The Radisson Blu hotel at Oslo airport is perfectly located and offers very good service…except for a few delays in the restaurant.
Arriving in Oslo in the late afternoon and leaving the next day for Vietnam, I decided to sleep at the airport. In hindsight, I think I could have gone to the city, which is very well served by high-speed trains that leave every 10 minutes, but as I decided to stay 2 days to visit the city on my way back, I opted for the easy way out.
You’ll find a summary of the articles about this vacation in Vietnam at the bottom of the page.
Booking
I had originally planned to stay at the Moxy Oslo X, but Olivier had just stayed there and found it very, very inconveniently located, far from everything.
I set my sights on this Radisson Blu hotel, not really knowing what to expect apart from the fact that it’s within walking distance of the terminal and the only hotel of its kind. Even the Radisson Red is further away.
Having a few points left in my Radisson Rewards account, I decided to use them to pay for this night, which would otherwise have cost me around 200 euros.
Location of the hotel
As mentioned above, it’s very close to the terminal, i.e. right in front of it.
It is clearly indicated inside the terminal.
Then there’s just one street to cross.
The hotel looks fairly new and very large.
Arrival and check-in
A week before my arrival, I was offered a late-check out for 400 NOK (35 euros) by email…a bit stingy considering I have the second highest status at Radisson Rewards. My flight leaving in the afternoon I made the request…which was declined the very next day.
I’ll check in online 3 days before my arrival.
Leaving the airport, I cross the street and head for the hotel.
At first glance, the lobby is rather pretty.
Let’s head for the reception desk.
I was greeted very kindly, told I had been upgraded to a room with an airport view, and informed that I would receive a 10% discount at the hotel restaurant, provided I mentioned my status in the loyalty program.
I’m also given two bottles of water.
In no time I’m on my way to my room.
The room
Given the size of the hotel, the walk to my room is long, very long.
At last, I’ve arrived.
The room is a very decent size.
The decor is quite warm, mainly due to the intensive use of wood, which is commonplace in these regions.
Warm, but a little dark…
The bed is a good size and, miraculously, I’ll have a large comforter instead of the usual two half-duvets that are the norm in northern countries.
A nice touch is that there’s a real office.
A coffeemaker and kettle are at my disposal with tea and coffee and, for once, the minibar is not empty.
The bathroom is clean and bright, with a bathtub that doubles as a shower. Nothing exceptional, but I’ve seen more frugal things in this region.
As for the supposed “airport view”, it’s not that great, but certainly better than a view of a parking lot or the terminal elsewhere.
As this is an airport hotel, and a Radisson Blu hotel at that, and in Scandinavia, I’m quite satisfied with this room, as we can often get more basic and frugal services, to say the least. The bed was also very comfortable.
Bar and restaurant
The hotel has a bar and a restaurant.
The bar
In fact, it’s the restaurant’s antechamber. It’s big and the design is very pleasant.
I’ll have a beer and, as is often the case in these countries, they’ll put the credit card terminal under my nose before serving me, without even asking me if I want to put it on my room bill. This will be done at my request.
Nothing serious, but annoying.
Apart from that, the waiter will be very friendly.
The restaurant
Then I’ll go to the restaurant. At reception I’m told it’s full, so all I have to do is go and get another beer, and they’ll come and get me when there’s a space available, which they do less than half an hour later.
The room is quite pretty.
But because of the crowds I’ll be in an adjoining room, which won’t be unpleasant either.
The menu is quite interesting.
For starters, I’ll have the halibut with dill, served with marinated mustard seeds, sour cream and sausage.
Beautiful presentation for a dish that will prove fresh and full of flavor.
For my main course, I’ll have the burger that will be served to me…40 minutes after I’ve finished my appetizer.
The fries will be served, as you can see, upside down, with no apology from the waiter and no effort to make things more presentable.
Nothing to say, it’ll be good but it’s only a burger. The fries, however, will be barely warm.
It’s another 30 minutes before I’m offered dessert, which I make the mistake of ordering. It will be the chocolate fondant.
Another 20 minutes of waiting before it arrives at my table.
Nice presentation. The dessert will be decent, but it will be hard to convince me that it’s not industrial.
In the end, a good meal but a really catastrophic wait. I wouldn’t blame the staff, who ran as much as they could but were simply outnumbered.
The hotel knows its occupancy rate, knows that its clientele is captive and is therefore responsible for the lack of staff, which is the sole cause of the wait.
Facilities
The hotel has a gym.
It’s located in the basement, and not so easy to find: you have to go down to the ground floor, cross the lobby and then find a small door behind which hides a staircase leading to the room.
However, this was an excellent surprise.
Although in the basement, the room is very bright with a view of the outside. What’s more, it’s very large and well-equipped.
Very pleasantly surprised by this gym…
The service
Overall very good from a relational point of view but the slowness of the service in the restaurant was really annoying.
Check-out
I’ll drop my key in the express check-out box and leave without returning to reception.
I wouldn’t blame them for refusing late check-out: given the hotel’s occupancy rate and the lack of competition around it, I doubt it would have been possible in terms of room availability.
Bottom line
A solid performance for an airport hotel, especially since it’s perfectly located.
The articles about this vacation in Vietnam
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