Hotel Lindgren, Stockholm

We arrived on Mäster Samuelsgatan in the long gold light of a Stockholm May evening, the kind that refuses to end, and Hotel Lindgren occupied a dignified stone block with the quiet confidence of old Östermalm. Inside, the famous Swedish restraint was all present: pale oak, white walls, a single sculptural pendant, a vast window throwing light across a floor the colour of cream. It could have been chilly, the way so much Scandinavian design reads as a showroom, but it was not. A bowl of cardamom buns sat on the counter, a record turned somewhere, and the woman at reception greeted us as though we had been expected for years. The minimalism, we realised, was hospitality, not austerity.

The room

Our room faced the street and the linden trees, with broad windows and a deep sill where the late light pooled until nearly midnight. The palette was disciplined: oak, off-white linen, a single ochre throw, a custom desk that managed to be beautiful and entirely usable. Storage was clever and concealed, the bed firm and Nordic and superb, and the materials throughout were honest, undyed wool, brushed brass, stone. The bathroom was a calm box of pale tile and excellent water pressure with Swedish-made toiletries in refillable ceramic. Our only quibble was the famous May light, which slips around even good blinds, though the hotel provides a proper sleep mask and clearly expects you to need it.

This is minimalism with a pulse, which is the only kind worth paying for.The Suite Edit

Service & food

The ground-floor café-bar is the hotel's living room, generous with morning light and good coffee, and it slides easily from breakfast into an evening of natural wine and small plates. The kitchen takes Swedish husmanskost and refines it without losing the plot: toast skagen, pickled herring done three ways, a plate of new potatoes and dill that tasted of early summer. Service is calm, precise and quietly warm, the Swedish register that mistakes nothing for indifference. The staff booked us a table at a hard-to-reach restaurant nearby with a shrug that said it was no trouble, and it genuinely seemed not to be.

The verdict

Hotel Lindgren is for the design literate who want central Stockholm done with taste rather than flash, couples and solo travellers who appreciate that the best Scandinavian style is felt more than seen. Östermalm puts the harbour, the galleries and the good restaurants within an easy walk. The honest caveat is the Nordic summer light: from May to July the sky barely dims, and sensitive sleepers will be reaching for that sleep mask by ten, so come for the endless evenings but pack for the endless mornings too.