybed.
Check-in
I had to check out of the Fairfield by 11 AM and my friends’ flight landed shortly thereafter. I arrived at the hotel between 10:30 and 11 AM. I didn’t expect the room to be ready and it was not but I was allowed to work in the courtyard and use the WiFi there while waiting for my friends to arrive. The room was finally ready about 1:30 PM, still well ahead of the published check-in time. We were able to split the payment for the two nights we had booked, which was nice. Trouble is, we’d miscalculated and really needed a third night! Unfortunately the hotel was booked and they didn’t have a room for us for our final night. While we put ourselves on the waiting list, later that night we booked another place, which I’ll review in the next installment. Continue reading
Categories: Best Western, Denmark, Europe, Hotel, Lodging Review, Trip Report
Tags: Best Western, Denmark, Europe, Hotel Review
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Our Time in Copenhagen
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
Københavns Museum
As I’d arrived a day before my friends, I wanted to spend the afternoon doing something I knew would not be of interest to them so that once they arrived we could do something we all enjoyed. So I went to the Københavns Museum (Museum of Copenhagen) to try to get a sense of the city’s origins and history. In retrospect this was probably not the kind of place I should have visited after a night of no sleep and hustling through airports. I confess I didn’t get a whole lot out of it but at least it wasn’t very expensive. Continue reading
Categories: Award Travel, Denmark, Europe, Trip Report
Tags: Award Travel, Copenhage, Denmark, Europe, Trip Report
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