Room with a View: Clarion Hotel, Oslo
An altogether different experience from Stavanger. We arrived via a chilled train journey (even with an hour’s delay) from Stavanger to a bustling capital city. There are 2 Clarion Hotels in the city, both bang in the middle of it.
This time, we forgot to check our request for a bathtub had been honoured and we went all the way to our room before finding out there was a large shower taking the space of a bathtub.
We trekked back down and were told we could change rooms for the final 2 nights but none were available for the Saturday.
So, it was pointless to unpack everything as we were destined to live out of our suitcase for 24 hours, we headed straight out to embrace what was left of the beautiful sunny day to get a feel for the city. I’d only previously visited Oslo airport.
The Clarion is of a similar style to the Scandic. It is meant to be more luxurious, but that depends on your version of luxury.
Location-wise, it’s ace. For me though, luxury is a coffee machine/kettle in the room, bath mat, slippers, bathrobe, body lotion/hand cream and a shower cap if you insist on me having a shower. None of these are supplied. Luckily I travel with all of them, except the bathrobe.
Our first room (a red one) had a sofa at the end of the bed. It may look luxurious but there was no room to get around.
The second room, (a purple one) for our final 2 nights, had 2 armchairs by the window instead and felt roomier and lighter.
One bed & 2 duvets
2 armchairs plus a footstool/seat
Coffee table
Desk and further comfy chair
Storage
An open wardrobe again with a handful of wooden hangers
3 hooks situated perfectly by the front door which we used fully
No shelves or drawers (the first room had 3 random cube shelves by the front door but this had none.
Bathroom
Sink that had a hook beside it for a hand towel. This is where I learnt the practice of having hooks at both ends of the towel, something I immediately replicated on the new set of towels I’d happened to buy ready for use upon our return. (A little treat to look forward to)
Limited space around the sink so there is a stool/table to place things. Or they could have just had a bigger sink with some storage space.
Large bathtub with an overhead shower
Towel shelf with 2 bath towels and 2 hand towels. Again, no bath mat.
Tissue box
Hairdryer
2 glasses
Full-sized Rituals shower gel and hand gel attached to the wall
Separate toilet with a further hand towel
Refreshments
Fantastic self-service buffet with a full range of hot and cold foods and drinks. There’s a barista if you prefer espresso-based drinks although we generally only have those when we are out all day.
As there was no way of making hot drinks in the room, I fully appreciated the complimentary hot drinks machine in the lobby. At least 2 hot chocolates every night were enjoyed.
A good buffet dinner is included which was a deal-maker for us. More on this later.
Amenities
TV on wall
Fridge
USB points and sockets are hidden away above the desk
Good lighting including above bed, over desk and the sofa
There is no mirror in the room. I generally prefer this, however, as the only mirrors are in the bathroom, there is nowhere to plug in hair gadgets.
One of the two lifts was out of service for the entire busy weekend which slowed things down somewhat
Other than the location, comfortable room and hot chocolate on tap, the best thing about this hotel was the included dinner. To have breakfast and dinner included in one of the priciest countries in the world made a huge difference to our stay. It saved us pouring over reviews and guides looking for main courses under £20, which is tricky even at a fast food burger or pizza place (yes really). The buffet dinner is available on the 7th floor (we were handily on the 6th for both rooms) and is different every day. Salads and soup along with something hot ie fish, chicken or sausages were the norm. If there wasn’t anything we liked, we can could always top up with some fast food as we headed out for the evening which was much more palatable, in more ways than one, when we’d been fairly adequately fed.
Water is on tap although you could pay for extras such as alcohol, hot drinks or dessert. If you were clever, you could grab that in the form of cake during the afternoon Fika. However, we are generally out at that time so only managed a cake grab on one of the days.
Overall, a good stay when the plusses made up for any minuses.
August 2024
