Take a look at the Hôtel Eggers

On Drottningtorget by Central Station is one of the oldest hotels in Sweden. This year, the Hôtel Eggers turns 161. GP followed a tour of the facility and a deep dive into the history.

When it opened in 1859, the name was Jernvägshotellet, later it was renamed Hotel Christiania. In 1894, the former doorman and later owner Emil Eggers decided that the hotel would be called Hôtel Eggers.

Emil Eggers was lucky enough to please his boss LE Lindblad and fall in love with his daughter. Mr. Eggers turned out to be an enterprising man who was way ahead of his time. When he became the owner, he renovated and modernized the hotel.

– When he took office in 1894, he opened the porch to the outside. He electrified the elevator and installed telephones in every room. The phone was only available at the Royal Palace and the Post Office at the time, says hotel manager Jessica Vialleton.

The rate for a hotel night in the late 19th century was considerably lower than it is today. So a room cost around 2.50 crowns. In 1948, the price reached SEK 8.80. Today, the largest rooms cost SEK 2,500 per night.

– During the hotel’s heyday from the late 19th to early 20th century when it was a luxury hotel, there were 100 rooms and 250 employees.

Today, the hotel has 69 rooms and 22 permanent employees.

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Married to the boss’s daughter

Emil Eggers married the chief’s daughter and the couple had five children. The son Axel was the one who followed in his father’s footsteps and assumed the role of the hotel after his father. He also met his love at the hotel, Ebba Svenander, who worked as a liquor cashier. The couple married and managed the hotel together until Axel died in 1942, then his children from the first marriage inherited the hotel.

Although the children did not like their stepmother very much, they let her continue working as a hotel manager. He ran the hotel with an iron fist and one can imagine that he was not that popular with the cleaning ladies at the time. Ebba is said to have demanded that they pay for everything that was broken in the rooms, regardless of who caused the damage. This meant that no cleaning woman ventured into the rooms until the first cleaning woman had been there.

In January 1947, Ebba was killed in the same plane crash as Swedish Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf. Then he would go to Paris to visit a restaurant fair. After his death, Axels and Ebba’s children sold the hotel to the Brodén family.

From the beginning to date, there have been nine different constellations of owners. Since 2015, Lars-Olof Oskarsson and Anna Riis have owned the historic hotel. The same chain includes Varberg Stadshotell & Asia Spa and Arken Hotel & Art Garden Spa.

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Mr. Eggers watches the reception

Taking a tour of the hotel is like taking a trip back in time. Much of the interior is new, but a lot of original interior remains as well. Like mirrors and leaded windows. In the restaurant you can see on the walls what is called golden leather. Two portraits of the previous owners, father and son Emil and Axel Eggers, hang in the reception. Large black and white photographs of the hotel from the early 20th century are on the walls of the hotel corridors.

– The 69 rooms are decorated differently and almost every room has something original from the past inside, says Jessica Vialleton.

Jessica Vialleton has worked at the Hôtel Eggers since 1991. When she started 30 years ago, she was a receptionist, but for the last eleven years she has worked as a hotel manager. During your stay at the hotel, you have heard and experienced a lot. What she has not seen herself has been told by colleagues and visitors over the years. One of these stories took place as early as the 1920s.

– A pretty lady wanted dates that were not so common then and difficult to get. But there was a place nearby where a running boy could buy them. When he was about to leave the lady in the room, she became negligent and wanted him to come in. He was around 16 years old and thought it was clearly uncomfortable.

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Naked woman cleaning in crib

The fact that guests lock themselves out of their rooms happens in most hotels. Some wear clothes, but far from everyone. Another event, which Jessica talks about, took place until the 2000s.

– A night porter told me that during a round he came across a naked woman and a drunk woman in a hallway. However, he did not know where he lived. Then he placed her in a cleaning crib and went down to reception to fix everything. Then a man came up and asked for his wife. The doorman asked her about her appearance and then she was able to answer that she knew where she was and led her husband to the cleaning crib where his wife was still standing, says Jessica Vialleton.

In 1947, things could have gone really bad for the hotel when a large fire broke out in the southern part of the property. Staff and guests had to choose, pack, and evacuate during firefighting work. In the old photos you can see that the knotted sheets were held by the windows. Outside, the guests were in pajamas. The attic and superior rooms of the hotel were damaged by the fire.

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Kate Winslet and Marcus Schenkenberg

During Eggers’ 161 years of existence, thousands upon thousands of guests have stayed at the hotel. Most unknown names, but also known, have put their heads on one of the hotel pillows. Most of the celebrity guests have been very gracious, says Jessica Vialleton.

In the guest book you can, for example, read names like Peter Dalle, Arne Weise and Claes Malmberg. Other hotel guests over the years have been Anders Zorn, Evert Taube, Jussi Björling, and top model Marcus Schenkenberg.

Of the younger generation, for example, actress Hedda Stiernstedt and hip-hop group Hov1 are among the guests. Also, a world star has found his favorite hotel in Eggers.

– Patti Smith always lives here when she is in Gothenburg.

About a year ago, they got a nice visit from movie star Kate Winslet. However, she was a bit reserved and decided not to register in her own name.

Håkan Hellström

Recurring guests were the royal love couple, Prince Bertil and Mrs. Lilian Craig, who later became Princess Lilian. For many years, the couple had to sneak in with their love. They did so even when they were living at the Hôtel Eggers in the 30-40s. The prince then lived in room 125 and Lilian in room 126. Fittingly, there was a door between the rooms. Room 125 is still called Prince Bertil’s room.

The facilities and rooms at the Hôtel Egger have been popular for many years for television, film and video recordings. Television series such as “Vår tid är nu”, “Bäckström” and “Gynekologen i Askim” are some of the productions whose scenes take place on the premises.

– Victor Leksell recently shot a music video here, says Jessica Vialleton.

Gothenburg’s big star Håkan Hellström was still quite unknown when in 2000 he shot the music video “Don’t feel sorry for me Gothenburg” at the hotel. He must have chosen it as a filming location because it was “the sunkiest hotel in Gothenburg.” Room 133 where the video was shot is popular with hotel guests.

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The ghost hotel Ebba

There is another room that is mentioned. In room 397, the former hotel manager Ebba Eggers is said to be haunted. But he’s a nice ghost, says Jessica Vialleton. Ebba was happy to live in the room herself when she was alive.

– Some guests say they met Ebba. But even a cleaning lady met her once when she was cleaning there. When he entered the room, a woman was sitting on a chair. The cleaning lady apologized and left, but when she came back in, the woman was gone and no one was living in the room at the time.

“Everything died in a few days”

The hotel’s popularity has risen and fallen over its 161 years. But the style of the hotel has always been maintained regardless of the owner.

– Before, the hotel was not that great, but every now and then our guests have gotten younger. Today our guests are over 35 years old. And it has become an Instagram-friendly hotel. Photographs are taken everywhere.

But no matter how Instagram-friendly the hotel is, the pandemic has made it for Hôtel Eggers, as it has for the entire hotel industry.

– In April, it was shocking with such a rapid decline: everything died in a few days. We lost 90 percent of sales. Thanks to the fact that we are a small hotel, we and the staff were able to change quickly, says Jessica Vialleton.

In 2019, the hotel was 80 percent occupancy. By 2020, they believe they will reach 50 percent occupancy. The first months of last year were good, before the pandemic hit.

According to Visita, which is an industry organization and employers’ organization for the Swedish hotel industry, hotels in Gothenburg have lost 76 percent of revenue since the coronavirus appeared, compared to the same period in 2019. And in relation to the new restrictions in November, it got even worse. 82 percent compared to the previous year. This shows Benchmarking Alliance figures compiled by Visit.

But when Jessica Vialleton looks ahead, she still sees a bright future.

– We are all waiting for the vaccine to be able to move again. But not everything will be as before. The conferences will not be as usual, it will continue digitally, the same with business trips.

He also believes that Swedes will want to travel abroad, but that many have discovered that it is possible to travel from home.

– Eggers has been around for 161 years and we’ve survived world wars and pandemics, so we’ll probably stick around.

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