Radisson Blu Resort Trysil

We were happy with the breakfast and dinner buffet on our half-board stay, with plenty to eat. The rooms were spacious and had everything we needed, including tea and coffee facilities, which I hadn't had on a ski holiday for years. The hotel is also very popular with families. Its position right on the slopes made it a perfect ski-in, ski-out spot. My main complaint was the cost of alcohol: £44 for a bottle of wine that costs £7/8 is steep, to say the least.

We enjoyed our stay enough to rebook for next year before we left. The staff were friendly, with Robin especially helpful on kabh occasions. The hotel is smart and well run, with several restaurants and amenities. We only ate at two restaurants because we rented a private apartment and wanted to cook most meals; food and drink in Norway are quite expensive compared with the UK, and that also left us more to spend on the hotel and ski lessons for the kids. The restaurants we tried were delicious. The nearby supermarket, ski rental, and happy faces (local pub) were convenient. Kids liked the bowling and swimming pool, and the spa was a good option for adults if we could get away from the monsters. Trysil worked well for our mixed-level sulking trip, with lots of slopes and plenty of blue and green runs mixed in. The hotel gives ski-in, ski-out access, but it's near the bottom of the slopes, so getting the kids to lessons took some planning. Hauling them uphill for the first few days was sweaty and no fun. Once lessons started at 9, we skied down and used the lifts to get back up; the instructors usually wait. Our one real complaint was the soft play. Compared with other Radissons we've stayed at, this one was just a small room with a beanbag or two, suitable for 1-2 year olds for about half an hour at most. Radisson blu Geilo had a much bigger proper soft play beside the bar, where kids aged 3-14 could stay entertained for hours while adults 'relax'. Even so, the stay was a joy.

We had a lovely time at Radisson Blu Trysil and would come back. It's a very convenient, child-friendly choice for a family ski trip. The ski rental/shop inside and the bus stop right out front made getting around easy. The family room was practical and spacious enough for all our ski gear, helmets, and winter clothes. Getting to the slopes is straightforward if you take the T-bar beside the hotel. Otherwise, it's about a 5 minute walk to the main lifts. The hotel restaurants were good and service was quick and efficient. The kids enjoyed the pool and indoor surfing area, though both are quite small and tend to get crowded, especially at busy times. Some areas had a strong food smell, which was noticeable. Everything else was comfortable, and the location is fantastic.

The ski-in, ski-out setup was easy to use, with a ski locker and room card, and the location was great. We liked having a skiwear shop, places to sit with free chilled water, tea and coffee, table tennis (the kids loved it, though two tables aren't enough), travel fusball, a stage, and a good-sized pool with lots of floats. The jacuzzi was broken at the time. There's also a sauna with a drinks bar, including slushies, really nice changing rooms, a bookable surfing pool, and a spa that looked lovely, though I didn't try it. Bowling is fun, but you need to book and wear the shoes; it lasts 55 minutes, not an hour, which is useful to know if you're close to finishing a game. They had lots of paper maps too. We got really great service from the staff. The steak restaurant served really, really nice food, and we ordered the extra veggie 'sides'. The kids' steak meal was three pieces about 5-6cm wide, okay for under 12s but not enough for older children. The pizza looked great but wasn't amazing. Breakfast was okay, though disappointing compared with other hotels, even the Raddison in Oslo, and could do with a bit of reworking. There are no waffles for sale in the hotel, but there are some at the bottom of the green slope. For a room shared by two adults and two kids, the sofa bed was very snug and uncomfortable, even by sofa-bed standards. I had asked for no feathers, but there were some in the room, so I had to move the bedding around myself to sleep on the sofa bed. No one came to remove them. There is no ski instructor company or independent instructor at Trysil apart from Skistar. We hired an instructor for a couple of sessions, but there wasn't much availability to choose from when we looked a month before our trip, so book well ahead.