Nicole Kavander is a Stockholm-based travel and design writer, hotel specialist and author of Nordic Boutique Hotels.

Besides Time Out she writes for titles including ELLE Sweden, ELLE Decoration, Cabana Magazine, Travel + Leisure and Falstaff Nordics, with a focus on design-led hotels, destination restaurants, interiors, slow travel and places genuinely worth travelling for.
Before turning her hotel obsession into a full-time job, Nicole spent 15 years in advertising, which may explain her weakness for a strong concept, a beautiful lobby and a breakfast that takes scrambled eggs seriously.

She now spends much of her life on the road, checking into everything from Nordic countryside retreats and coastal spa hotels to destination restaurants, grand old classics and quietly spectacular boutique stays. Her standards are high, her suitcase is usually small, and she believes a great hotel should be judged by the details you still talk about after check-out.

[email protected]

Nicole Kavander

Nicole Kavander

Hotel & travel writer, Sweden

Articles (2)

Sweden’s best destination hotels – 8 places worth the journey

Sweden’s best destination hotels – 8 places worth the journey

Looking for unique design hotels or cosy overnight stays surrounded by nature? Or perhaps a luxurious romantic weekend closer to home, complete with a spa? At these hotels, you don’t stay because you were visiting the area and needed somewhere to sleep. The hotel itself is the reason for the trip. At a vineyard in Halland, you can step straight from your room’s sauna into a natural pool. On an island in SkĂ„ne, maximalist lounges filled with velvet and patterned wallpaper await, along with a bar worth lingering in. Outside Trosa, architect-designed cabins stand among the trees, with a wood-fired sauna in a private bay. Sweden’s hotel scene has become considerably more exciting. Manor houses and spa hotels are still going strong, but they now share the map with vineyards, design cabins, castles with contemporary interiors and hotels where the food is as compelling a reason to book as the room. The best hotel weekends rarely require an elaborate itinerary. At some of the places below, the spa, dinner and forest walks will fill your entire stay. At others, you cook for yourself, swim from your own jetty or make a pre-dinner drink in the lounge the first item on the evening’s agenda. Every hotel in this guide has been visited and tested in person. The selection covers different styles, price points and parts of the country, but each place has something that sets it apart from the next: an unusual room, surroundings that can’t be replicated, a meal worth booking in advance or a det
Sveriges bĂ€sta destinationshotell – 8 platser vĂ€rda en omvĂ€g

Sveriges bĂ€sta destinationshotell – 8 platser vĂ€rda en omvĂ€g

Letar du efter unika designhotell eller mysiga naturupplevelser med övernattning? Eller kanske efter en lyxig romantisk weekend pĂ„ hemmaplan med spa? PĂ„ dessa hotell bor du inte över för att du skulle besöka platsen och behövde ett rum att sova i – hĂ€r Ă€r sjĂ€lva hotellet anledningen till din resa.  PĂ„ en vingĂ„rd i Halland kan du gĂ„ frĂ„n rummets bastu till ett dopp i naturpoolen. PĂ„ en ö i SkĂ„ne vĂ€ntar maximalistiska salonger med sammet, mönstrade tapeter och en bar vĂ€rd att dröja kvar i. Utanför Trosa stĂ„r arkitektritade stugor bland trĂ€den, med en vedeldad bastu i den privata viken. Den svenska hotellkartan har blivit betydligt roligare. HerrgĂ„rdar och kurhotell finns kvar, men de delar numera plats med vingĂ„rdar, designstugor, slott med samtida interiörer och hotell dĂ€r maten Ă€r en lika stor anledning att boka som rummet. De bĂ€sta hotellhelgerna krĂ€ver sĂ€llan ett avancerat schema. PĂ„ nĂ„gra av adresserna nedan fyller spa, middag och skogspromenader hela vistelsen. PĂ„ andra lagar du maten sjĂ€lv, badar frĂ„n en egen brygga eller lĂ„ter fördrinken i salongen bli kvĂ€llens första programpunkt. Samtliga hotell i guiden har besökts och testats pĂ„ plats. Urvalet rymmer olika stilar, prisnivĂ„er och delar av landet, men varje adress har nĂ„got som skiljer den frĂ„n nĂ€sta: ett ovanligt rum, en miljö som inte gĂ„r att kopiera, en mĂ„ltid att boka i förvĂ€g eller en detalj du fortfarande pratar om efter hemresan. PĂ„ Time Out anvĂ€nder vi oss Ă€ven av affiliatelĂ€nkar dĂ€r det Ă€r relevant. Det pĂ„ver