Not for the claustrophobic: the disused Swedish silver mine Sala offers an unusual place to spend the night!
Not for the claustrophobic: the disused Swedish silver mine Sala offers an unusual accommodation option – you can stay in a glamorous underground suite for two. It rightly belongs in the club of “Unusual Hotels”.
The reception is 155 meters above the hotel room. This is because it was set up deep down in the Swedish Sala silver mine, where the hotel’s dining room, restaurant and conference rooms are also located. However, at night you are left alone down below.
The underground passages are the result of hard work in the search for silver in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The miners only made very slow progress: about ten meters per year. This means that it took them almost ten years just for this part, which houses the suite. They mainly used a method called fire-setting: wood is piled up, set alight, the heat causes the rock to crack and can be removed piece by piece.
Silver and fire are therefore the two elements that the interior designers also used in their design: “We wanted to connect the past with life today, but still make the furnishings appropriate and convincing,” says Magnus Svedjemarker from the Stockholm office “Wohnzimmer”. “Ulrika Andrén, our interior designer, brings the silver back into the mine, so to speak.” She chose metal lights and silver candlesticks, polished silver furniture and shiny mirror frames. This gives this gloomy dungeon an illustrious shimmer. The candlelight bathes the cave in a warm, golden light and the rock walls have been left as they were.
The mine was once Sweden’s treasure chest. The silver was turned into coins or precious household items such as magnificent candelabras, which can be found all over Europe today. In the 17th and 18th centuries, France was a major influence on style, which is why the furniture in the mine suite is in the French Baroque style, reminiscent of the period in which the mine experienced its heyday. All the furniture is light enough to be transported in the existing mine elevator and can be removed just as easily without leaving a trace.
Guests can also use the elevator to reach their suite. However, they are not allowed to use it without being accompanied by hotel staff. This means that they can only contact reception at night by radio. There is electricity down here, but no WLAN. Instead, the room is heated to 15°C, while the rest of the mine is 2°C cold.
If this is all too scary for you, you can of course spend the night above ground, where the mine’s old sutlery is equipped with 14 comfortable, modern double rooms. This saves you the adventure of being trapped in a rocky cave at night, which many people prefer to do without.
Address
Sala Silver Mine
Drottning Christinas Väg
Sala, Sweden
(0046) 224 677 260
booking@salasilvergruva.se
www.salasilvergruva.se/de
Photos: Pappilabild, Sala, Sweden
