A: With 30 000 delegates expected to attend the cardiac medical conference in Stockholm over this period, it will be very difficult to find accommodation in the city. Hotels linked to the conference are fully booked, including many that have a four- or five-day minimum booking restriction. However, there are some things you could try.
Firstly, make a last attempt on one or two hotel booking websites. I tried www.hoteltravel.com and found a number of hotels listed as available. However, these were listed as "on request" as opposed to confirmed. I recommend you make a trial booking as soon as possible and let their agents try to find a room for you. Another website, www.hrs.com, had three hotels available. One was the four-star Clarion Collection Hotel Kompaniet, priced at around 240USD per night. Located 88km from the city centre, it is only 1.6km from a railway station with good connections to the city centre. Not ideal, but this is probably the type of hotel you are likely to find at this stage.
Secondly, you could try to get a room at one of the bed and breakfasts in the city. It will be easiest to go through one of the organisations with a number of rooms on their books.
Try the Bed and Breakfast Centre (www.stockholm-bed-and-breakfast.se), Bed and Breakfast Stockholm (www.bedbreakfast.a.se) and Stockholm Guesthouse (www.stockholmguesthouse.com). I found a limited number of rooms available during trial bookings, but you would need to go through the booking process to find out if they are really available without restrictions. I recommend you phone the associations above; their phone numbers and operating hours are available on the websites.
You could also try the conference's accommodation office to see if they can help you out. While finding you accommodation is not their priority, it's still worth a try. They may just have one or two nights available at one of the outlets they are handling. For instance, they are handling all bookings for a 980-room floating hotel, which will be berthed in Stockholm for the duration of the conference. The best place to get details and a direct contact number would be the conference press office on 33(0)4929486277.
If you can't find anything in Stockholm central, you will have to set your sights a little wider. Among the areas you could try are Uppsala (40 minutes' travel time by train to the city centre), Vasteras (50 minutes) and Nykoping (60 minutes). Finally, if all else fails, you can contact the South African Embassy in Stockholm and ask them for suggestions. Perhaps they have some accommodation available for visiting guests or could put you in contact with South African expatriates who are willing to rent out a room. The telephone number for general enquiries is +46(0)8243950. Good luck. (18 July 2010)
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