March 22 we offer our guests to pay for the tap water (which is otherwise free), by donating SEK 25, 50 or 100 to The Hunger Project’s project “Grow Healthy” in Ethiopia. The project will ensure access to clean water in 3 villages in the Amhara region which is severely affected by drought and where the malnutrition is prevalent among children under five years of age.
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Author Wera von Essen is awarded the Berns Prize 2022 for having written a unique literary style that presents a flipped Stockholm. With von Essen, we encounter a run-down Östermalm, but also a peripheral city with highway hotels and hard-to-reach suburbs. In this disparate metropolis, a cosmopolitan window is opened by letting air in from other international horizons, especially Brazil. Through this, von Essen’s independent and budding authorship has brought a Catholic outlook to life in a Stockholm reality.
“I feel honored,” says Wera von Essen. “Stockholm has meant a lot to my writing, like an alchemy, to make the place that hurts you bloom. To insist on the heart’s place in the harshness. And to share space and conditions with other people, historically and as a time document.”
The Berns Prize, or the Berns Scholarship, is an annual prize awarded since 1966 by the Swedish PEN to an author, journalist, or photographer who has “made a valuable contribution to the portrayal of Stockholm’s culture and nature, its institutions and its development, or Stockholm life in other forms.” The prize was established in 1963 by the poet Johannes Edfelt and his brother Arne Edfelt, who then ran Berns, on the occasion of Berns Salonger’s 100th anniversary. The winner is selected by the Swedish PEN’s board and awarded in collaboration with Berns.
Presscontact:
Jesper Bengtsson, ordförande Svenska PEN
Telefon: 070 268 25 29
E-post: jesper.bengtsson@svenskapen.se
One of Berns oldest collegaues, not of age but of time, is our star Ditas. She has worked with us for 33 years and she is our housekeeping manager.
Hello Ditas, tell us what you do on a day off? Just being lazy haha, I also try to talk to my family that lives all over the world.
Which room is your favorite at the hotel? 606, it’s very cozy and the view is incredible, especially during night. I lived there once during New Year’s Eve and the fireworks throughout Nybroviken were magical, I strongly recommend it.
When did you start working at Berns? 1989, I previously worked at a cruise ship and when the season came to its end the hotel manager at Berns asked if I wanted to start working full time here, it was the same manager as I had at the ship.
Why hotel and why Berns? I love what I do and to work with service. I have also worked in the restaurant business when I was a student but my heart beats extra for the hotel industry. It’s filled with challenges and incredible people that you get to meet. This is my second home!
What is the most fun with your job? The guests and to be able to help them, and my co-workers.
You mentioned earlier that you have studied, what was your major? I studied to be a radio operator. That profession no longer exists, not in the same way as before. It was during that time when you communicated to ships in an office through a radio, like pilots do to flight towers. I worked with that for a short period of time because I realized that it was not for me, it was very boring.
When you stay at a hotel, what is a must? Hairdryer, my hair is chaos otherwise!
Linn is our new hotel manager, and we are delighted to have such a nice, intelligent and free-spirited person in our team.
Hello Linn, tell us a bit more about yourself.
What do you like to do on a day off? I love to travel and be active. Try new restaurants and places in both Sweden and abroad. A good Pinot Noir is always a winner and a restaurant with a sharing menu is my favorite concept, because you get a little bit of everything.
What have you worked with before and what experiences do you take with you? I have worked abroad for 13 years, and I have learned a lot within the hotel business. From being schooled in Schweitz, to running my own hotel in Provence, France. The best lesson I’ve learned throughout my career is the knowledge about different guests and their needs. It’s important to be curious and responsive.
What is your favorite task at work? To exceed the guest’s expectations. Find out information about your guests in order to exceed their expectations, know what they want before they know it. Both in service and in the making of the product.
Why hotel? I thrive when I work with service, as I mentioned earlier, to exceed the guests expectations, I also feel very at home in an international enviorment. It’s fun to work with hotel, it’s always open and one day is not like the other. The service industry is something you are proud to work with and I want more people to feel that.
When you are choosing a hotel, what is a must? I prefer boutique hotels, they are fun and creative. Second thing is of course the breakfast!!!
When do you eat your breakfast? I’m an early bird, around 6 o’clock.
Final question, why should we stay at Berns Hotel? Because we are the only place in Stockholm where you have it all. We have a unique and beautiful hotel, restaurant, cocktail bar, event venues and three different nightclubs. At Berns you can check-in and enjoy 24 hours and never have to leave the building.
