Elite Hotel Carolina Tower

Sky gym and relaxation area on floor 16 with views over Stockholm

Elite Hotel Carolina Tower opened in 2017 and is one of the few hotels in the Stockholm region where the gym and sauna are located on the building's top floor. On floor 16 there is a gym, a relaxation area with sauna and panoramic windows overlooking the surroundings. It is a concrete difference compared to hotels where the training facilities are located in the basement without daylight. The facility is usable even for guests who are not primarily seeking a fitness hotel but want to combine recuperation with an appealing environment. The combination of training, sauna and views on the same floor means that guests do not need to move between different parts of the building, which makes the layout practically cohesive.

The hotel is environmentally certified with Green Key, a certification for hotel operations that sets requirements for, among other things, energy use and environmental work. The certification is verifiable and affects ongoing operations concretely, but says nothing directly about guest experience – it is primarily relevant for those who actively choose accommodation based on environmental criteria and want to be able to substantiate their choice.

The building was designed by Reflex Architects and built by Skanska. The hotel shares the property with offices and conference departments, which means that the entrance and lobby can be lively during the day, especially on conference days. Guests seeking a quieter location should keep this in mind. The hotel has nine conference rooms with capacity for up to 130 people, which explains the recurring conference traffic in the common areas. A car park is adjacent to the hotel and is accessed by lift directly from the garage, which is a practical advantage for guests with cars – parking is charged.

Restaurant Haga Bottega on the ground floor – Italian food and outdoor seating

Restaurant Haga Bottega is located on the hotel's ground floor and is open to both hotel guests and the general public. The kitchen draws inspiration from Italy and Mediterranean countries. The restaurant has outdoor seating, which is unusual for a hotel in this location and makes it more usable during warmer months. Room service is available, but this is not the same as food being included in the room price – room service is a separate service that is added on top of the accommodation cost and should be factored in when budgeting.

Breakfast buffet is served daily at Haga Bottega. Whether breakfast is included in the room price depends on which booking option is chosen – some packages include breakfast, others do not. It is a trade-off that affects the total price and should be checked carefully when booking, especially if you are comparing prices between different booking channels where terms may differ. The restaurant welcomes conference guests for lunches and dinners, which means that the dining room can be well occupied on conference days on weekdays.

The hotel also has a bar adjacent to the restaurant, which means that Haga Bottega functions as a shared social space in the evening. The conference lobby on the meeting floor is used for coffee and mingling in connection with meetings, but it is not an open lounge accessible to all hotel guests. The difference is worth knowing about for those seeking a relaxed seating area outside their room. Haga Bottega is the hotel's primary dining venue and serves this function for breakfast, lunch and dinner – the hotel has no separate breakfast room.

Room categories from standard to suite on floor 15

The hotel has 221 rooms divided into several categories: Standard Single, Standard Twin, Superior Double, Deluxe Double, Family Room and suite. Standard rooms accommodate up to two people and are equipped with air conditioning, desk, flat-screen TV with Chromecast, minibar, safe and hairdryer. Bathrooms have a shower. Superior Double is a tastefully furnished double room for one to two guests, and Deluxe Double is located on a higher floor and provides additional views over the surroundings.

Family rooms are suitable for two adults and two children and are the only category with space for four guests, making it the natural choice for families with children. The suite on floor 15 measures 53 square metres and has a separate living room, which clearly distinguishes it from the other categories which are single-room solutions. Upgraded rooms have a kettle for coffee and tea, which is not standard in all categories.

All rooms are accessed by lift and the hotel is entirely non-smoking. Pets are allowed in certain rooms for a fee and require advance enquiry when booking, as pet-friendly rooms are available in limited numbers. Standard Single and Standard Twin are the smallest room categories and suit travellers who are travelling alone or in pairs without requiring extra space. Superior Double and Deluxe Double both offer double room solutions, but Deluxe Double is located on a higher floor and thus provides a more panoramic impression of the surroundings in the Solna area.

Hagastaden as a location – close to Karolinska and with Haga Park within walking distance

Elite Hotel Carolina Tower is located in Hagastaden, a district in Solna municipality that borders Stockholm and has been developed extensively in recent years. The hotel is in direct proximity to the Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital, making it a natural choice for patients, relatives, researchers and staff with connections to the hospital area. It is a specific and defined guest segment that the hotel is clearly adapted for, and the proximity to the hospital area is one of the strongest practical advantages of the location.

Haga Park, one of Stockholm's larger parks with historic buildings and walking trails, is within walking distance. This gives the hotel a greener surrounding location than the address itself suggests. However, the hotel is not located in Stockholm's city centre, and those planning to move around the city centre a lot without a car should find out about public transport connections in advance and factor in travel time when choosing accommodation.

The conference department has nine meeting rooms with capacity for up to 130 people in the largest. At the top of the building are two rooms, The View and The Club, which are used for board meetings, events and mingling with views over Stockholm. The hotel is thus dimensioned for business travellers and conference groups rather than for tourists with a city focus. Those seeking a hotel with direct access to Stockholm's shopping streets or entertainment venues should factor in transport from Hagastaden.