Reception staff were very welcoming and helpful, and happy to see us, noting that it was very quiet and only a handful of rooms were occupied in the first few days of our stay. The room on the 3rd floor was spacious and very pleasant. Two comfortable chairs to relax in, good work table, plenty of room for storage, and a very comfortable king bed, with soft pillows. The large windows offered a great view of the Vestlia ski area and the southern mountains beyond. But you will hear baby elephants (kids and adults alike) moving around in the floors above and below, and in the corridors - it’s family-friendly, so you have to expect this in holiday periods. Between-floor and between-room insulation is not great. Pretend that you’re staying in a youth hostel and you’ll be fine. It does generally go quiet after about 11pm, and remains so until baby elephant waking time. Bedside tables and individual light fittings (with power outlets) excellent. Wifi reliable and fast, TV adequate. General lighting per any Norwegian hotel - i.e. a little on the dark side. Nonetheless, a table lamp and a lamp stand adds just enough brightness. A full-length mirror on one of the cupboards can be pivoted for viewing. The bathroom was a generous size, clean, and modern, with good lighting, and excellent water pressure and heat in the shower, and even a plug for the sink (rare in our travels!), but no shampoo. The bathroom floor was not heated, surprisingly for Norway. The oddest thing was the non-usable hair dryer. Perhaps one day an electrician will wire it up so it can be used! No in-room safe, tea or coffee facilities - so it’s a walk down the steps to the dining area to discover the hot water urn and tea bags, instant coffee, and creamer sachets. Or pay for a hot chocolate. Or buy a drink at the bar. The door keys are the credit card variety, with the room number printed on the card (but no hotel information, so no issue about security if mislaid). Elsewhere in the hotel, plenty of public areas to relax in, a good sized ski storage area adjacent to the entrance, and a generally warm and cozy feel added to the more traditional mountain lodge style of family-run hotel. It’s not your average chain hotel. Food and dining was a very mixed bag. The included breakfast was surprisingly thin pickings. Good for regular Norwegian light breakfasts perhaps, but a poor choice of breads which were not always freshly baked. No croissants or other varieties of baked goods made it seem rather sparse in offerings. A lot of the platters looked tired: they appear to have been set out for a number of days. The cooked breakfast was nothing to write home about - no bacon on its own must upset a lot of Norwegians! Other hotels we’ve stayed in have offered fresher food and greater variety: smoothies, porridge, chocolate croissants, more cooked options. The service was a little haphazard, too: food not replenished without asking, plates and cutlery being removed too quickly, and no in
86 Ulasan