Sweden’s latest hip hotel is — but of course — impeccably designed. The Nobis, in downtown Stockholm, is all clean Scandinavian lines, muted colors and modernist furnishings, generating a coziness that beckons through the windows running along the east side of Norrmalmstorg Square. Adding to the draw are stores by local design collective Acne, and Finnish fashion label Marimekko, both located in the building. And within the Acne store is the vault where, in 1973, robbers held four employees of the Kreditbanken hostage for six days — an ordeal that gave rise to the term Stockholm syndrome, or the incongruous feelings of sympathy that hostages sometimes display toward their kidnappers.
Happily, the building’s residents are willing ones these days. Spread over six floors, all of the Nobis’ 201 rooms have high ceilings, Carrara-marble bathrooms and a slew of stylish features. Downstairs is the Gold Bar, dubbed the best in the country by Swedish hipster bible the White Guide . When you’ve worked up an appetite, grab a table at the Caina restaurant. It serves the native cuisine of the Catenacci family, the Nobis’ Italian owners, and is named after a trattoria started by them in Stockholm in the 1980s. The original Caina was a local legend, but it’s clear that the Catenaccis won’t need to rely on the past when it comes to establishing a reputation for their latest venture.
Double rooms start around $350. For more information, see nobishotel.com
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