When I was looking for hotels in Alta, I knew directly that I had to stay in the Altafjord Gjestegaard & Spa hotel. It had very good reviews on booking.com (I chose almost all my hotels on booking.com) and so I gave it a try. Before I go into detail I can assure you that I would definitely return to that hotel and I’ll also recommend it to all of you.

Hotel Altafjord Gjestegaard & Spa

Basically the Altafjord hotel is a rather small hotel compared to the Scandic hotels, but it can definitely keep up with all the other hotels. From the very first step into the hotel, I really felt at home, because of the whole atmosphere there. Even the reception is very cozy and friendly.

Something which I have to say is that the person who acceuilled us, I think it is the owner, was not that friendly as I would have expected it. I don’t know why, maybe because we are young or maybe because we didn’t speak Norwegian and she’s probably not so fluent in English. I had the impression that she was kinder to the older people who also spoke Norwegian. But I definitely could live with that and it would not prevent me from returning to this charming place.

The Room

Concerning the room, I just can say one word: cozy! This was simply the most comfortable room in which I’ve ever stayed! It simply gives you a real „at home“ feeling and not the typical hotel room atmosphere.

We booked a Double Room Superior with Sea View and I highly recommend it, even if it’s a little bit more expensive. We had a really comfortable and warm bed and I slept like a log.

Beside the comfortable bed, we had also two armchairs, which were exactly what we needed to continue with our University stuff. I really like it, when you have possibilities to take a seat in hotel rooms except for the bed.

But the most excited and cozy in the room was the artificial fireplace. When we were sitting there in our armchairs next to this electric chimney, you just felt like at home. At one moment, you completely forget that you are in an hotel. This was a real highlight for me.

Concerning the bathroom, I can only mention that it had floor heating, which I think that every bathroom should have. This was really practical, because we stayed there in winter, with about -19 °C outside.

Furthermore, as we chose the room with sea view, we had an amazing view over the whole Altafjord, which was really nice.

The Restaurant

The Altafjord Gjestegaard & Spa is not only an hotel, but also an amazing restaurant in Alta. A local told us that Norwegians don’t go often in a restaurant, they prefer cooking and eating at home. And so there are not so many restaurants there. This is the reason why the hotels are also restaurants open for everyone.

The whole atmosphere in the restaurant was again really cozy, because there was also an electric chimney with artificial fire. Everything was decorated in this wooden cabin style with reindeer skin, horn etc.

During our stay in the hotel, we ate several times at this restaurant and I have to admit that it was a dream! The food was so delicious that I would consider returning to Alta only for that food! We never had something which was not good, everything was so tasty.

We mostly took dishes with either fish or reindeer, and I can highly recommend such things up there in Northern Norway. So if you’re one time in Alta and not staying at this hotel, go at least one time to this restaurant! It is absolutely worth it.

The Spa

As the name of the hotel is Altafjord Gjestegaard & Spa, it is sure that they also have a spa area. They offered massages and also sauna. Concerning the sauna, we didn’t had the opportunity to try it, because you have to make a reservation in advance and when we arrived, everything was fully booked.

So we only had 2 massages for the back, neck and shoulders. This was really relaxing because it is really quite up there. The room of the massages is not in the hotel itself but outside in a wooden lodge next to the main building. When you were lying on the table you have the view over the Altafjord.

The Location

Even though the hotel is not located in the very city center, the location was perfect. It is just in front of the Altafjord, which gives you the feeling to be near the sea. There are almost no cars which have to drive by, so there is not much noise during the night and also not during the day. You can easily walk to the city center, which will take you about 10 minutes, but I think almost every one can manage this.

 

As a conclusion, I can strongly recommend this charming hotel and also restaurant whenever you are staying in Alta. We really enjoyed our time there and we would definitely return to this cozy place to stay.