Spangen Gastgivaregard - a Good Hotel in South Sweden

The weekend before my big 5-0, my husband decided to surprise me with a short weekend get-away to the Spangen Gastgivaregard, a pretty decent hotel here in the southern part of Sweden. The Spangen is located just a short drive from Soderasen National Park, so it is a good hotel to book at if you plan to see the Swedish version of the Grand Canyon.

The Spangen is a bit of a local celebrity, having been the site for the filming of the Swedish movie "Kalle Pa Spangen" starring Edvard Persson about 40 years ago. The restaurant part of the hotel has even named a delightful appetizer after him: The Toast Edvard is just to die for. Persson was also a bit of a singer back in the day, and you can here his songs wafting through the sound system while you dine. Like what you hear? You can buy copies of the film and CDs at the front desk.

Located in the village of Ljungbyhed, the Spangen hotel has been around for over 150 years. It has been very well maintained though so you would be hard pressed to notice its age. It is a delightfully Scandinavian building with a fresh coat of bright yellow paint. You feel welcomed the minute you pull into the parking lot. You check in at the main building there in front, and the rooms are in motel fashion ringing the back of the park-like lot. This abuts a nice river and has wonderful views from the rooms.

The hotel rooms themselves are pretty basic of European hotels, although slightly larger than most. We had plenty of room to maneuver in room 213. The bed consists of two twin beds pushed together, which is standard over here. Even though I kept falling into the crack between the two, they were very comfortable with down duvets and pillows. Ahhh nice.

The bathroom was small as is the case all over Europe. There is no bathtub, but the shower is built to accommodate folks like my 6'6" husband with little problem. There is a container on the wall which holds the universal soap/shampoo by Lux. I anticipated this and brought my own. heh. The pressure was great, though, and there was no problem with running out of hot water.

There is a desk in the room next to the long, low dresser, but I could not find any evidence of an Internet connection. Admittedly I did not look very hard as this was to be a romantic weekend. No eBay or AC; so spaketh the hubby.

Outside our room was a rather large bit of beautiful field in which to walk our 13 week old German Shepherd puppy. Yep, that is correct. They let you bring your animals with you here. It ran us an extra 80SEK, which is only about 11 or 12 US dollars. You do need to keep them on a leash at all times, and do bring doo-doo bags with you. There is a pretty hefty fine for not picking up after your dog.

The Spangen has a very nice and well-kept swimming pool in the center of where the rooms are, along with a pavilion full of cute little white wrought iron cafe tables suitable for having family get-togethers or business meetings. This hotel is very geared toward small conventions with special buildings just for that very thing.

I am not sure about the price of the rooms by themselves, but will guess around 125 dollars. See, my husband had booked a package which included the room for one night, a special dinner, and breakfast the next morning. That package was 1600SEK, or just a bit over 200 US dollars. Isn't he just the best?

The one drawback I found was that there is no coffee maker in the room. Not even the ever-popular heating units for water. I'm sorry, but I can barely roll out of bed in the morning without the smell of coffee. I decided that was a small price to pay, though, for the gorgeous surroundings and excellent staff.

The breakfast is included in all room prices, but expect Scandinavian Fare for this, not American. That means lots of buller (rolls) and various deli meats & cheeses, along with soft boiled eggs, cereals, and juices. The word for breakfast in Sweden is Fruktost, which pretty much breaks down to Fruit & Cheese in the translation. As time has gone by, the fruits have been replaced by the meats for some reason, but the word remains the same.

All in all, I am going with 4 out of 5 stars for the Spangen Gastgivaregard Hotel in south Sweden. It is a very nice middle-of-road place to stay for a few nights. The location is pretty good, the rooms are very clean, and the staff is just excellent. Go ahead and book here with confidence.

260 70 Ljungbyhed // Tel 0435 - 44 00 04 // Fax 0435 - 44 17 40 // e-post: info@spangen.se