Clarion Hotel® Amaranten

I stayed at the Clarion Amaranten for three weeks in 2019, over two separate visits, for work. Neither stay was great, and I would not stay here again when in Stockholm, if it was up to me. Issues: * This hotel often hosts big tour group and cruise ship passengers that come in on big buses, so the lobby can be crowded and loud. Sometimes, checking in or even just speaking with someone at the desk can be a long endeavor. * The hallways smell. I couldn't put my finger on the aroma, but it wasn't pleasant. * The rooms are not air conditioned. This was a problem in both the winter and the summer. At both times of year, it was hot and stuffy in my room and the window had to be propped open to get some air. I had to leave my window open all night *in February in Sweden* so it wouldn't be scorching in my room -- just let that sink in for a minute. In August, the situation was more dire. I asked for a fan almost immediately, but even with all the windows open and a fan in front of them, it was too hot to sleep some nights. And then, all that air blowing in gave me a scratchy throat. Ugh. * What is with housekeeping? I returned to my room after being gone for 9 hours on the first day to find that the room hadn't been cleaned. I figured it wasn't a big deal-- I keep things neat anyway. The second day, the room was cleaned, but they had stripped it of all towels. Even the hand towels! I called down to the front desk but the phone just rang and rang. 15 minutes later, I decided to walk down there. It was an absolute zoo, with lines of people trying to check in, so I came back up. Finally got through on the phone and had towels delivered an hour after arriving back at my room. The third day, they left just one towel. Every day, I wondered if there would be towels. It was strange. * The wifi is terrible. The signal went in and out constantly, and was never strong enough to upload photos or stream video. * The hair dryer is also terrible. Stockholm is wet and humid. The tiny, bargain basement half-strength hair dryers do not do a thing. Every day, I would struggle to get my hair dry, and it always just ended up a frizzy mess. I've honestly never encountered hair dryers this poor in any hotel ever. I did ask the front desk if they had any real hair dryers to lend out, but they did not. Two stars for the location, which was pretty convenient, and the restaurant & bar, which were staffed by the nicest people and served really good food.

On floor 3 there was a faint smell of piss, a smell that got a lot stronger in the rooms toilett. The bad impression continued with a cracked basin and long black hairs clearly visible in different places. In the room itself there was old stains visible on the curtains and carpets. There was no a/c but instead a sort of temperature regulator. I dont know if that worked at all, i didnt feel any noticeable temperature change a few hours after i tried to lower the temperature. The size of the twin bed room and bathroom was adequate. The breakfast was ok with a range of bread, cereals, fruits, bacon and egg. Not particularly good or bad. I was somehow expecting something more.

Good: location, view from window, excellent food at breakfast, staff Bad: hot room upon arrival, worn bathroom, noise in the evening (but only till 1 am, and dead quiet the following morning), breakfast a bit chaotic with the many guests. Ugly: The first room we got was boiling, the window without handle to open it, broken stuff in bathroom, and damaged lamps. Second room (705) was fine, though I did wonder why the floor was heated. Conclusion: at a price of 250eur a night I was was expecting better. Mishaps happen, but it seemed the staff was overworked.

The location of the hotel is good (both metro and bus stations are very close) to both reach the Central station/Airport and the city center. The area around the property is nice and safe. Overall it is also a good hotel, the staff is quite good and it offers a lot of facilities (i.e. gym, restaurant, bar, WiFi, etc.) · I am very disappointed for the breakfast and the cleanliness of the rooms. The breakfast is the messiest one I have ever had in any hotel! There are not enough tables for all the people and it is so messy, confusing, poor and chaotic! The food is medium average. Big butter/jams/spreads are to be shared: I appreciate this is more environment friendly, but everyone put their cutlery in them and they are therefore full of crumbles... Bathroom was not cleaned properly in our room (only mirror and bins have been cleaned). The hotel has much potential, but would need some attention on these details

The best thing is location: it has a metro station literally in the same building, central, close to the train station and iconic City Hall, easy to walk anywhere in the centre. I also enjoyed the breakfast, good choice of food and tasty. The worst thing is how it is managed. On our check-in they recommended us to have a breakfast between 10 and 10.30 as it is 'calmer', however, the breakfast closes at 9.30, thus we ended up being hungry. They apologised but told they did not have any food and could not find any reason why wrong breakfast hours can be given to tourists. Good equipment, with some interesting ideas, it could be a good hotel but it is poorly maintained. OK, a transparent bathroom door is funny, but why toilet door was removed? It might be funny to watch your partner washing hands from your bed, not that much seeing them in a toilet... It is not a cheap hotel, thus honestly I would expect a better value for money.