Håholmen Havstuer — Hotel in Averøy

We were met by the boat from Håholmen on time. The driver was welcoming and seemed genuinely friendly. It took a few minutes only in the power boat to the skerry/islet. Upon arrival we were welcomed by reception. Efficient check in and also a friendly greeting.||||The 'room' was a wood cabin. The view from our room on one side, was completely blocked in and in shadow from the high stone embankment and no view was possible - the other, any view of the sea was almost completely obscured by other cabins. Cabin itself was 'basic' but clean . No TV in the room - I can understand this probably doesn't fit in with the intended experience by the management but there was not a great deal to do here and watching TV might have given a modicum of relief from the ennui. If you are not lucky with the weather here, it can be very depressing.||||Dinner was pre-booked by the hotel - you have to cancel it if you don't want to eat in their restaurant. Since eating in their restaurant is the only option if you don't want the hassle of travelling to the mainland you have just come from, we decided to try it. This is where service fell way below what I expected. The staff were friendly enough but they didn't know what they were doing. First, I wasn't happy with the choice of meal ; it was either klipfisk or salad. That was the choice. If you had the salad the main ingredient wasn't available. Also, the choice of dessert was a grand total of one choice and this was a sweet accopmanied by ice cream except they didn't have any ice cream. The fish meal took one hour and fifteen minutes to arrive (there were very few people in the restaurant) and when it did arrive it was nothing special - tastless, meagre fish portion with style over substance its main attribute. I enquired why it had taken so long and the waiter said there had been a ' few problems'. I am not a big eater but I was left still feeling hungry. The worst of it was you couldn't even order a burger or anything else not even chips - it was the set menu of a sald or fish and that was it. There was no atmosphere in the restaurant as the place was almost empty. I would advise against eating here.||||I went to the pub the second night to get a nightcap at 15 minutes before closing . I asked the barman from Czech Republic for a beer. He refused saying he was shut. I said 'you are open until eleven, aren't you?' and he said 'yes' . Then he explained that he had cashed up the till. No offer to put a drink on my room , nothing. The main thing that upset me was the barman was so proud that he had cashed up early and din't seem to realise that if you say you are open until eleven that doesn't mean you shut it fifteen minutes early.||||One more thing, I asked for a second key so we could have one each. The second key didn't work .||||In conclusion, this was a regrettable experience. Terrible, slow, unprofessional service in the restaurant and bar with a terrible service offering. To make matters worse the restaurant prices were astronomic. Paying for haute cuisine and getting cafe food is not one of my favourite things to do in life. The barman was more interested watching Youtube on his 'phone than serving drinks. ||||All in all , I cannot recommend this place. This falls way beneath the standards I usually experience from Classic...

Håholmen Havstuer presented itself in fantastic quiet weather and after parking the car in the big spacious car park we waited to be picked up by "the boat" which was this elegant Viking ship "hvitserk". An excellent start and arrival to Håholmen only 10 minutes across calm and sheltered waters. Håholmen offers a complete mini community changed into a hotel. We slept in the barn in the "pigshouse" and our friends had the horses stables. Old buildings, but nicely and freshly decorated inside. Very good balance with excellent sleeping comfort. Steep staircase to the bathroom, but is gave a distinct and historic character. Very well done. Outside the island itself is very well maintained and anywhere you go you feel they care about how it looks. Neat and tidy, very accessible and magnificent view out towards the "big sea" with the small islands. Everything here was nice and of course weather dependent. We sat in the sun at 9 p.m. watching the "flat sea" and seeing the kids in a boat bathing and 4 kayaks sliding by. A truly wonderful evening. We had a dinner reservation at Ytterbrygga restaurant and had a delicious high class meal with naturally fresh fish as main course. in the late evening we shared drinks in the Silver Bell bar, a real sailor's bar. Breakfast next day was also very well assorted at Ytterbrygga. Then the weather had changed to quite windy, but the ride back to the mainland is so sheltered it did not influence the boat trip at all. No Viking ship though in such weather. This is an attraction, truly historical, no tourist trap. Highly recommendable for a different adventure in a...

Fantastic location. My July 4th 1 night visit included thunder, lightening, heavy rainfall. For 20 minutes. Sunshine, stillness peace and birdsong (Oyster Catchers, gulls +). For many hours! Watching the herons, ducks and flock of small birds swooping (Duns?) was a real joy. I could cloud watch for hours too, rainbows, mountain tops obscured by black clouds or danced around by white cloud.

There is one restaurant on the island, dinner was a set meal. It was delicious.

I learned about Ragnar Thorseth - adventurer, author and owner of the island hotel. People we're kayaking, the water was so clear - I wanted to swim, but it was near to ice cold when I put my foot in it.

Free parking and boat transfer included in the stay cost.

My room/cabin was small, modern, clean with a wonderful power shower, plenty of sockets, and WiFi (island-wide). When I first opened the door it was like stepping into a sauna. No air conditioning. I opened the windows. No Mosquito's

NO MOSQUITOS!!!!!!

and slept with the window open all night - a real luxury, in NYC (my current home town) I have to keep the windows closed to keep the cool air in.

The staff were doing thier job. It must be so tough being in the tourist trade now. They weren't obsequious (thank heavens) or invisible... .. or really remarkable in any way.

I'll definitely come back when my US holiday ration and bank account allow it. Maybe bring a sketch book for the views, or a better camera and a good book Incase it...