Bongska Huset

This place has the benefit of a unique location overlooking the small harbor of Abbekås, with a lovely small beach just one minute walk away. The whole place is absolutely charmful, lovely interiors in the room and in the common areas, including the restaurant room where also breakfast is served - extended by a garden and another outdoor spot on the harbourside where you can also seat. Not enough with that: a small bakery is a part of the story. We had dinner there as well, which we can recommend. The personnel is mostly young people, invariably friendly and capable. We could get the smallest room, with two separate beds (no way to fit them otherwise in such a small room), but we did not regret at all, it was a very enjoyable stay.

The hotel's appearance and location are second to none. A beautiful quiet harbour right on the seafront. However therein lies the problem. We stayed when the seaweed was honking its stench right across the miles of coastline on either side of the village, and right into our room. The room itself was part of the problem. No air con, in the circumstances above, meant that the windows had to be kept shut (the smell was rotten eggs and sewage) and it was HOT. A small fan was provided, but in a tiny 'twin' room that was the size of a small university dorm room from the 1980s, two beds, two tables, a tiny en-suite and a bench were squeezed together, and the whole experience was dispiriting and uncomfortable. The staff and hotel can't help the smell, but apparently it's a bit of a problem in the area, happening all too regularly, and whilst the design and styling of the hotel is perfect and redolent of the area in every way, there needs to be some investment in A/C to enable windows to be comfortably shut, and in plumbing to sort out the bathroom smells emanating from below into the en-suite. I'd have loved this place to have been fantastic as it's really beautiful, and the staff (all very young and keen to help with anything) were great. But the owners need to do some work on the infrastructure, and invest - apparently that seaweed is going nowhere fast, and warm, onshore windy days aren't uncommon in that part of the world. We were told the smell is worse in winter.