Oslo Hotel Apartments

Americans, beware: there is no air conditioning in the rooms and no early check-in. Even if you've arrived on an international flight and your room is ready, they'll make you wait until 3:00 pm or later before letting you in. The food is outrageously expensive, and the front desk wasn't very helpful with resolving issues. The room itself is nice if you open the windows to manage the temperature.

The staff were really nice and helpful, and the place was decent value for the money. Our room had a bedroom that could just fit three beds and nothing else, plus a living room/kitchen and a reasonably sized bathroom. It wasn't especially clean, and there were ants. Cleaning costs extra, though someone still came by daily to change the towels and take out the trash. It had some kitchen utensils, including a couple of pots, silverware, and bowls. I wish there'd been a hair dryer, a teapot, and more than one towel per person. The location wasn't ideal: two metro stops from Oslo S or a 30-minute walk, with not much nearby beyond a couple of cheap grocery stores and two bars that looked a bit shady. The neighborhood itself seemed a little sketchy, like much of the area east of Oslo S. For what we paid, though, we got our money's worth.

We found cockroaches in the room, and they charged us automatically for sheets and towels. The staff also couldn't answer basic questions about tourist sites. The main problem, though, was the so-called private room: a huge window opened straight onto the living room dining area, so guests in the other room could sit there and watch us sleep while they ate breakfast. A curtain would've helped. On top of that, they gave us a key to an apartment even though they knew the lock didn't work. We had to wind through a confusing maze of rooms, turn around, and ask someone to let us in. The one good thing is that, back at work, I could tell people about our "private" room with its huge window. The whole absurd situation made everyone laugh.

Close to shopping, food, and transport, and decent value if you just need somewhere to sleep. The room was okay and clean, but worn furniture and a faint smell of old cigarette smoke took away from its potential. The decor was spartan, with white walls throughout. The corridors looked like they'd been renovated in a hurry.