Settling into Oslo - Norway - page 89

MODERATE
Comfort Hotel Gabelshus On a quiet, tree-lined street, this hotel
has been a guesthouse since 1912, but it was greatly expanded in 2004 when it
took over a building next door. Discreetly conservative, it looks like an English
manor house, laced with climbing ivy. The public rooms are filled with antiques,
art, burnished copper, and working fireplaces. Guest rooms are decorated with
tasteful colors and textiles, and some have terraces. You'll have a choice of Scan-
dinavian modern furniture or traditional styling. The accommodations are well
maintained and equipped with double-glazed windows and comfortable beds
with firm mattresses. Bathrooms are small but immaculate, with tub/shower
combinations. The location is a brisk 15-minute walk from the city center.
Gabels Gate 16, N-0272 Oslo 2. & 23-27-65-00. Fax [phone]. www.choicehotels.com. 114 units.
Fri-Sun year-round 995NOK ($141) double, rest of year 1,595NOK ($226) double; 1,895NOK ($269) suite.
Rates include breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V. Free parking. Tram: 10. Amenities: Breakfast room; lounge; sauna;
laundry service/dry cleaning; steam bath. In room: TV, minibar, hair dryer.
Rica Hotel Bygdøy Allé This intimate, charming hotel, the smallest
in the Rica chain, has the air of an artsy boutique hotel. Its designers shoehorned
it into the framework of a late-19th-century Flemish-revival brick structure in
Oslo's well-heeled West End. Each of the bedrooms is different in its layout, cor-
responding to the already-existing towers and gables of the older structure.
Room nos. 206, 214, 406, and 414 are among the most sought-after because of
their Victorian-era curved walls and bay windows. Other than that, the decor is
conservative and predictably upscale, and a bit bland, usually in tones of pale
blue. Each unit comes with a small bathroom with shower. There's no restaurant
on-site, but the hotel maintains a cooperative relationship with one of Oslo's
most vogue-ish restaurants, Magma (p. 105), which occupies most of its ground
floor, and whose outdoor tables (during the warm-weather months) flank its
front entrance. As such, clients of this hotel walk just a few steps for meals
(including breakfast) within one of the capital's most appealing restaurants.
Bygdøy Allé 53, N-0265 Oslo. & 23-08-58-00. Fax [phone]. www.rica.no. 57 units. Sun-Thurs
1,220NOK-1,595NOK ($173-$226) double; Fri-Sat 920NOK-1,195NOK ($131-$170) double. Rates include
breakfast. AE, DC, MC, V. Tram: 10. Bus: 30, 31, 32, or 33. Amenities: Direct access to the dining and drink-
ing facilities of the Magma; laundry service/dry cleaning. In room:TV, minibar, hair dryer.
HOLMENKOLLEN
EXPENSIVE
Holmenkollen Park Hotel Rica On a panoramic hillside crowning Oslo,
this hotel sits on forested land that's devoted to recreation, cross-country skiing,
and hiking. Come here for an escape from the commercial core of Oslo, but
know in advance that its location outside the center (it's a short walk from the
Holmenkollen ski jump, at the terminus of tram line no. 1) seems far removed
from the rest of the city and its attractions and diversions. The hotel was built
in 1894, rebuilt after a fire in 1904, reconstructed again in 1948 after a 4-year
occupation by the Nazis during World War II, and then massively enlarged with
four new wings in 1982, when it was taken over by the Rica hotel chain. Today
the oldest part of the hotel (a richly detailed log and timbered building designed
in the Viking revival “dragon” style) is used for check-ins and for convention
facilities; the remainder contains modern, comfortable rooms and all the facili-
ties you'd expect in a modern resort hotel. Bedrooms are cozy, with lots of
exposed wood, hints of chalet styling, and in many cases, walls punctuated with
historic photos from the lives of important Norwegians. The well-maintained

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