When we booked our holiday to a cabin Norway I made a fundamental error and miscalculated the time it would take to get from Oslo Gardemeon airport to the fjord area of Norway. With a distance of 293km (182 miles) I thought that we could easily cover the distance in under 3 hours. The route given to me by Multimap three days before we departed gave me a shock as it quoted over 5 hours. As we were landing at 6.30pm I did a quick mental calculation and realised I could be knocking on the cabin owners door the wrong side of midnight, that is if I ever found it in the dark! The solution was a one night stay in a hotel near to the airport. Expedia came up with the goods on this hotel with a cost of £92.37 (1,150 NOK, that is Norwegian Krone) for the one night stay. This wooden clad chalet style hotel was not only the cheapest it was also very close to the airport.
~Getting there~ From Oslo Gardemeon airport it was a very short drive, however I did need to stop and ask for directions as I went the wrong way at the first turn. So it was at the third roundabout from the airport on the route 135 that we found the hotel tucked away behind a screen of trees. All anyone needs to do to find this hotel is ignore the signs to Oslo and head north-west on the route 135 going straight on at two roundabouts, then turning right at the third roundabout. It is sign posted but you may miss the sign as it is quite small. There is a large car park for you to deposit your car with plenty of spaces and a short walk to the hotel. There is a fee to pay for non-hotel guests, however you will need a to get a little slip of paper from the receptionist to put on the windscreen of your car for free parking.
No car? The alternative is a shuttle bus that runs from the airport to the hotel. We never knew about it initially, however the bus that kept appearing under our window at irregular intervals from 7am to about 11pm gave us a clue. The real give away was the destination sign lit up with 'Gardemeon airport' and the words 'Shuttle' stamped down the side. So all in all there is very good access to the airport for this hotel.
~Reception~ This was our second introduction to the Norwegian hospitality, however it was much better and more friendly than the muted border guards. English was spoken perfectly by all the assistants behind the desk and our check in was smooth, quick and completed without a hitch. For exchange of my Expedia reservation number we were given a card key and some basic information on the restaurant and breakfast times. So with a smile on our faces we made our way to the room.
~The room~ We had a room on the top floor right over the entrance, it had twin beds was small and was restricted further by the slope of the roof around the window. Look at the picture Ciao have supplied and that was our room right above the point of the entrance porch. At first I was slightly disappointed but then I remembered that I had paid less than was advertised on the Clairon group's website. I cannot remember exactly how much less it was, but we were clearly staying in the rooms for cheapskates who don't want to pay full price. This was okay for the one night stay, but I would have been annoyed if this was my stay for anything longer than the single night.
The twin beds were comfortable enough for what we wanted and the few channels that we could pick up on the TV in the room were okay if you could speak Norse. The bathroom was a little on the worn side, but it was clean with the loo, sink and bath with shower curtain all in good working order, so we had no complaints here. There was a wardrobe near the door which Mrs Cad insisted on using to its full capacity despite the short stay and a folding suitcase rack which I used to dump my unopened case.
The only downside of the room was the size and the slope of the roof which prevented anyone above four foot tall from walking around one side of the bed nearest the window. Indeed so low was the roof that I believe if an adult over six foot tall had slept in that bed they may have hit their head if they ever woken up and sat bolt upright!
Another little niggle was the temperature of the room which was a little hot and required the windows to be opened all night. As these had no locking mechanism other than a simple hook and eyelet they could move about in the wind. It was an okay arrangement until someone decided to put on a bit of RnB at full volume in the early hours of the morning. I despise RnB and Mrs Cad is no fan it either, so she rang the reception. A short while later and the night porter had the situation under control only for the first plane taking off from the airport to wake us up a few hours later. Mrs Cad goaded me to phone the airport, but I refused to get too upset about that bit of noise pollution.
~Swimming Pool~ Not a swimming pool so to speak more a spacious, complex and neat arrangement of pools of various depths and they had a flume. Located alongside the reception it was with some relief that we jumped into the pool after our arrival and had a little swim around. There were no changing rooms available as these were cordoned off, but the Norwegian tradition of walking around the hotel in your Speedo's was one we copied with relish. The larger lane pool was linked to a separate smaller pool and the flume was not working, so we had a little swim in the lane pool, before moving on to the warmer hot-tub and learner pool. We didn't spend ages in the pool and it wasn't completely packed, but after a long flight it was very nice to slip into the pool and relax. There also seemed to be no problem when we left the pool dripping wet, wrapped in towels and walked back to our room.
~Restaurant Raumarike~ The restaurant is located to the left of the reception down a corridor and then left again. Here we had an evening buffet meal for 225 NOK each with drinks as an extra. At the time we felt that it was average value, but in the weeks to come we realised it was actually good value at around £18 a head. This as we later discovered in the fjord part of Norway this is very cheap.
For the buffet there was a choice of hot food such as vegetables, chips, potato Dauphines, spicy stews, roast chicken and spaghetti carbonara. On the cold side of things there were meats, salads and fish to choose from. I cannot remember exactly what I had but I do recall that I had a large mix of various foods and there was nothing there that I did not like. Mrs Cad also had a good selection of foods and this was more important for her as she was avoiding certain foods at the time. With this in mind she was able to pick and choose exactly what foods she wanted.
In the morning we had the breakfast that was part of the room deal and again we were presented with a buffet fare. There were plenty of cereals available, fruit, salads, as well as hot items such as eggs, Frankfurt style sausages and bacon. For drinks there were a selection of juices as well as teas and coffees, the only thing to note here was Mrs Cad said that the tea was rubbish. This was sorted by the helpful waiter who managed to get some of her favourite Assam teabags and made her very happy.
~Check out~ Departing the hotel was as easy as getting in as we handed back the card key and left. We were offered a ticket for the shuttle bus to the airport so this is worth noting if you want to use this service. Again service at the desk was impeccable and flawless.
~Conclusion~ This hotel is great for one thing and one thing only and that is if you need to a room to stay for an early morning flight or a stop of point after a late flight. In all other respects this hotel has little use as it is so far away from Oslo itself requiring a 30 to 40 minute car drive and has no other amenities nearby. That said the hotel is well catered for with clean and tidy rooms, a good breakfast room/restaurant and a good swimming pool. Access to the hotel is good requiring no steps to the reception and the lifts to all levels are fast and efficient. The only gripe I had is that our room was a little on the small side and the first plane in the morning will wake you up.
buzzard_cad (c)2006
This review may be found at other review site under the same username and is written by me.
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