Victory Stockholm Luxury Hotel

Detailed Review

Welcome to Victory Hotel, where Sweden’s largest silver treasure was found! This exclusive boutique hotel leaves no visitor unmoved. The flagship of the Bengtsson family’s private hotel chain in Stockholm’s Old Town, this hotel is named after the English naval hero Lord Nelson’s flagship, the HMS Victory. No one can step inside Victory Hotel without noticing its fantastic collection of nautical antiques. Wherever you go you are surrounded by intriguing pictures, ship models, figureheads, dolls, etc., each with its own story to tell. On October 15th 1937, construction workers uncovered part of a silver treasure which would later reveal itself to be the largest ever found in Sweden. The find amounted to more than 18,000 silver coins, along with items of silver plate, that had been buried some time during the 18th century. The Lohe treasure, valued at more than 100 million SEK, can be viewed at the Coin Museum just a short distance away. No one really knows who buried the treasure, or why. The only certain thing is that it once belonged to the Lohe family, members of the Swedish nobility. Adjacent to Victory Hotel is the renowned and award-winning restaurant, Leijontornet (the Lion Tower), named for part of a 14th century fortification wall that is on display in the main dining room.

Press Quotes

"The Bengtsson family own three hotels in the Old Town, all dedicated to Lord Nelson. This one, the smartest, has a nautical theme and is crammed with memorabilia. It has a bistro/bar and a restaurant that specialises in fish, with a courtyard for summer meals." Guardian 05

Independent Reviews

The Victory Hotel
By Daniel Scott

A similar friendliness pervades in this upmarket boutique hotel at the edge of Stockholm’s Old Town, as does in its nearby smaller sister property, the Lord Nelson. That’s not altogether surprising as it is owned by the same Bengtsson family and here, despite a greater range of facilities and comforts, the welcoming note from the Victory “crew” is just as personal. It is this patient, accessible service that will continue to (forgive the pun) win the Victory both critical plaudits and plenty of repeat visits. During my pre-Christmas stay, a series of thoughtful touches made for an overall good impression. First, both reception and concierge combined to give an in-depth appraisal of the best local hostelries. Next, they and staff in the hotel’s popular “Leijontornet” restaurant bent over backwards to find us a table so we could experience a traditional Swedish Christmas smorgasbord. Then, on leaving at some dreadful dark hour of the morning to catch our flight home, staff ensured that we had some breakfast, including freshly brewed hot coffee, waiting for us in the drawing room. Finally, when it was discovered, after we had left, that we had forgotten some things in the room, the Victory “crew” didn’t wait for us to enquire about them but rang us at home asking whether we wanted them sent on. The Victory is of course named after Lord Nelson’s flagship and, with 45 rooms, is the largest of three similarly themed hotels in Gamla Stan. It is located just on the edge of Stockholm’s main Old Town tourist trail on Lila Nygatan and housed in a building that dates originally from 1640. In fact, it rests on even older foundations, as evidenced by the portions of Stockholm’s original city wall displayed in the basement and the restaurant. Fans of Stockholm’s history also like to tell the story of the discovery of over 18,000 centuries-old silver coins and other objects secreted in the building, during a refurbishment in 1937. The Victory Hotel’s sense of history extends to its nautical décor. There are numerous maritime antiques, pictures and figureheads as well as ship models to be found throughout. An original letter from Horatio (Nelson) to Emma (Hamilton) stands proudly on display in the lobby. Each room takes its name from a noteworthy Swedish sea captain, and he is pictured outside with his ship, and in the case of the double-rooms, his wife. Inside the compact rooms there are more antiques, historic photographs and plenty of dark wooden beams and cupboards. Yet, somehow the welcome modern elements like the wall-mounted CD players, do not seem too incongruous. Beds are firm, snug and clad in white cotton and bathrooms small but bright, modern and fully-equipped. Downstairs there is both an inviting sauna and plunge-pool area and the Leijontornet restaurant – one of Stockholm’s finest for modern and traditional Swedish food. Here you can sit right beside a portion of the original city wall (the base of the “Lion tower” from which the restaurant gets its name) and savour some surprisingly delicate tastes. The fowl and game and the fresh Baltic seafood is particularly excellent. If you only thought there was one way to pickle or souse a herring, and that the results wouldn’t be too edifying, Leijontornet will make you think again. On my visit, even a saffron risotto quickly knocked up for a vegetarian companion, earnt top marks. The restaurant is also a festive and atmospheric place in which to experience the Swedish Christmas smorgasbord, along with tables full of schnapps-happy Stockholm office parties. Be sure to book ahead and don’t eat for at least a day in preparation for the multiple cold and hot courses. With its excellent “crew”, good location and manageable size the Victory fulfils many of the requirements of a high-class tourist hotel, and, with its 15 room conference centre, also appeals to the business market. Whether the nautical theme is for you is a matter of taste. But you can certainly count on the Victory being a lot more comfortable than the ship after which it was named. DANIEL SCOTT

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• The Victory Hotel
  By John Borthwick

  Stockholm is a very pukka Saab sort of place, with many of its citizens looking like well-groomed Abba stand-ins. Driving prim, emission-controlled vehicles their lives seem to have been similarly crash-tested to perfection. It’s thus a pleasure to amble across a few bridges from the commercial centre of Stockholm and find yourself in the 18th century warren of Gamla Stan or Old Town. Here, history evades — at least for a while — the homogenizing, CCTV-monitored imperatives of 21st century life. Narrow lanes (some no wider than a metre), bumpy cobbles and cafes hidden in arched cellars lure one from modernity towards the chimera of "authenticity". The Victory Hotel, tucked away on a quite street near the harbourfront of Old Town, was established in 1987 by Swedish entrepreneur Gunnar Bengtsson who created at considerable expense a hotel that doffs its hat (an old sou’wester?) affectionately towards Stockholm’s long maritime history. The building occupied by the 48-room The Victory Hotel is over 350 years old and in its basement are the remnants of a medieval "Lion Tower" dating to 1382. Protected by the Swedish equivalent of a World Heritage order, the Victory Hotel has fitted itself cleverly into the architecture of a less expansive era. As a result, the rooms are smaller than those of a modern, purpose-built five star hotel. But name the last luxury hotel you stayed in that had spiral iron staircases, whitewashed walls, vaulted cellars and display cases full of antique scrimshaw, brass binnacles and needlepoint portraits of old clippers? The door to each guest room could be to a ship’s cabin. Inside are more antiques — hand-painted cupboards and models of square-riggers. My room is themed to recall one Swedish merchant mariner, Kapten Carl Rickard Bergstrom (1853-1938), who looks kindly down from a framed oval portrait while I toy with the sort of odd cons he never knew — a very handy trouser press, central heating and the ubiquitous, Orwellian eye of cable TV. It is no coincidence that the Victory’s lobby displays the original of an 1801 letter from Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson to his mistress, Lady Hamilton. Not only is the hotel named after Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory, but in nearby streets are two other hotels — also owned by the Bengtsson family — the Lord Nelson and the Lady Hamilton. Might all these salty old allusions be a little too nostalgic — too much "life of brine"? Not at all. The Victory is a modern business and conference hotel, not a theme park. There’s the very good Leijontornet (Lion Tower) restaurant (specialities: fish, fowl and game), a bar, sauna, business centre, wine cellar, elevators and fully-equipped conference rooms. Plus a library so profoundly upholstered in leather-bound books and armchairs that you could sink into both and disappear without a trace. Gamla Stan is, for the visitor, probably the most interesting part of Stockholm. The filigreed church spires that look down on its gabled houses, alleys and canals remind you that this settlement, founded around 1252 and once known as "the Venice of the North", was already old before Nelson was even born. Tucked into the foundation of one Old Town building you can see an old Viking rune stone. Nearby, facing the harbour, is the grandiose Royal Palace, completed in 1760, from which cobblestone streets wind up to the old Stortorg, the Great Market. There are bars, music clubs and restaurants on almost every corner.

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• "The namesake of Lord Nelson's largest vessel, an antiquey little hotel that counts a Romney painting amonst its treasures."