Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel, Oslo — Hotel in Oslo

This hotel is a great choice as a base for a visit to Oslo. It is located within easy walking distance of most of the city attractions. Public transportation options are also quite accessible for things that are a little farther afield.

Getting to the hotel from the airport was rather easy. The train line from the airport ran directly to the Nationaltheatret station after passing through Central Station. From there, it was a reasonably easy 8-minute walk.

The hotel itself was not necessarily what I would call elegant, but it was quite nice nonetheless. The lobby was spacious, warm and welcoming with an interesting fire place structure in the middle. There was a convenience store entrance off the Lobby for good measure. The service at the front desk was polite and efficient. Our check-in and check-out experiences were trouble-free and the time or two that we had questions involved very pleasant interactions with prompt answers.

Our room was on the 9th floor affording an urban view that we appreciated. I was a little afraid of the size when I booked. Our only experiences to date with Scandinavian hotels in Sweden and Denmark were cramped rooms for very high prices. But we were pleasantly relieved with the discovery that our room was more comparable to American-sized rooms than Northern European rooms. We had plenty of space to feel relaxed. The decor was pleasant and the room was in good shape. The wi-fi signal was strong and did not fail us at any point during our 5-night stay. The bathroom was clean with all fixtures working as expected. The room was equipped with a refrigerator which allowed us to keep leftovers, minimizing our food costs. The coffee provided was instant, but with the fast water heater that was viable for a late-evening hot beverage.

The hallways were neat and well-kept. We did not take advantage of the pool, but we noticed that other patrons clearly enjoyed that amenity. One of the notable things was the restaurant. I highly recommend booking a room rate that includes breakfast. The restaurant itself had quite a large seating capacity, so even at its busiest we could still find seating. The buffet was fabulous, rivaling many that I've seen in Asia. The hot selections were plentiful with eggs, potatoes, meats, pancakes and more. The bread selection was quite good and the yogurts, fruit, cheeses and greens were all you would want. The local specialty brown cheese was worth trying and became a favorite. The coffee was good as well.

The cost was well worth what we received. It helped immensely that we visited in February allowing for us to take advantage of off-season pricing. But this still worked well for us because the weather was not overly cold and most attractions were still open. Our pre-paid rate with breakfast was around $656 USD including taxes for five nights. At about $131 per night, you really can't beat the value. The fact that we could walk or easily ride everywhere we needed to go made this hotel the perfect choice as an anchor point for our visit to the wonderful...

Don't book the President Suite

We are a "normal" family with 2 small children who wanted to have a great weekend in Oslo.

As a surprise for my wife's birthday, I booked what was probably the most expensive room in the hotel, the so-called "President Suite".

I didn't have excessive expectations, but assumed that we would get a great, large room that deserved the name.

When we arrived, we were extremely surprised at what this was. The size of 120 square meters is of course brilliant, but in my opinion the condition of the room is unacceptable for this price and for the room to be called a "President Suite".

For your information, we would have had to pay over 11,300 NOK per night. A proud sum for which you can expect something.

We reported most of the following defects to reception on the evening of our arrival:

Blurry windows that severely impair the view over Oslo A broken granite table in the living room, a second granite table completely dirty Cheap veneer on the doors, which is coming off in many places Dirt on the floor in the entrance area of ​​the room A completely filthy honey pot for making tea. There was hardly any honey left in the pot (so we received the leftovers from previous guests), but the lid and the container on the outside were completely smeared with honey and stuck together A large damage to the parquet floor where the wall bed folds out. The wall bed looks like it will soon fall apart. Quality has fallen by the wayside here. A sideboard whose veneer on the top is already showing several bubbles Due to a dead battery, the air conditioning could not be operated, communication failed In the second bathroom, a previous guest's beard hairs were still stuck to the shower walls (at least I hope that these were beard hairs.....). The best before date of the sweets had already expired on several containers.

When the receptionist asked me what I would expect, I just said "Either a significant discount or something else, they should be creative and think of something themselves."

The result of this was a plate full of freshly cut fruit wrapped in foil. We appreciated this and the quality was very good, but sorry, this is nothing that relates to above written damages and conditions of a 11,300 NOK priced room per night.

When we left, we actually had to pay the full price. I asked very clearly for a drastic discount. Unfortunately, the hotel only granted a 15% discount after several rounds of negotiations, mainly because I had various photos and probably because other guests had also heard this discussion.

I'll be honest and say that this was not enough for me for the shabby condition of the room. My demand was 20%, but that was not granted.

I thank you for the 15%, but as announced, I am now posting my review including photos publicly.

It is simply a disgrace to call such an old and run-down room a "President Suite" and then charge such a high price for it.

Don't book the...

So Radisson, the big chain, cancelled my original booking in their other Radisson hotel in the city. Through booking.com which was my booking site I was told I could book Radisson scandinavia and retain same price as my somewhat less expensive booking in the hotel that had cancelled my stay..Booking.com did not assist in any way with helping or correcting price when I redid a booking in Radisson Hotel scandinavia. After several emails messages to them with an extremely poor service to help me, I finally, after several messages to both Radisson and Booking.com I managed to find a person who stated that I was entitled, to what had been offered... But no confirmation and change of price was ever offered or emailed me. I reiterated the price difference when checking in, but they had no knowledge of it and did not acknowledge anything. This made me rather annoyed since it had been messaged them and approved to me, but never actually forwarded, as it should have been to Radisson hotel scandinavia despite they had also been informed directly by me. A total neglect by both the Radisson hotel and Booking.com. I hoped that by check out time, on my day of departure, they would have taken care of the issue presented to them numerous times during the 3 months before!???!!! But NO! They went ahead and charged my card the full amount without EVEN presenting me with the bill first ...as is customary throughout the world!. Letting the customer know and be able to check and approve the bill is of course an essential part of any transaction but in Radisson hotel scandinavia; NO........... they didn't care about such trifles.... Radisson management, I hope someone of you is reading this. I wouldn't care to stay in your places anymore with such practices in place not to mention the hours I spent contacting you and Booking.com.. You're both a total travesty with your customerservice!. The room I was offered as replacement in Radisson hotel scandinavia was smaller it was way far from the venue attended and caused me a lot of extra expenses and inconvenience. I tried to help myself to a cup of coffee in the room but found a cup not having been washed full of black residue! Soap dispensers was full old old foul smelling liquidsoap probably just topped up now and then leaving old soap to become foul tasting and rancid. A total cock-up from one end to the other .... Wow(!)and welcome to traveling in the world...