PM & Vänner: The P is for Per Bengtsson, the M is for Monica Carlsson, and Vänner (Swedish for friends) is for everybody else who helps make this hotel in Växjö such a lovely place to stay. A couple of those friends who merit a mention of their own are architect Jonas Lindvall, who has created a landmark building in the Småland region, and Ingegerd Råman. The latter, dubbed the Grand Lady of Swedish design, is an accomplished ceramicist and glassmaker, as well as being the creative brains behind this hotel interior.

Råman has turned to the surrounding environment for materials. The floors, for example, are unvarnished oak from the forests of Småland (literally Small Lands, in the south of the country), and the limestone and marble bathrooms have been hewn from quarries in nearby Öland. PM & Vänner is as much about the culinary experience as the accommodation, with a fine dining restaurant featuring interactive menus and kitchen webcams that stream through to the hotel’s gastronomy channel.