Good value holiday accommodation in Uppsala (Scandic Uppsala Nord Hotel Uppsala)

Member Name: mango8

Product:	Scandic Uppsala Nord Hotel Uppsala
Date:	05/07/05 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Comforable, good value (especially during holidays)

Disadvantages: Small rooms for families, long walk to town centre

This is one of the Scandic chain of hotels. This chain was bought by Hilton a few years ago which means that stays here can be used to get points in the HiltonHonors loyalty scheme –details available here: http://hhonors.hilton.com

Generally, Scandic hotels are comfortable middle range hotels, decorated in typical Scandinavian fashion (that is, simple, understated elegance with wooden floors and white walls) and this hotel is no exception. They do not try to be luxury hotels but they are clean, the staff is pleasant and they have most of what a business traveller wants – in this case a bar, restaurant, small pool, gym, sauna, solarium and plenty of free parking. The hotels generally have a lot of non-smoking rooms and rooms are fitted with broadband. Each room has its own bath room with toilet, shower or bath and hair dryer. All rooms have TV and there are pay channels which show recent films. Most rooms have a trouser press and/or iron and ironing board.

This hotel has a “Sigges corner” – a play area for children wit more building bricks, soft toys and a computer with 3 video games.

The hotel is situated on the outskirts of the town close to the E4 motorway and about 30 minutes walk from the train station.

The restaurant had the usual mixture of international food with a few typically Swedish dishes (involving fish or game) and the prices were reasonable.

The hotel is fairly close to a main road so it is a bit noisy at night with the windows open – not a problem in winter when you never open the windows (as it’s minus 20 degrees outside) but, as the rooms are not air-conditioned, it can be more of a problem during a hot summer night. The room had two sets of curtains – a normal decorative set and a heavier light-proof set which is very useful in the land of the (almost) Midnight sun. The last time I stayed there with my wife, two children aged 6 and 7, and our Boxer, we had a normal double room with an extra sofa bed. On this occasion I thought the room was rather cramped – I think we were unlucky not to get a family room as we’ve stayed in bigger rooms at other Scandic hotels.

If you are travelling during holiday periods then Scandic hotels in general are rather empty – they cater to business travellers – and usually have special deals – check this site http://www.scandic-hotels.com/SiteHomePage. If you can’t get a holiday rate and are planning on staying 12 or more nights at Scandic hotels then you can order bonus cheques – these give you twelve nights for the price of 10.

Children staying in the same room as their parents always stay free and the room rate always includes a buffet breakfast. This includes: cereals, yogurt, cold meats, herring, cheeses, fresh fruit, dried fruits, eggs (boiled and scrambled), bacon, meatballs, tea, coffee, milk, fruit juices, crisp bread, rolls and bread for toasting. We were not charged anything extra for our dog.

By the way there is another Scandic in the centre of Uppsala.

I’ve stayed more than 100 nights in various Scandic hotels and have no complaints whatsoever about them.

Summary: Comfortable, easy to find, free parking