At the beginning of May, I had some business to attend to at Arlanda Stockholm Airport, and with a lot of extra time included in the visit, there was ample time to do one of my favourite activities, plane spotting, as well as spending another night in the Boeing 747-200 Jumbostay Hostel just off the runway of the airport. This would be my fourth time at the Jumbostay.
During my previous visits to Jumbostay, I stayed in the cockpit suite and had the entire upper deck for myself. This time, I wanted another and different experience, so I requested to be put in one of the engine rooms of the aircraft. With the term "engine room" used quite loosely, I off course meant in one of the four rooms located inside the former jet engines of the aircraft.
At my arrival, the heavens were draining the swimming pools of the skies, but check in was swift and friendly as always. The receptionist asked several times if I wanted to upgrade my room to another room inside the aircraft, but I was not interested. This time, it would have to be inside the engine-casing.
Sadly, both the Internet-connection and the TV inside the room proved to be out of working order, perhaps because of the torrential rains and I was again offered a room inside the aircraft: this time, without any upgrading-fees. I thought it would be a pity to abandon the under-wing room, but decided to move inside instead (surely, I’ll be back again later).
I did have a good one hour in the room before changing over, and even though it’s just a bed and a TV inside, it would be cool to actually sleep there. When you jump on the floor inside the engine-casing room, you could clearly also feel the flex of the wing too. Watch out for turbulence! Next time, I’ll be back for this room!
The replacement room was also cool, located in the middle of the aircraft, on starboard side. The room had a bunk bed, overhead stowage bin and several windows, common restroom and shower-facilities are located at the back of the aircraft. The bed was really comfortable and I slept like a baby - like I have always done in this hostel.
Breakfast was for me perfect even though the selections are not in abundance, but they still have some really delicious bread rolls, the usual sliced salami and sliced ham, tomatoes, cucumber, cheese, eggs, cereals, coffee and tea, as well as a couple types of juice. My only wish for a future visit would be to replace the concentrated juice with freshly squeezed juice instead. It would be fairly easy to make the breakfast into something more “unique”. At a past visit, the breakfast was pre-packeged and served on a tray like you would get on an aircraft still in service. That was really cool, but I guess doing it this way, it gives guests an opportunity to select what they want.
I have to commend the staff during my visit, both the night-clerk and the next morning receptionist. They were both wonderful and very service minded, and they both made sure my stay was as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.
Understandably, similarly to ships turned hotel ships, the upkeep of an aircraft is a massive undertaking. Generally, the hostel is clean and really comfortable, but like for example the cockpit suite, the lay-out clearly makes it really hard to both maintain and keep clean in all corners and crannies. The hostel is reasonably expensive (but after all, this is Scandinavia) but unlike other “more normal” places, it’s accepted because of it’s uniqueness. I have to say that had it been my hostel, my aircraft, I would probably have spent a lot more time to clean up the surroundings both inside and outside the aircraft.
Bottomline is that I have no problem coming over all these shortcomings because the experience is still truly out of this world, even after staying there four times already. There are not many places just like this anywhere else in the world, and for aviation enthusiasts, this is a must-experience.
Historically, it was back in January 2009 that the Boeing 747-212B from 1976 opened for service as a hostel just off an active runway at Arlanda Stockholm Airport.
Some more history about the aircraft:
This is the budget hotel alternative Arlanda has needed for quite a long time and also a new landmark at Arlanda offering a unique experience for the guests, says owner and the man behind Jumbo Stay, Oscar Diös.
Oscar Diös previously owned the hostel Uppsala Vandrarhem/hotell, and now alos operates CityStay Hotell in Uppsala, www.citystayuppsala.se
I was getting ready to expand my hostel business in 2006 when I heard about an old wreck of an aircraft for sale at Arlanda. Since I had for a long time wanted to establish my business at Arlanda I didn’t hesitate for a second when this opportunity struck, Oscar Diös explains.
The airplane, a decommissioned model 747-200 jumbo jet built in 1976, was last operated by Transjet, a Swedish airline that went bankrupt in 2002. It was originally built for Singapore Airlines and later served with legendary Pan Am.
In December 2007, Sigtuna authorities granted a building permit for establishing Jumbo Stay at the entrance to Arlanda airport. In January 2008, the aircraft was moved to a construction site parking where the first phase of the conversion has begun with the dismantling of the old interior, new paint and new decorations for the rooms. 450 seats are taken out and the plane is sanitized in its entirety. The hostel is built like any house, subjected to the same demands on climate control and isolation. It adheres to all common energy standards. Heating is achieved with an air-air inverter.
Summer 2008 the plane was towed to its final destination at the entrance to Arlanda where it was placed on a concrete foundation with the landing gear secured in two steel cradles. Here, Jumbo Stay are a spectacular landmark as a portal to Arlanda offering a view of the landing strip. No visitor to Arlanda will miss the new place to stay!
Brief facts about Jumbo Stay
Airplane type: Boeing 747-212B
Year of manufacture: 1976
Name: Liv (after owner’s daughter)
Number of rooms: 33
Number of beds in total: 76
Number of beds per room: 1-4 beds
Room size: Circa 6 square meters, 3 meters to ceiling
If you haven’t seen it yet, there is a video from my last stay at my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oq3dx6Ef1c
