The hotel is design, the rooftop nice, the price is right. The room, however, is without windows

He who is the cause of his ill, let him weep for himself, the Supreme Poet wrote this in the Canto of Hell, and therefore I can only tell how I ended up sleeping in a room "without a window" in a Design Hotel Stockholm. PS could be seen as Karma's revenge after staying in a Presidential Suite (free of charge)

Reservation

Having to make a weekend trip to the capital of Sweden with Marika we chose to spend a night at the Sheraton, downtown, and then chose to save money, but still remain in the Marriott world. The choice fell on the Blique by Nobis., a hotel that participates in the Design Hotels portfolio. This family, as I have already recounted in other reviews, encompasses Independent facilities that nevertheless decide to affiliate with a chain to take advantage of the commercial benefits, but without distorting their product.

There are two Nobis in Stockholm. And both are Design Hotels. This was the cheaper of the two and the one "closest" to the airport. The basic room, the one without a window, was less than half the price of the room at the Sheraton and since I had my flight to Munich at 6 a.m. there was no point in wasting euros to check out at 4 a.m.

As always, I chose the basic room, the cheapest one, Assuming that I would receive an upgrade to a better room. A room paid about 140€, but that thanks to the Amex Offer immediately discounted me 100€., bringing the final cost of the reservation to just over 40€.

Check-in

What I had not considered was the possibility that the hotel was fully booked, completely sold out and I realized it even from the app. Unable to book a room for the same days. Translated no upgrades whatsoever, and we had to make do with what we had paid for.

After explaining that we would check out at 4 a.m. because of the flight (believe it or not, but even Lufthansa and KLM have flights at 6 a.m., not just the low-costs) we were offered to have breakfast "to go."

The room

As mentioned. I booked a "No window" room and it was clearly spelled out in the room description on the Marriott app, but considering that we were going to be sleeping there for a few hours I was not shocked at the idea of Sleeping as in an inside cabin on a cruise ship.

Ca va sans dire I was hoping for an upgrade, which as I said did not come. There was still a welcome card in the room, but not even a chocolate to sweeten the pot.

The room is in the encore tower of the structure, and on each floor there are 3 rooms on the "nothing" that is, in the belly of the tower.

Like all design hotels no closet, but tubular constructions that serve as hangers, lamp stands and other devilry of the cheap but chic philosophy launched by Moschino in the mid-1990s. Removed from the bed is a small armchair, a mega-screen two micro nightstands. As mentioned no closet, but a couple of drawers.

The bathroom is, almost, larger than the room.

The nicest thing in the room is the guide who explains to tourists how to behave as locals:

1. Dress in black, wear sunglasses
2. Don't give confidence and mind your own business
3. Eat early

I imagine that the Ligurian version might be very similar.

The structure

The hotel consists of two towers. One the main one houses the reception, several bars and the breakfast restaurant.

The second room and the rooftop that is an attraction from all over Stockholm

The glue is the beergarten that connects the two towers

The rooftop

Enjoying the outdoors as much as possible should be a reason to live for a population that is used to living in the cold and dark.

Because I remember it the endless summer days last a short time, then the cold comes back and it gets dark early in the afternoon. There is a micro restaurant inside, for cold weather. A beautiful terrace overlooking the rooftops of the Swedish capital.

And a rooftop on the rooftop, which on the day of our stay was booked for a special event.

Blique hotel Stockholm

The lobby is an open space with the usual minimal design; in the center is the staircase leading to the dining room, and at the far end is the circular bar with the relaxation area.

I honestly hope that sooner or later this fake industrial design will go out of fashion, because it may be nice, but as they say in these cases it tires almost immediately. There is no shortage of space to work, have meetings and chat, and I actually saw very few people dressed in black and not giving confidence.

In conclusion

The thing I like about checking out so early is meeting those who go to sleep so late instead. It doesn't matter if you are in hot Thailand or cool Sweden, they will always have the face of someone who had a good time.

• Bonvoy