Quality Hotel Panorama

The lobby looks attractive, but the rest of the place didn't live up to that first impression. Our room was tiny, with a damaged floor that looked dirty. The so-called “panorama view” faced a parking lot and some kind of shopping centre. We could hear noise through the walls at night, and after two nights here, we were glad it was just somewhere to sleep. The showers were clean with good water pressure, and the hairdryers were decent. Maybe it works for business travellers who barely spend time in the room and sleep heavily, but I wouldn't recommend it for a holiday. We won't return or suggest it to friends travelling this way. The location wasn't appealing for visitors, with little to walk to. We arrived by train in the evening and found nowhere nearby to eat except McDonalds, which wasn't the start to a holiday we wanted. The bar went without anyone serving for a while. Maybe they were short staffed that night, but the whole experience felt underwhelming. Staff were friendly, though the service itself didn't feel very attentive. Perhaps that's a cultural difference, but it was a sharp contrast with other places we'd stayed. Breakfast also fell short of what online reviews led us to expect. The bacon wasn't fully cooked, the coffee machines stopped working, and the area was overcrowded. That was the opposite of our fabulous stay in Oslo. The showers, water pressure, and hairdryers were about the only room comforts that worked well. I'm glad this wasn't our first impression of Norway. For a place with “quality” in its name, it didn't deliver the quality I expected. Steve Jobs' insight came to mind: businesses that have to say “quality” are selling the idea, while in Japanese culture quality is treated as a basic expectation. This hotel didn't meet that standard. It might be fine for families making a quick overnight stop while travelling north or south, but it isn't a vacation hotel. I regret that we're here for two nights.

The Superior Double Room was nice, and the buffet breakfast was pretty good. I had asked for a room with a view but got a corner room looking at another building. A hotel this large should have parking.

The room was fine, but there was no fridge or phone to contact reception, among other things. The woman at the desk wasn't very friendly either. Breakfast ran only from 6 to 9, and the milk was already 10 days past its sell-by date. For a hotel charging this much, there was very little customer friendliness, and we wouldn't return. We arrived on Sunday and found out only after paying that the restaurant wasn't open to guests that day. That seems bizarre for such a large hotel, especially when smaller hotels do have Sunday service, and the booking information hadn't made it clear. You could get a drink at the bar, but a beer cost 140 NOK and came without foam. Coffee and tea in the coffee corner were free. While we were having drinks, we saw two employees come out of the kitchen with food apparently meant for the staff, and several guests were complaining. Very unfortunate.

The room was so cramped that once our luggage was on the floor, there was barely space to walk. We had a room for four, with one bed downstairs and another upstairs, but there was no rubbish bin on the ground floor and the room was very dark. I also found hairs on the bed and in the toilet, which was disgusting. The lobby looked nice and the staff smiled, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it.