Another lovely little piece of history that you can take a day trip outside of Stockholm to see. Part of the castle is a hotel, part is a cafe/restaurant and part is a museum. So, basically, it's trifecta of awesome! You will absolutely love the expansive park and trails surrounding the castle in this part of the idyllic countryside as well. I highly recommend a visit!
The history surrounding this place is absolutely amazing. Paying a small fee into the museum allows you to walk straight into the past. The museum really focuses on the most notable people who last lived here--the Swedish "adopted king" Karl XIV Johan Bernadotte (originally Jean Bernadotte) and his Queen Desideria (known as Désirée Clary). Their story is surrounded in so much intrigue! Just watch the movie "Désirée" from 1954 starring Marlon Brando and you will get a wonderfully illustrative version of the story of events surrounding these characters. In short, Jean Bernadotte was one of Napoleon's top generals and Désirée Clary was his ex-finance. Fun fact: an original picture of Napoleon that belonged to Désirée still hangs in this castle, right next to one of the first copies of the American Declaration of Independence (that was sent out to countries that aided the Revolutionary War!) Very cool stuff here if you're into history!
I can't really comment on the conditions of the hotel, since I have never been a guest here overnight. I can say that the entrance to the museum is in the main entrance, while the Hotel check-in desk is through a door just to the right of that main front door. The lounge/cafe is also right through that second entrance as well and is really an nice place to lounge in. Everything is really well decorated! It even has a cute little pool table room at the end for guests who want to play a game.
One other thing I like about this castle/restaurant/hotel is that they offer Afternoon Tea and Julbords (Swedish christmas buffets). On that note, I also like that they have a gym for the hotel. Sometimes that's important after eating a Julbord buffet! Lol. This castle is also the the perfect place to host to host a wedding! So, if you are getting married in the Stockholm area, you should totally consider having it here! The wedding chapel inside is absolutely beautiful. It's nice to note that the hotel rooms are both inside the castle and in an external structure outside -- a lot of "hotel castles" in Sweden typically only have an outside structure for any overnight guests. Additionally, I have to mention that the food in the restaurant is fun and french in keeping with the Bernadotte theme. Making it nice for a romantic evening dinner stay or even a wonderful wedding theme -- "French Scandinavian chic" anyone!? I think it's also fun to mention that the castle has it's own line of beer--including a perfect Julbord style "winter white" Ale! Santa, I know where I want to spend next christmas! ;) read more