Bjørgo Gard - Stegastein

The views from Bjørgo Gard Chalet were overwhelming, and the peace made it feel like a real gem. We’d gladly return if the shower were cleaned and caulked properly and the guest cleaning instructions were written down. We travel a lot and haven’t encountered a place where guests are expected to clean without clear written expectations or supplies. The beauty and quiet kept this from losing another star. The chalet itself is spacious, with three bedrooms, two with double beds and one with bunk beds, plus a deck. The rooms with double beds are cramped, though. If you have mobility issues, you’ll have to crawl across your partner’s side to reach your own. It may be fine if you’re only sleeping and don’t get up much. Heat worked well through both floor and wall systems. There’s also a wood stove, which we didn’t use. The hosts met us at their home, led us up, and briefly explained the heating and other things. There’s a large sign on the main road pointing to their house. The kitchen had all the dishes and flatware we needed. The knife drawer is hidden above the silverware drawer, as shown in the photos. The shower clearly hadn’t had a deep clean for some time. There was mold, mildew and soap scum all around it, including the pink mold associated with infrequent cleaning. I’ve installed showers and tubs before, and part of the problem seemed to be that the installation wasn’t finished correctly. A careful clean and good silicone caulking inside and out would fix many issues. The guest cleaning setup isn’t working. I asked twice what we needed to do and what supplies were provided. The hosts said everything was there and to “leave it like you found it.” We left it cleaner than we found it. The kitchen, family room and bedrooms were clean, so we swept and vacuumed. The toilet and sink were clean, so we wiped them with cleaner and paper towels we bought, leaving the towels for the next guests. There was a used bar of soap in the shower when we arrived. It needed much heavier cleaning than a tourist could reasonably be expected to do, so we left it as we found it. My wife also threw out the expired food we found. As far as we could tell, we only had to sweep or vacuum, strip the linens and take out the trash. It left me wondering who, if anyone, does the deep cleaning. There’s no Wi-Fi, and replies from the hosts were inconsistent: sometimes instant, sometimes slow, sometimes none at all. Bed linens and towels cost 400 Norwegian Krona (About $44). We knew from the booking site’s fine print, but the hostess suggested buying what we needed. That would mean dragging it around Europe and figuring out how to wash it before and after. I also wondered how we’d handle wet towels. We could wash them at 4AM, but how would we dry them? Renting linens still means making and stripping the beds yourself, which isn’t fun after hours of driving or flying. It’s especially awkward at Bjørgo Gard because only two sides of the large beds are accessible. You’d better have a 4-wheel drive SUV to get up the hill. It’s VERY STEEP, dirt and gravel. Even our 4WD SUV, with BRAND NEW tires and less than 1000 miles on them, struggled with slippery mud at one of the turns.

The cabin is spacious and high on the mountain, with a great view, but nearly everything else about the stay disappointed us. We were expected to clean ourselves, and bed linen and bath towels cost extra. Those things are fine on their own. There was no hairdryer, and the Wi-Fi was down the night we stayed. After spending 10 minutes trying to find the connection, I asked the owner and was simply told it was broken, sorry. Since this hadn’t been mentioned beforehand, it felt like a hidden issue they hoped we wouldn’t discover. Taken together, the lack of upfront information made the stay a bad experience. If the owner wants to run this as a real business, making travelers feel at home with a little extra help probably wouldn’t cost much compared with the positive response it could bring.

The location is good, close to stegastein lookout, and the host’s daughter, who helped us, was very friendly. The first host was difficult to communicate with. The house smelled awful because the sanitary area wasn’t very clean and rotting food from other guests was still in the fridge. The TV didn’t work either.

We got a warm, personal welcome from very friendly hosts. The cabins are cozy and have everything you need. There’s a wonderful spot to have breakfast under the trees just outside your cabin, and amazing views only a few minutes away at stegastein. Just be careful on the street at night ^^