Quality Hotel Panorama, Gothenburg

If location is everything then Quality Hotel Panorama is… well… okay. It’s a ten-minute walk uphill from Korsvägen, one of the city’s main transport hubs, and around a kilometre from Kungsportsavenyen, Gothenburg’s main avenue.

This is a part of the city few foreign tourists see – and for good reason. There’s a traditional konditori (bakery) just down the road, but otherwise it’s private flats that dominate the street scene.

Decorated on one side with a brash mural, the hotel building itself isn’t much of a looker. The en-suite rooms inside are simple and a lot more restrained, with white walls and wooden floors. Box-shaped TVs are proof that this place isn’t exactly cutting edge, but all of the rooms we looked at were reasonably clean. The ones near the top have decent views.

Leisure facilities at Quality Hotel Panorama are way better than you might expect, having seen the plain rooms and tired corridors. Newly renovated, the spotless 24-hour gym has everything you need to work up a good sweat. In the spa area next door you can roast yourself in the sweet-smelling wooden sauna. Best of all is the outdoor hot tub, where you can join other guests for a soak under the stars. In Sweden, facilities like these rarely come this cheap.

So, if you don’t mind walking a while to reach the main sights, or taking the bus (number 52 from the centre stops close by), this is a reasonable choice. Prices are lower than at comparable places in more central locations and the staff we met were very helpful too.