Citybox Bergen — Hotel in Bergen

CityBox Bergen is one of the best hotels I have stayed in. It is very new, spacious, efficient and comfortable. It is functional but everything a budget traveller needs.

Location 6 mins walk from Bergen Main Train Station and 15 mins to the Habour houses. Very convenient.

Checking in and out I like the concept of self check in. When I encountered problems of keying in the pin for my credit card payment, a staff was readily beside us. He helped us to check in manually. We simply have to drop the key card in the box before leaving. No check out procedure is needed.

Lobby It is cosy, clean and spacious. There is cozy TV area with arm chairs and couch to relax in . There is no TV in the room but I think it is a wise idea. I rarely have the energy to watch TV by the time I returned to the hotel after my day activities.

Breakfast Breakfast in not provided but it is a great choice for travellers who want to save on hotel. There is no restaurant but guests can use the open concept kitchen beside the TV Area yo prepare breakfast or simple meals. There is kettle,microwave oven and refrigerator. Guests can get breakfast at KIWI, a supermarket across the street or Deli De Luca at Bergen Main Train Station. There are plentiful of Narvasen, a convenient store around. They sell breakfast such as a bun and a coffee set at NOK25 or a succulent hot dog roll at NOK25. That is enough to fill you up. I love the no breakfast concept at CityBox.

Room and Facilities I was given a room on the fifth floor. It has a quaint slanted pitch -roof ceiling which I like. The ceiling looks cute to me, it is like a home. The ceiling is high even though it is slanted. The room is new, spacious and modern. The bed has the right amount of firmness that I like. The beddings and blanket is warm, soft, smooth and comfortable. The temperature in the room and the toilet floor is just right, not too cold or warm. I had a very good sleep. The toilet is clean and spacious. Towels and liquid soap are provided but not toothbrush and toothpaste which I do not mind. For my room, there is a corner with two chairs and a small table for me to sit and relax. The lightings are well planned out with ceiling light, table lamps and bedside lamps. The switches are conveniently located.

Electrical Sockets One of the most impressive things is the 8 electrical sockets found all around the room. I am so impressed! My Son and I were able to charge our electronic devices at the same time. I wished that hair dryer is included in the room but I can borrow one from the reception office at the lobby.

Service & Hospitality Among the 4 hotels I had stayed in the Norway, CityBox Bergen is the fastest to send me the booking confirmation. They were very fast in replying to my enquiries. As for Comfort Hotel Børsparken Oslo, they have not replied to my enquiries till to-date. The efficiency of CityBox Bergen is a stark contrast to the poor in communication for Comfort Hotel Børsparken Oslo. From the tone of their email reply, they warmly allowed me to store my luggage with them so that I can go for the Norway in a Nutshell Tour before my check in time. When I reached CityBox at 7.30am, they even gave me one of my two rooms to store my luggage. I am delighted with their goodwill. Most hotels will let me have an early check in at 12pm. I did not ask CityBox for an early check in but they allow it without being asked. The staff is warm, efficient and helpful.

Going Out of the Way I feel CityBox Bergen runs their hotel with professionalism, passion and pride. They take pride in their hotel , in the area of serving and hospitality and aim for customer satisfaction. They did above and beyond what I have expected. The staff responded to on FB Messenger that they are planning to provide hair dryer in the rooms. With it, I will rate it 100% for customer satisfaction. The rating on Google Map should be at 4.8...

A 3 stars review for a 3 stars “hotel” and I’m quoting hotel because it barely passes as a hotel. Anyway, as many other reviewers have said, the location is the main advantage to City Box bergen. The hotel is located in a very convenient location, 10 minutes walk from the harbor, 10 minutes from Bryggen, and with Kiwi (convenience store) right in front of it. Rima (another store) as well as 7/11 just within 5 minutes walk. 4/5 stars for the location due to not having much else in the area. The staff seemed to be okay, their office is somewhere in the back but with a check in terminal, you would not really need staff’s help as much. Service and staff get 3 stars for the lack of “welcoming” feeling. Citybox Bergen has a locker to store your luggage (I wouldn’t recommend it), kitchen area equipped with coffee machine and vending machine, and chilling space with TV, couch, and books. Now, the room was my biggest let down during my stay. I have booked a double room and got a very small and claustrophobic 12sqm room with the bed raking the vast majority of it. It was a struggle to move around, have a proper place to sit, or open up my luggage. The room looked absolutely nothing like the pictures. The room had no amenities whatsoever. You get 2 plastic cups, 1 towel set, hand soap, a hairdryer, and god-knows-what in the shower to wash your hair. It was a locked up black container with no labels. It was 26c in Bergen and the thermostat in the room was merely a decorative unit. The lowest you could adjust was 22c, and did absolutely nothing. With a small room, defective cooling system, and a small back alley window, you better off staying by the sea… The bed was okay, too soft and offers no back support at all. So if you got back issues, I wouldn’t recommend it. The pillows were soft too and pillow covers had red stains, I hope it was just makeup or painting stain and not bl**d. The walls are extremely thin that you could hear the people in the corridors and when the phone rings in their rooms. My neighbors were loud and yelling till midnight which was frustrating especially when you’re already hot and uncomfortable. The “hotel” is built on providing the minimum to qualify as a hotel while cutting costs right and left such as the lack of reception, defective cooling, old and grey linty beddings, no room service, no breakfasts (you can get breakfast at a partner cafe), zero complementaries, and even the water faucet was restricted so you can’t have really hot/cold water. I know Norway is generally expensive but with 130€ a night, you don’t get much value for your money. The hotel is suitable for a young solo/couple light packers who just need a bed to sleep with zero expectations of comfort. If I come to Bergen again, I’ll look for a better place to stay and keep City Box as a later resort for the...

I would hope this review helps others so please take this in the spirit of kind assistance and not that of a grumbling traveller with unreasonable expectations…..||This hotel should be called Hot Box. I take full responsibility for incorrectly thinking they had air conditioning (some reviews said it did, a major website also claims this but alas on the hotel website there is no mention). It is purely coincidental that my bad luck extended so far to be in town on the hottest day of the year and I was assigned the top floor room. If you have been to the Caribbean think of a fine August day following a rain….that would adequately describe the temp in the room. The thermostat said 28C - it felt every degree and more. The same thermostat had a snowflake icon to select (which I later discovered did nothing……). ||My error 100% - what followed however could only be described as comical. The “onsite host” had no interest in helping the half-melted guests however we did eventually discover there are fans available (via chat, not from the host, this required another visit down to the lobby to actually retrieve the fan)!! You only have to make 3 trips to the front desk, ask politely and eventually one will be tossed at you. All joking aside - some of the crankiest service we’ve ever received. I’ve had to wake up teenagers before noon that were more friendly…..||So poor service aside, other feedback/tips would include:||This is a “self service” hotel - the self-check-in is easy and quick. Check out is super slick - insert card and viola - done!||The lobby is welcoming, decor modern and overall great appearance.||Self serve laundry available on the second floor.||The kitchen area appeared clean and tidy, the fridge where guests can store their groceries was not. That of course is a result of an entire hotel using 1 fridge- cool concept, tough to execute in a clean and tidy way.||Coffee to purchase in the lobby|Snacks & soda for purchase in the lobby (note there is a Kiwi grocery across the street) ||Only 1 towel per person is in the room, if you require more just ask the host (good luck to you) ;)||The bathroom is spacious and clean…or we thought until we found the garbage was not dumped from the prior guest.||Pillows were comfy and quite firm|The room was spacious, beds are a foam topper on a boxspring so pretty thin padding for those who prefer a more substantial bed. There was also hair on our fitted sheet……I just can’t…..review wraps up here…..||Overall - cool concept, fantastic location close to attractions, service provided by Graduates from the School of Cranky Hospitality. I give 2 stars because the heat isn’t their fault (although they do need to correct the AC amenity listed online). Also the decor and hotel is really neat. -3 stars because of the run-around and...