Spis Hotel & Hostel

Avoid this place if you don’t want to get disappointed. The premises are in a worn down and sad state in a depressing part of the dismantled Kiruna. The beds are like bath tubs. The manager is arrogant and not attentive to guests. Despite claiming to have a fully furnished kitchen they don’t even have a toaster. Plates and glasses are missing. You can stay here, but expect to find it under maintained and over priced.

Rooms were spartiate, but we knew that when we booked. As our intention was not to spend an awful lot of time indoors, we just needed a bed and breakfast. Beds are OK. (it shows that maintenance is downgrading due to the imminent destruction of the old city) Breakfast was amazing, great 'stuff'. Gravlax for breakfast is a dealbreaker. As Spis is also a 'bageri', their bread and fika were very good. Great choice in teas and herbal teas. Staff was very friendly. Fun fact: not a lot of people going to the free sauna, we had the place all to ourselves. I do hope the hotel continues to exist at the new address.

I stayed here in an 'emergency' after a delayed flight messed up my plan.  I stayed in the hostel.  Dorm was clean. Price included sheets &  towel,  it had a good black-out curtain,  dorm was single-gender,  there were lockers (I think),  and dorm was decent size for 6 people. [None of those things is true of the STF hostel in Abisko, by the way,  which is more expensive :-(  ] They have the bus &  train times and explained how to get everywhere.  I found them very welcoming. There's a lovely bar / restaurant / lounge: I had dinner there,  and breakfast.  All good. A week later,  I had a couple of hours in Kiruna,  and asked if I could leave my bags there,  and they greeted me like an old friend and said 'it's lovely to see you again'. It's not the Four Seasons but is good for the price.

SPIS is a hotel/hostel in Kiruna that I can’t recommend. PROS: - SPIS is in the city center of Kiruna near to the best restaurants and bars in town (this could change in the near future since part of the city is being moved); - They offer a good breakfast with a variety of typical scandinavian offerings from cheese and meat to smoked salmon and herring;Inside the hotel has a pretty good restaurant with delicious food; - Also inside, SPIS provides a small deli with awesome cheeses, bread, chocolates among others. - The double bedrooms have a cool vibe and the bed is comfortable. CONS: - This space it’s called ‘SPIS Hotel & Hostel’ and maybe it could be a good hostel but is a really poor hotel; - The rooms have terrible soundproofing, it’s possible to hear every single movement and noises of the neighbors; - The rooms layout are incomprehensible. A typical layout would have the bathroom of one room near to the bathroom of the next room. The bathroom of our neighbors was next to our bed, which didn’t had any frame to soundproof a little bit; - SPIS doesn’t provide a phone in the room, if you need something from the reception you have to go down the stairs and ask. This is not a game changer but could be a nice touch; - The hotel doesn't have enough breakfast space to accommodate all its guests. This is critical in any situation but specially when you have hungry guests that have strict schedules to attend. One day after waiting 10/15 min. for a vacay table we asked if the hotel had another room. The lady working that day said that they were full at the moment but we could go to the small commun kitchen 30/40 meters down a corridor. I said no, firstly because the breakfast it’s a buffet so it's a bit ridiculous to walk up and down the corridor to grab food, and I didn’t pay to be in a kitchen eating breakfast. We ended up at the counter of the hotel check in (which by the way is in the same place as the restaurant and breakfast room) eating breakfast because at that point we only had 30 min left to eat. What hotel does that? I understand that SPIS space is limited but the management could implement a schedule breakfast time for each room in order to avoid crows and unpleasant situations; - A lot of times guests had to ask the staff at breakfast to clean vacay tables and to replenish food. We sense a lack of efficiency during this period; - In the middle of Lapland where the temperature can drop to -30 degrees Celsius, this hotel doesn’t provide in the room an electric kettle for do it yourself warm drinks; - SPIS has also a lounge area (which is common to the hotel and the restaurant) where typically they sell an amazing variety of beers and wines but if you arrive during lunch time they will not serve you any alcoholic drinks, bedside water, coffee or tea. Like I stated before SPIS will probably change to the new city center. I believe that they have an unique opportunity to reshape their business model and take in consideration the CONS that the

Athmosphere was very relaxed and enjoyable. Staff were pleasant. Restaurant/bar was cosy and breakfast very many-sided. Rooms were clean and comfortable. Sauna could be better condition but at least it was free. There is not much parking space at hotel, but more parking slots located at near street. Parking is free after 6pm to 9am. Otherwise 4 hour with parking disc. I would say it was worth it.