Cadierbaren

A Grand Seat Over the Harbor

3.5 of 5

Hotel bars can be dull rooms with expensive nuts. Cadierbaren is not that. It belongs to the Grand Hôtel, named for Régis Cadier, the hotel's founder, and it looks out over the harbor, the Old Town and the Royal Palace. Anyone who has drunk in a good hotel bar knows the feeling. The room is doing half the job before the bartender touches a bottle.

It has won plenty of awards for its cocktails, its bartenders and its atmosphere. The list changes with the bartenders' moods, which is part of the fun. The rules are worth knowing. Smart casual dress, no cash accepted, eighteen and over after ten in the evening, sixteen with an adult. Tables can be booked until five. Open from seven in the morning on weekdays and eight on weekends, closing at one or two at night.

Go in the late afternoon when the light is on the water and sit at a window. Order something classic and let the room do its work. This is a special occasion place that does not make a fuss of being one. Pair it with a walk along the waterfront afterward and you have the right kind of Stockholm evening: expensive, polite and a little bit grand.

Order this: A classic cocktail from the house list, A window table facing the water
The damage: $$$
Go: Late afternoon into the evening, for the harbor view
Find it: Södra Blasieholmshamnen 8, 103 27 Stockholm
Website: grandhotel.se