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Those who have been on the Scandinavia tour a question.

Does the Wellington Hotel in Stockholm have an elevator? This is the initial hotel on the tour and we are going to arrive a few days early, my wife has had both knees replaced and is able to walk all day on level ground but going up and down stairs can wear her down. So I was hoping that the Hotel has an elevator. I've tried to e-mail the Hotel but so far they haven't answered.

Posted by
15679 posts

Donald, I haven't been on the tour or stayed at this hotel but information such as what you're seeking can often be found in reviews from prior guests or sometimes just a google (hotel name/city/elevator). I use booking/com reviews most often, and here is what I picked up from a quick browse.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/se/wellington.html#tab-reviews

"Tiny elevator, around 0.5 square meter, if you have big luggage or in our case a baby push chair, you would probably need more than one turn to transfer everything up/down. "

An elevator is also listed under the general amenities for this hotel on booking.com, and here as well:
https://www.choicehotels.com/sweden/stockholm/clarion-hotels/se064

I wouldn't worry about the "tiny" size; that's not all that unusual in Europe where they might have to be retro-fitted into older structures.

Posted by
108 posts

Yes the Wellington has an elevator albeit small per the above post. Not sure when you are going but I would suggest trying to get a room not on the front of the hotel. We did a tour starting around 3rd week of July and the sun was relentless in the afternoon heating the room up. The hotel gave us a small personnel size fan but it was pretty inadequate.

Let your tour guide know about the need for lower floors in the hotels where there is not an elevator. The one hotel that comes to mind was Copenhagen.

Enjoy your trip - it was a great tour!!

Posted by
1077 posts

Kathy & Kim Thanks, that's exactly what I needed to know!

Posted by
3985 posts

You may want to contact the tour office to verify that all hotels on the tour have an elevator for your wife.

Posted by
4138 posts

I went on that tour in 2018. I have cranky knees, which I hope to have worked on in time for them to heal before next summer's trip. At present, like your wife, I can walk well on level or slightly slanted ground, or on steps with a low rise, but rough or steep terrain and stairs with a high rise are a problem.

Of course the hotels may be different when you go, but the only lodgings I remember without elevators were the ones in Ærø and the Jotenheiman Mountains. I was able to have a ground floor room in Ærø, but not in the lodge in the mountains.

Hopefully by the time you go, she'll be more mobile. I say that because hotels aren't the only places you'll walk where there will be stairs or very steep up and down walking, without handrails. I took trekking poles, but was too dumb to use both of them at the same time. One helped, but using both at the same time would've been better.

There was also a guy in our group who had knee problems and used a cane. He had some issues with the walking, but had more problems with standing for long periods while the guide(s) were talking.

The pattern on that tour seemed to be walk really fast, stop and wait for the slower walkers and the picture takers to catch up, stand and listen to the talk, repeat. There is rarely anywhere to sit to listen.

Obviously, that creates a cycle where the fast walkers get to rest longer and the slower ones never get to rest. Other RS tours I've been on have also had this pattern, but not so pronounced.

I can't remember any local guide that led the group that way on any of the RS tours, including that one. They seemed to practice the "walk and talk" style, make sure that the group was keeping up and that everyone was well within the hearing range of the earphone apparatuses we used.

I'm sure you have looked at several options for your pre-tour time in Stockholm. I got there early, too. I really enjoyed this boat tour that involved going under bridges and through locks.