The Sign, Stockholm travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises, spa and resorts

The Sign Hotel was opened last year, it was declared as the biggest hotel in Stockholm. The hotel is part of Clarion hotels chain, and comes across as a sort of overblown diorama of the Scandinavian sensibility. It’s a few blocks — a walk of five minutes, tops — from the train’s terminus. Although it faces a pretty square, its situation is ultimately more functional than fun or romantic. The main business and high-end shopping districts are closer than the oldest part of the city.

Some of the rooms are are small, but the humble dimensions underscored by the vastness of the glass-and-steel building in which it’s tucked and the endlessly long hallway to it. There are a desk whose surface easily accommodated a laptop — the rooms have wireless — and a stunning contemporary chair upholstered in bold orange fabric. Along with a flat-screen TV opposite a bed with fluffy pillows and duvets, the chair lent a needed dash of flash to an otherwise plain environment.

Off the lobby is the first Scandinavian branch of the acclaimed Manhattan restaurant Aquavit, whose chef, Marcus Samuelsson, was reared in Sweden. Many floors above, facing a broad channel of water on the hotel’s opposite side, is a spa and fitness center with first-rate equipment.

The crisply efficient service and the well-dressed diners at breakfast make clear that this is foremost a business hotel. All over the hotel you will find beautiful black and white photography art by well known Scandinavian photo artists. Clarion Hotel Sign wants to wish you a warm welcome. Enjoy the art, experience Stockholm from above at Selma CitySpa+ and get a sense of Manhattan at Aquavit Grill & Raw Bar. Discover the best of Scandinavia, right in the middle of Stockholm!