Hotel Vanilla, Gothenburg

Above a popular café, this bright and homely hotel is a reasonable midrange option. It’s right in the middle of a busy shopping area, a quick stroll from most of the main tourist attractions.

We doubt it was deliberate but the rooms here are as vanilla as the hotel’s name suggests. They’re clean and comfortable, sure, but don’t expect any fancy decorations or daring colour schemes. Located along interconnecting corridors, the rooms feel plain but sunny and warm, with lots of light-coloured wood.

The standard doubles are quite spacious: we’ve seen other hotels in Gothenburg charging much more for a lot less space. However, we still think it’s worth shelling out for one of the larger superior rooms if you can – the difference is just 100 SEK and they feel very roomy.

Breakfast (included) is served in the café downstairs, which sells home-baked cakes and reasonably priced Swedish lunches – prawn sandwiches and the like – throughout the day. In summer, tables, chairs and parasols are set up in a nice courtyard off the main street.

Note that prices tend to be higher on weekdays.