Bucket List: Miss Clara, An Art Nouveau-Ish Hotel In A Former Stockholm Girls School

By  Kristine Hansen
guest room at miss clara hotel Miss Clara

Raise your hand if you've had that terrible dream where you are back in school and suddenly have to take an exam for a class you've never attended. (Um, hi.)

But good dreams can exist in school settings — well, former ones at least. Meet Miss Clara, a 92-room Stockholm hotel housed in a 1910 building that was once a girls school. (Its name even pays homage to the institution's headmistress.)

Architect Gert Wingårdh had good bones to work with when overhauling the art nouveau building: high ceilings, stone floors, tall arched windows, and a spiral staircase were unaltered. This all contributes to a sense of history that isn't stuffy. "Miss Clara is a symbiotic study in modern day art nouveau and timeless Scandinavian design," says Gustavo Catenacci, the hotel's managing director. The rooms offer minimalist decor that still feels Scandi in nature: think classic wood herringbone floors, bentwood furniture by Swedish company Gemla, and neutral-toned linens.

You'll find Miss Clara smack-dab in the middle of Stockholm's Norrmalm neighborhood, a bustling central area that's also home to the city's greatest cultural institutions. As such, it's become a popular spot for locals who laze the weekends away during all-day brunches or to meet up for cocktails and live DJs on Fridays.

exterior hotel in stockholm Miss Clara

1. Exterior

The 1910 building, located on Sveavägen, one of the neighborhood's bustling thoroughfares, boasts delightfully classic art nouveau windows.

2. Staircase

staircase at miss claraMiss Clara

The stairway and banisters are original to the building.

3. Room

guest room at miss clara hotelMiss Clara

"The easy, uncluttered rooms pay special mind to quality details, from the top-of-the-line beds from Bed Factory and lighting by Örsjö to the emphasis on traditional Swedish craftsmanship, says Catenacci,

4. Room

guest room at miss clara hotelMiss Clara

Many of the rooms include handsome built-in storage units, custom created for the hotel.

5. Suite

guest room at miss clara hotelOscar Söderlund

All of the spaces at Miss Clara are packed with warm and neutral tones, from the dark herringbone parquet floors to espresso-finish light fixtures, and — in the suite category — pieces like this burnt-orange plush sofa, even more eye-catching when paired with sensuous framed photos.

6. Bath

guest room at miss clara hotelMiss Clara

Each of the room's baths flaunt a timeless look — white subway tiled walls and limestone flooring — that is just as relevant today as it might have been in the early 1900s. Glass walls separate bathroom and bedroom areas.

7. Ballerina Room

Ballerina Room at miss claraRenee Kemps

The Ballerina project is a permanent exhibition of photographs by Max Modén, featuring ballerina Ella Persson shot at Miss Clara.

8. Restaurant

restaurant at miss clara hotelTraian Cimpeanu

Dangling suspension lighting with cut glass shades add glamour, while banquette leather seating in a rich orange-red introduces warmth. The rugged leather details in the restaurant and hotel are thanks to the work of Tärnsjö Garveri, one of the only tanneries in Europe dyeing leather with tree extracts and not chrome (which can be harmful to the environment).

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