Norway Travel Guide
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For a Killer View, It's Hard to Beat the Norwegian Fjords
In the wilds of the fjords of Norway, travelers braving the hiking and biking trails (or driving RVs around the winding roads) will every so often catch a glimpse of a tucked away hotel, silently calling out like an oasis, We recently came across one of these lovely little properties at a stop along the famous Flåm Railway, just before reaching the high town of Myrdal, Norway.
The Vatnahalsen Hotel is popular with families and outdoorsy types, in the area for a night or two while continuing fresh air adventures through the lush Norwegian countryside, dotted as it is with waterfalls and mountains. When Vatnahalsen is at its busiest, the hotel also plays host to catered meals for cruise ship passengers docked in the lower fjord town of Flåm.
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Trapper Chic At Basecamp Svalbard Spitsbergen
If you're sick of the standard Paris, Cabo, or Vegas trips, consider heading out to the Svalbard Archipelago of Norway -- specifically to the island of Spitsbergen, a former base for whaling in the 17th and 18th centuries, now settled by both the Nords and the Russians.
It's in the Arctic Circle, so there's continuous sun from April to August -- and according to its Wikipedia entry, "November to the end of January there is civil polar night, where it is so continuously dark that artificial light must be used 24 hours each day."
It's also home to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. In the event of a doomsday scenario, the world can re-sow all of the world's plant life from a cache of seeds, currently being held in an secure underground cavern.
So when you're there, whether dogsledding, snowscootering, climbing glaciers, exploring ice caverns, fossil hunting, reindeer spotting, or checking out the Russian settlements, cozy up at the Basecamp Svalbard Spitsbergen.
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Room With a Killer View: Solstrand Fjord Hotel
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
Gazing over a Norwegian fjord is clearly something tailor-made for a killer view. So views from many of the rooms at the Solstrand Fjord Hotel just south of Bergen qualify as a killer view that we'd definitely like to enjoy.
The Solstrand Fjord Hotel is a family-owned hotel that has so far been passed down through four generations, so there's plenty of tradition there. Average room rates are around $200 and there's all kind of activities to keep you busy: sea kayaking, sailing and boat trips will all help you make the most of the view.
[Photo: luna summer]
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Room With a Killer View: Down Into The Valley From the Stalheim Hotel
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
We've already checked out a Norwegian hotel once this week and since that one turned out to be a bit boring, we're back on the hunt and have this killer view from the Stalheim Hotel overlooking the Naeroe Valley, in the middle of the Western Fjords of Norway.
It's a hotel with such fantastic views that if you check the TripAdvisor reviews, half the recent guests don't even mention the hotel itself: they just make comments like "Stay for the view!", "views don't get much better than this" and "breathtaking views". The tip is that you need to request a room at the back of the hotel to be able to fully appreciate the view over the valley--they have large windows to make the most of it, too.
As far as the hotel itself goes, reports suggest it's comfortable and clean, although sometimes swamped by tourist buses. The average room rate starts around US$230 a night which is pretty reasonable for Scandinavia. Especially with those views.
[Photo: CarlisleJane]
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Engø Gård: Hard to Pronounce, Boring to Look At and Kind of Expensive Too
If you are pining for the fjords of Norway, maybe it's time to check in to Engø Gård, one of those hotels that comes with a couple of odd-looking letters in its name. (And we can't even get how to pronounce them right).
But seriously, the Engø Gård small country inn on the coast about an hour and a half from Oslo, and travelers have been enjoying staying there off and on since it was first built in 1845. In its most recent incarnation, it labels itself a "country house hotel", which reopened in 2000. It's got just 13 rooms and 11 suites, but it also has a restaurant called the Relais Gourmand which seems popular. (Note: The hotel is a Relaischateaux property.)
Their website is still only in Norwegian--although English is on the way--but we can just figure out a few coming attractions that help summer visitors to Engø Gård get the most out of their stay. For example, they're holding a classical music performance there in early July; jazz singing and dinner dances are set to follow.
Remember Norway is a particularly independent part of Europe, not part of the EU let alone using the Euro, so their room rates show up in Norwegian Kroner: rooms starting at 1800K (US$340) and suites from 2450K (US$465). Don't be too surprised: nothing is cheap in Norway.
[Photo: fanoffrance]
Amy Winehouse / Celebrity Scoop / Hotel Drugs / Radisson Hotels / → All Tags
Amy Winehouse Busted for Marijuana at a Radisson in Norway
In the not-so-shocking-news department, Amy Winehouse and her husband have been arrested in Norway for possession of about 7 grams (0.2 ounces) of marijuana. She was fined $714 and then released.
Winehouse, 24, was arrested at Bergen's Radisson SAS Hotel together with her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, and a man identified as Alexander Foden, Lars Morten Lothe, a police lawyer at Bergen Police Station, said in a telephone interview today. Fielder-Civil was also fined 500 euros, while Foden was ordered to pay 240 British pounds ($491), Lothe said.
What is shocking is that it was just weed. Doesn't Amy do like harder Class-A type of drugs? And we also learned that Amy doesn't mind shacking up in Radissons but perhaps in the future Amy should check-into more drug-friendly hotels such as this one.
Related Stories:
· Amy Winehouse in 'Bloody' Fight at the Sanderson Hotel [HotelChatter]
· Novotel: Keeping your drugs safe [HotelChatter]
· Amy Winehouse Arrested, Fined in Norway Drug Bust [Bloomberg]
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New Europe Hotel: Try The Other Side in Norway
In the July/August issue of the European Travel Commission's newsletter, they highlighted several new and upcoming hotels in Europe. We'll be taking a closer look at some of these hotels this week but we're always interested in hearing your recommendations for hotels in Europe. So send 'em our way.
If you're looking for a hotel that's on top of the world then Norway's The Other Side, opening next spring, is a place to try. A pretty exclusive-sounding place up on the top of the map at Neiden, near Norway's borders with Finland and Russia, The Other Side is a design hotel made up of 12 "houses" arranged in groups of three. The houses are designed to match the elements: for example, the "Wind House" is suspended midair and the "Water House" is on top of a pond.
The innovative architects behind The Other Side are in fact a Swedish and French pair, Birgitta Ralston and Alexandre Bau, and they've made a special effort to incorporate the traditions of the local Sami people into the design process. On top of that the hotel is intended to provide "an ultramodern interpretation of luxury" and sounds really worth checking out in Spring '08.
Related Stories:
· The Other Side, Neiden [Design Hotels]
· Hotels in Norway [HotelChatter]
New Hotels in Europe / Design Hotels / → All Tags
New Europe Hotel: Grims Grenka's Not So Grim
In the July/August issue of the European Travel Commission's newsletter, they highlighted several new and upcoming hotels in Europe. We'll be taking a closer look at some of these hotels this week but we're always interested in hearing your recommendations for hotels in Europe. So send 'em our way.
Come September 1, Norwegian capital Oslo is getting a really ambitious hotel. The Grims Grenka Hotel has this to say about itself:
Our goal is to become Norway's best hotel, and the hotel will in many ways appear to be revolutionary with regards to interior design and service. Our ambition is to make Grims Grenka so exhilarating that guests won't want to leave.
So how exactly do they plan to do this? The location is a good start, in a historical part of Oslo near the Akershus Castle, with the central station just five minutes away. The 66 rooms and suites are deliberately large, with many over 750 square feet, and there's already a rooftop lounge to enjoy a drink in.
An Asian restaurant will follow, along with a nightclub and a private cinema. Their website's not letting any bookings be made yet, despite the promised opening in less than two weeks, so we'll have to wait and see if the September deadline really comes through.
Related Stories:
· A New Design Hotel for Oslo [VisitOslo]
· Norway Hotel Reviews [HotelChatter]
· Norway Travel Stories [Jaunted]
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No Cubans in Norway Please
Uh-oh. Scandal has hit the Hilton-owned Scandic Edderkoppen in Norway's capital, Oslo. A bunch of Cubans planning to visit Oslo for a travel fair this month have been turned away from the hotel they've previously stayed in five times.
No, they didn't get blacklisted after holding a wild party in their room, nothing as scandalous as that. In fact, it wasn't their fault at all, apart from holding Cuban passports. Since the Edderkoppen hotel had been taken over by the American Hilton chain since their last visit, our not-at-fault delegates were refused a booking because of the US embargo on trade with Cuba. Oops. Norwegian trade unions and social rights groups are up in arms about the booking refusal but so far the Cubans still have to look for somewhere else to stay.
[Photo: Nasduik]
Related Stories:
· Scandic Edderkoppn reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Hilton Slammed in Oslo for Cuba Embargo [ABC News]
· True Hollywood Hotel Story [HotelChatter]
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"See-Through" Hotel
Where: Norway
Last week, a "Peek-a Boutique" hotel in Singapore was making waves. Well the Norweigians have gone one step further with the See-Through Hotel.
Vagablond describes The Nesna Vacation Centre as:
a giant snowflake floating on the ocean. However, it's actually a hotel room with semi-transparent glass walls, ceilings and floor designed by Belgian-born architect Carsten Höller. So from the inside, you can see out, but from the outside, you can't see in. Naturally, it affords ocean views at all angles.
Wait you can see out of the hotel room but you can't see in? That doesn't sound very see-through to us.
It's also a work of art that has yet to be sculpted. No word on whether or not they will take bookings.
Related Stories:
· Living in Glass Houses [Vagablond]
· Don'cha wish your hotel was hot like me? [HotelChatter]
· See Through Hotel [Cool Hunter]
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What Does Hole Mean In Norwegian?
Usually when a hotel is described as a "hole" it is, how do you say, not such a good thing?
However, in the case of Hole Hytteutleige in Norway, it seems bad means good. Either that or "hole" means "hotel", or "chalet", or "place with cool view of fjords" in Norwegian.
What are we trying to say? This place has views so kick ass that Condé Nast Traveler featured the vista from Bungalow 16 in their June "Room With A View Section."
There are seven camping huts and eight classic bungalows at the "hole."
Velkommen to Norway, where if the fantastisk fjords don't impress the "holes" will.
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Munch Artwork Stolen then Recovered from Norway Hotel
Three works by 20th century expressionist Edvard Munch, who created "The Scream," stolen at the Refnes Hotel in Moss, Norway late Sunday were recovered nearly 24 hours later.
The items were a 1915 watercolor called "Blue Dress" and two lithographs, valued to be several hundred thousand dollars.
A hotel worker reportedly had gone into the restaurant around 11 p.m. Sunday night and saw two people removing the pictures from a wall using crowbars. The alarm system surrounding the paintings had not been turned on since the hotel had not shut down for the night.
Police arrested several individuals but did not release any further information.
The upscale and exclusive Refnes hotel is located on the island of Jeloey, about 30 miles outside Oslo, where the artist lived and worked for three years during the early 1900s. The hotel has a 400-piece art collection, including four more works by Munch. The hotel itself is part of a historic estate built in 1767.
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