Radisson Sas Norge Hotel Bergen

My mum and i stayed here for a day until we board our cruise to start the fjords. it is a 5 star hotel with all the amenities.

everything was walking distance. the dance club, pubs, restaurants, shopping, museums and the dock is about 15mins walk.

there was free WIFI in the hotel which is always a PLUS for me.

our room is spacious. 2 twin beds, bathtub, shower, 2 sinks, and big TV.

the only negative were our room was it is was facing the main street where the pubs and clubs are. you can hear the music and people yelling and drunk. i am a heavy sleeper so i don't mind.

the breakfast in the morning was excellent. it was a mixture of a typical Norwegian breakfast and American breakfast. it was interesting eating herring in the morning.

i would recommend staying here. it's pricey but you like all the amenities, you would be feel comfortable here.

I stayed at Radisson SAS Hotel Norge in October 2007 in connection with a short business trip to Bergen. I booked the hotel in advance and paid 1215 Kroner (about 135€). When I arrived the check in was very fast and I was assigned to room 933 which was on the top floor and it was a business class room. I think that I got this as I have a gold card in the Eurobonus frequent flyer program.

I think the first impression of the room says a lot. When I walked into the door in my room my first feeling was indifferent. It was neither the most amazing hotel room that I have ever seen nor the worst I have ever seen. The first thing that caught my eye was the fact that there was a wooden floor in the room. In that respect I guess you get a “taste of Norway” as this is what you find in many Norwegians home. And I do like wooden floors compared to carpets.

The room itself had light wooden floor, light yellow painted walls and furniture in light wood. The main centrepiece is the furniture that holds a lot of functions: it is the stand for a nice 32” flat screen TV, a water boiler, ironing board etc. But the drawer with the iron was empty and I was told that I could go to the ironing room on the 7th floor which I think is a bit strange when considering that this was a business class room. The furniture also contained a small mini bar…well, it was actually more like a small vending machine for soda, beer etc. Behind the door saying “Safe” I just found an empty space.

Next to the centrepiece was a desk and chair. The Radisson SAS hotels offers free Wifi and this desk was a nice place to setup the PC and work a little. The desk also contained a Nespresso coffee making machine…I guess this was one of the perks in the business room. So once I got it to work I could enjoy a small cup of espresso :-)
The bed was OK but I do prefer a king size bed to two small beds. The wardrobe contains enough hangers, slippers and bathrobe.

The first impression of the bathroom was good…nice white tiles, a bath tub with the option of taking a shower standing up, a large mirror etc. But there are a couple of issues that I would like to address. One of the things that annoy me is the height of the shower head. I’m not very tall (about 5’9”) and I had to bend down a little to get my head under the shower head. The amenities included the usual…shower cap, shampoo, conditioner and lotion. The towels were OK but not as nice and fluffy as they could be. But the main issue was a faint smell of urine from the bathroom…it is not like it ruined my stay there in anyway…it was just something I noticed in the morning.

I didn’t have much of a view from the room as I was not facing out my in towards the courtyard in the hotel centre. I don’t have a habit of enjoying the view anyway so it didn’t really matter. But it was a bit annoying when they had a show in the courtyard at night which included guitar playing etc. Well, at least they finished of before 11 pm :-)

The location of the hotel is great. Once you step out of the door you are in Torgalmenningen in the middle of Bergen and it only takes 5-10 minutes to walk down to the harbour area.

The breakfast buffet was also very nice. As always there is more focus on cold food in the Norwegian breakfast but it was also possible to get egg, bacon, sausages etc. In addition to this they had lots of different bread with lots of option of spread, lots of cheese, cereal, fruit etc.

Conclusion
Radisson SAS hotel Norge is a pretty nice hotel in the middle of Bergen. The room was nice but as you understand from my review there were a few issues that the hotel should address. I was also a bit puzzled about the business class room. I think I got it due to my SAS Eurobonus gold card but I did not get free pay TV as listed as one of the perks and I did not get a free paper in the morning. Maybe they have “business room light”. Anyway, if you are staying just for a night or two in Bergen then you should consider stayed at Hotel Norge.

Sorry about the bad quality of the photos...they were taken with my cell phone.