The founder"s great great grandfather Carl Fredrik Hellsten had, in addition to his job as a mining expert, an inn in Ljusnarsberg in the Swedish county of Bergslagen. He inherited this inn from his father. In 1871, some time after the great famine in Sweden, he decided to get rid of this enterprise. He wanted to move to Stockholm for a safer existence and also so his sons could get an education. His first thought was to start a small hotel business, but the reality of life in Stockholm was harsh. Instead he found himself working hard as a clerk to feed his family. They lived in the parish of Adolf Fredrik in a house on Kammakargatan, two blocks away from where the Hotel Hellsten is now. Carl Fredrik"s son Johan, who became a publisher of architectural books, had his shop on Drottninggatan and his home on Luntmakargatan, the street where the Hotel Hellsten is located today.

In 2004, 130 years later, Hotel Hellsten opens its doors to continue a family tradition in this area of Stockholm.