Just back from a weekend in Stockholm where we stayed at the Berns Hotel. We had high hopes for the Berns hotel having read about it in one of the Wallpaper mini guides, but were very disappointed.
The Berns hotel is well located just off the main square in the heart of the city (Norrmalm). It's a five minute walk to the water front and in ten minutes you can be in Gamla Stan which is beautiful and very quirky.
The main reception area of the Berns is small and dark and there is a massive lack of natural light. Checking in was straightforward and we were given a room on the third floor at the back of the hotel. The room was a decent size but we had trouble getting in as the door mechanism wasn't the easiest to operate. Once inside we found that the balcony door window had been left open so the room was quite cold. The decor was OK although the lighting again poor... with all the lights on it still felt like a half lit room. In the middle of the room there was a huge wooden column that contained the TV, DVD player and sound system. Although a quirky way of housing this equipment it cut the room in two and made the room feel disjointed. The bathroom was an OK size with trendy products. The only down side was the toilet seat was very cheap plastic, wobbly and not well fitted at all.
The Berns hotel has a nightclub in the basement. To begin with we thought this was a quirky addition but being kept wide awake until 2am in the morning was not funny at all. Even though we were on the third floor we could still hear the nightclub. We were both very disappointed as the room wasn't cheap (£170 for one night) and for that sort of money you expect a decent nights sleep. The bed was comfy though.
Our biggest dissapointment was yet to come. Breakfast was included in the price of the room so on Sunday morning we went down to the breakfast room. We had read impressive things about breakfast and the room was magnificent. On arrival the room was in utter chaos. We weren't greeted by anyone and so wondered into the conservatory section where we had to track down a waitress who told us to go back into the main restaurant and sit on the banquets and she would be over. We sat down and the manager came over and ushered off as they needed to set up for brunch, telling us to go back into the conservatory. She found us a small dirty table in the middle of the walkway. Instead of clearing the table of the dirty pots and making us comfortable she then headed off. So we sat with the dirty dishes. We had to again attract the attention of a waitress to try and place an order for coffee. I asked for a cappuccio and an orange juice. We were told to go and help ourself to juice upon which we found there wasn't any and the manager came back and told us that the coffee machine was broken. The breakfast buffet itself looked tired and hacked at. We decided not to stay for breakfast and head out to get a proper coffee. I did however have a word with the manager to complain and was brushed off with no apology. When checking out I mentioned the breakfast and reception weren't particularly bothered and made no effort to offer any kind of compensation or apology.
All in all I would recommend that you DO NOT STAY at the Berns hotel. It's a 'has been' hotel that is over hyped and is trading off a by gone reputation. We expected a lot better and were very disappointed. The Berns hotel makes no effort to look after its guests and is too preoccupied with being apparently being 'hip and trendy'. As we live and work in London which is the capital of cool the Berns has a long, long, long way to go. I would suggest that is takes some time out to seriously get its act together.

For me this hotel scored fantastically on room and breakfast, but not so great on the service side. We had a special requirement as we had 2 children under 4 with us and the hotel sorted us a lovely spacious room ('Extra Large') which was fabulous.

There is only one small desk at reception and at most 2 people there, so asking for help is a bit hit-and-miss depending on time of day etc.

other than that the hotel was very stylish, clean, comfortable and in a great location.

Nice hotel, location, staff.
Excellent food (try the sushi), night club in house.

Air condition in room - even switched off - is NOISY.
If you open the window the exhaust is even louder.

Pack in your ear plugs and enjoy your stay.

Very good hotel, friendly, atmospheric. Good breakfasts and Asian restaurant with great food. My room was quite small, but fine, the bed was very comfortable! Stereo system in room.
Very good location.