Grand Hotel Saltsjöbaden

Gorgeous hotel. I will stay again. Food was fabulous. The outside bar was enjoyable. I highly recommend. The view was also relaxing watching the boats.

We visited the hotel to go to the terrace bar and restaurant. On the first occasion we went for a glass of champagne and some canapés. Beautiful view and it was a gorgeous evening. The champagne came from a bottle that had been open for a while so it wasn’t that fizzy but we gave it the benefit of the doubt - these things happen. Today we went for lunch at the same terrace restaurant. Isn’t it annoying when the restaurant is pretty empty, you’re asked if you have a reservation (there were two of us) and the Head Waitress takes ages to work out where to sit you … but it is in a position away from the best view at the back? And the Head Waitress just says “you can see the sea”. And you just know that those tables aren’t booked and just aren’t going to fill up during your meal (hey presto, that is precisely what transpired). We ordered some crisps and a salad each. 45 minutes later we were still waiting for the crisps to arrive (turned out they’d been sent to the wrong table). When we queried with the waitress she apologised profusely for the delay and said they wouldn’t charge us for the food. We watched the kitchen prepare the crisps. The chef didn’t use gloves and he ate out of the same packet whilst preparing the bowl for us. Not very appetising that. He used his hands on the salad prep too and who knows whether he’d washed them after helping himself to the crisps. The food was pretty nondescript. Not bad but not memorable and pretty expensive for what it was. When the bill arrived they’d knocked 40% off which you might argue was fair … but wasn’t what the waitress had said. When we queried it she said the Head Waitress had determined we should have a discount not the whole meal for free. OK Head Waitress but if your colleague makes a commitment you should stick to it. Our recommendation if you’re in the area is to go the Var Gard instead or the Italian by the railway station.

This is nothing short of an amazing grandios hotel! Stunning location in the skärgård, beautiful and impressive old building, luxurious rooms, top notch food and friendly staff. We are frequent guests to Ystad Saltsjöbad and Villa Strandvägen - two of Scandinavias best resorts - however having experienced Grand Hotel Saltsjöbaden for 3 nights in a LUX room, we are quite taken by this place - and now find it superior to any other hotel we have stayed at in Scandinavia. Also great to revisit so many of the locations from Swedish tv-show Solsidan😄. The restaurant is a must - we had dinner here and the menu is short but full of great options. The food served here is nothing short of exceptional! We enjoyed the “Fiskgryta”,” and “Halstrad Rödingfilé” both dishes were delicious and ample sized portions. Even the childrens menu Fish & Chips were great with a crips batter - perhaps the best outside of the UK…? All options were reasonably priced and good value for money. Staff everywhere is friendly, forthcoming and effective. The hotel was still undergoing comprehensive restoration while we were there end of May 2025, but this did not in any way affect our positive impression of this grand old lady - which is clearly returning to her former glory! We are already longing for our next stay at our new Swedish favourite hotel….!