Booked a Superior room through Thomas Cook (cheapest we found).

We arrived at about 11am and were able to check-in straight away, which was great. The room was spacious, with a gorgeous bathroom. The room looked into the inner courtyard, with a small balcony (not used by us), and a side road. Ask for a city view if you can, probably much nicer. The bed and bedding were lovely, with 4 different pillows each. Wooden floors, marble all through the bathroom. The bathroom was a highlight, huge "rainfall" shower and a big, deep bath. All the fittings were beautifully sleek, and everything had been finished to an excellent standard. The room was absolutely spotless (and I'm fussy!). You get dressing gowns and a big umbrella to use (handy as it rained a lot).

The lobby area and restaurant were also lovely, and very popular with the locals. There are a few cosy armchairs by the fire in the lobby, although it was always busy when we were there. Breakfast was outstanding. Loads of different types of tea, soft and hard boiled eggs, fish, meat, cheese, fruit etc....nicely laid out with lots of choice, and all really excellent quality.

Overall, a really beautiful hotel in a brilliant location (right in the centre, close to a central tram stop)

As an aside, after Christmas is not the best time to visit, a lot of stuff is closed. The Universeum science museum is brilliant, the Natural History museum is dire. Eat at Sjobaren restaurant, best meal we had.

Great hotel right in the centre of Gothenburg. Close to all the shopping and other amenities. Breakfast is what you would expect. Not overly big rooms but super comfortable beds, well appointed bathroom. All very stylish and funky. Wouldn't suit families ie more than one child, great for couples and business travel

The Avalon has so much going for it, not least of all the amazing staff. Nothing is ever too much and from the breakfast crew in the morning to the bar staff in the evening the service is seemless and welcoming. The front desk personnel are forever smiling and always friendly and helpful. We arrived at 10am and were fine to check straight in to the room, plus my GHA Platinum card was recognised and a 6pm check-out was handled with a smile and a minimum of fuss (and no extra charge).

We enjoyed the breakfast (which was hot and plentiful) and also the oysters and champagne offer in the bar, along with a few cocktails.

The hotel is very modern 'Scandinavian-designer' which is a nice touch if you are sick of soulless American chain hotels elsewhere in Europe. The excellent design and size of the rooms (we overlooked the square in front of the hotel) made for an amazing stay. I agree with the complaints about the shower/wet room design in that it was prone to a little leakage, however a conveniently placed towel took care of the extra water and ensured it wasn't a great bother. The bath was very deep and the Bulgari bathroom products very luxurious. The Dove Body Wash attached to the shower wall was a bit budget-like however and not very consistent with the rest of the hotel.

The location is fantastic and is central to everything in Gothenburg, which is an amazing city in itself - although if you do need to take taxis be warned that they are extremely expensive - 220kr to Liseberg which is <2kms!!!

We arrived around 9pm at night and asked at check in about room service, to be told it was not available but we could order from a very limited menu or go to Mcdonalds (their words, not ours!) We chose from the list but when we got to our room, we found that it was indeed available for another 2 hours. That was the first niggle.

Our room (superior) was smaller than we expected, which was disappointing although on first glances it had some nice design touches. The wardrobe, for example, was very well organised with helpful compartments for various items to be neatly stored. There was also a beautiful rug, and a great sized bath which was very relaxing.

Negative comments: the wetroom flooded making the floor around the toilet very slippy; the smart flip up desk wasn't so smart in that the wood had warped (it is built over a radiator) so once you flip up the desk, it's difficult to push back into place; breakfast was ok but the hot food was cold on both mornings (this seems to be a particularly Scandinavian quirk) with no one was there to greet guests or show them to tables; and finally, the hotel bar doesn't serve drinks on a Sunday afternoon which we found very unusual.

There were good points and bad points about our stay but we did feel a rather disappointed overall. I certainly wouldn't rank it the same class as other 'design hotels'. Gothenburg, however, is a beautiful city and we could spend days wandering around.