When somebody says Scandinavia, the first thing that floats into my subconscious is clean lines and beautiful, functional design. Well, at least as the top three things with hygge and Alexander Skarsgård – in no particular order. So to even consider going on tour in the land of sleek interiors and not stay in a beautiful hotel or two was out of the question. Enter Miss Clara, Stockholm.

From our first experience checking in, where we were greeted by a very friendly and helpful concierge (who later gave me great tips for exploring the design stores of Östermalm), we knew were in a place that was pure class.

Then our room, with dark solid wood and billowing white clouds curtains, walls and sheets of crisp white as well, lovely light whether natural or lamp-made, we were arriving into the very aesthetics that Scandi design conjures.

A nice hotel is also as good as the little touches, like the Orla Kiely products in the bathroom, the Swedish script on the frosted bathroom window,  and the divine buffet breakfast from the downstairs restaurant (oh, to have waffles for breakfast always!), which also presented an inspiring use of hanging light fittings. There’s something to be said for the Scandinavians often being ranked as the happiest nations on earth – and the design is often credited as being one of the reasons for this.

Splurging on a few luxe stays doesn’t make us elitist, or mean we flit from boutique stay to hot hotel at every turn. After all, we’d just spent a night camping in the wilderness for free on Svartsö, where I came back with a couple of ticks (which thankfully just got lost in my wild hair and didn’t have the chance to burrow in!), and spent much of our trip in the U.K. staying at Phil’s family home (thanks Ron!), which brought as much joy as any fancy hotel.

I do try to have boutique stays in lovely hotels where I can though, but rarely big chains or because of some status name (and I hate paying quite a lot of money on a soulless, average stay), but because they can really heighten your travel experience and – especially with Miss Clara – reflect the sleek aesthetic that runs through their culture.

Which leads to happiness.

And so does a good night’s sleep.

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For further posts you might like on Sweden, please visit my A Short Guide to Stockholm post, or our stay in the Stockholm archipelago.

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