New Stockholm hotel chooses Hoist

2008-06-19

In October 2007, the newly built Best Western Time Hotel was opened on Vanadisgatan in Stockholm’s Vasastan district.

This four-star life-style hotel has a fresh, relaxed and welcoming feel. The seven-storey building has 144 rooms, of which 15 are studios with kitchens for longer stays. Guests can also take advantage of facilities such as a relaxation suite with a sauna, and a lobby bar which serves light meals. We had a chat with the MD and principal owner of the hotel, Reshi Chibba.

The hotel only opened relatively recently. How have things gone so far?
Reshi Chibba: Very well. Our expectations have been exceeded. This year, our occupancy rate will be on a par with the other central Stockholm hotels at just over 70%. We’re delighted.

Have you noticed any signs of a down turn in the market yet?
RC: Not at all. And nor have colleagues within the industry that I’ve spoken to. It’s possible that there will be a downturn in 2009, and if so it will mainly be in terms of business travellers. We don’t expect other private leisure guests to be affected to any real extent.

What is your guest structure like?
RC: 65-70% are business travellers. 40-45% of our guests are visitors from other countries. Hoist is one of your suppliers.

What exactly have they supplied?
RC: Pretty much everything! Our property management system, a range of TV services, films and programmes, wireless internet and even the beds. It’s been a real pleasure using a supplier who was able to synchronise all the services. Everything has gone extremely smoothly. And we also avoided all the problems which different interfaces can bring. Now we have a uniform, modern system which works perfectly. Their support is excellent, too. We’re really pleased.

The Stockholm hotel market at a glance

Number of hotel rooms: Approximately 25,000 in Stockholm County. Approximately 14,000 in the city of Stockholm. More hotels with a further 3,000 rooms are planned for the city of Stockholm over the next few years, including major international chain hotels.

Occupancy rate in 2007: 71.5% for the city of Stockholm, and around 10% less for Stockholm  County. Average accommodation income per occupied room in 2007 was SEK 1,058, compared with a national average of SEK 876.

Source: SCB, Nutek and SHR (year 2007)