Norefjell Ski & Spa

We arrived on a Sunday around 5pm. Check in quick and we were in our room (executive suite) in around 10 mins from arriving. I will admit that the room could have done with a lick of paint and some TLC but the facilities in it and the overall functionality far outweighed any negatives. Full kitchen with everything you could want, washing machine and drying cabinet - brilliant so you don't have to take smelly ski stuff home and wash it before putting it all away. The bed super comfy, although some may find it too soft - it was perfect for us. The bath in the main bedroom was sublime, great views of the slopes! Food got off to a bumpy start when I said I was vegetarian - not common in that area I don't think. The first few nights they struggled a bit to come up with meals for me but the food just got better and better. The breakfast buffet was amongst the best we've had (and we travel a lot) and the evening meals all had fresh and very tasty ingredients. All staff in the hotel were friendly and welcoming and very apologetic about the vegetarian options at the start of the week. The ski slopes were fantastic, such a choice for different abilities. A special shout out to the staff in the Ski Stua - all lovely, and the food and drink was fabulous. We've been skiing in Austria the past few years but will definitely now come back to Norefjell and the spa hotel.

If you like peace and quiet , this is the place to go. Very remote. Just one big hotel and apartments. Travelled from Gatwick to Oslo then bus transfer to the hotel. We stayed in one of the apartments over Christmas. Next to the hotel and ski shop. We were half board and glad we did as no supermarket around, not ideal if you don't have a car, too far to walk too. No navette or many local taxis. But food at restaurants was really good lots of choices. I have never tasted smoked salmon so tender. 😋 Appartment was nice and cozy, you have everything you need. But we did not have the same service of the hotel guests, like no cleaning or changes of towels or rubbish picked up. I would say its more for the locals. The Spa - adults only- is really good, you have to order your slot early in advance as can be very busy, a small charge per person but worth it. You can enjoy the sunset in the infinity pool. The hotel swimming pool gets very busy after 3pm when the skiing stops. The ski shop is located in the basement of the hotel, the staff is really helpful. We travelled with Crystal Holidays who had organised everything. And it went very smoothly. The pistes are not too busy which is great you don't have to queue long to get on ski lifts. The only activities are skiing, alpine or cross country. And long walks. No luge or rackets, no excursions available. But the scenery is amazing, luckily we had lots of snow. Temperature not as cold as I expected. - 10 at most. We had some skiing lessons again as it was 5 years since our last trip but my husband and I were in a group with 3 kids who obviously were more confident, I feel we had all different level abilities, so there was not much teaching but more like tag along and keep up . Did not feel our instructor was very helpful . Unfortunately I hurt myself before I could try the cross country skiing which is very popular over there . People ski with their dogs So as already mentioned it is a remote location so make sure you take enough pain killers in case of injury as again no shop no pharmacy around and the A&E is 40 kms away!

Booked this for my partners birthday and I have to say never again! When we arrived had to wait 5 hours for a room which by the time we got in it had not been cleaned or stocked with towels or toilet roll, I went to complain and they upgraded us to another room which was appreciated, however since the days have gone on more and more has disappointed us. The hygiene of the place is just unacceptable, we thought the room when we arrived hadn't been cleaned but by the standards here it must of been our room hasn't been touched in 2 days! We have found someone else's dirty flip flops, leggings, old pizza boxes and an empty bottle of processco around the room! The tables are sticky and glasses have marks on when served. The spa's outside pool (main advert) was closed but still charge you for full use of facilities. The restaurant you have to book is a buffet with poor choice of food. You simply are stuck with the hotel due to location, so cannot explore alternatives for evening activities. The staff are nice enough and not their fault but managements! Too many guests to staff ratio they don't seem like they can cope with the amount of traffic that passes through this place. The slopes are nice but could do with more chair lifts. As you expect from a hotel the odd noise but this hotel is like a factory/school with ski boots and children's screaming constantly not much time for sleep or rest. No translation on most things such as menus and maps only Norwegian so google translate is definitely needed and sometimes gets it wrong thought we ordered a chicken pizza actually ham. Overall have to say I rarely review unless I am really shocked by the standards of a place and unfortunately this place has warranted time spent on holiday writing this so others do not make the same mistake I did by thinking they are booking a nice ski break.

Feeling the need to leave a review as some of the reviews on here simply do not represent our experience of this hotel. Some initial comments: Our room was clean comfortable and warm. Patio doors opened vertically if you need fresh air and radiators turn off if you’re too warm. It was very quiet and I’m a super light sleeper so I know haha. The staff throughout couldn’t have been friendlier, more professional. Without exception and for the whole week. The restaurant was good. If a menu is repeated you get the option to go to the Matbaren restaurant downstairs which is fab. We did this twice for a change. Chicken burger dirty fries and pizza were excellent and the staff so great. The pool area and saunas are free. They’re fine. They can get busy after the lifts close so pick your times. But they’re not dirty or dated at all. Quite the opposite. The skiing is fantastic. The slopes maintained really well and something for everyone. We had a thoroughly great week and commend all the staff for their hard work. Oh the ski hire place and lockers were great too. We went with ski solutions and as ever with this company the whole experience was excellent.

We had high expectations for our 2 nights in such a highly rated hotel, but their awards are badly out of date and we were disappointed. The whole place needs refurbishing and the staff need better training, communication and organisation. They need to stop charging for things like towels and the spa. The poor set up here first became very apparent when we checked in and found that our wardrobe contained a large locker with someone’s private things inside, meaning that there wasn’t enough storage space and definitely no hanging space. We asked for another room, which wouldn’t be available for an hour, and since we had just come in off the slopes, we decided to go to the swimming pool since we couldn’t have a much-wanted shower. The next surprise was that they charge 25 kroner rental for towels for the swimming pool… What’s more, while the swimming pool has two saunas, only one of them was actually working. In general, the swimming pool area looks well past its best and could do with some proper refurbishment. Once in our new room, we were quite disappointed by the furnishings. Two old, mismatched, stained, upright chairs in front of the TV, no sofa, and “art” that looked like a large tea towel that had been hammered to the wall. The lighting was terrible - spotlights making it dim and too bright at the same time. The room was dusty, the ventilation was poor - there was visible dust in the air. The room was far too warm and had no thermostat, resulting in extremely poor sleep both nights. We headed to the restaurant for the buffet dinner that we had booked a week beforehand. We had been confused when booking because it’s not normally open on a Sunday but we phoned up and were told we could definitely book … The restaurant was closed to private guests, due to a conference …. We kicked up a fuss at this stage, because we didn’t want to have two meals in the bar, and eventually the hostess let us join the buffet, which was admittedly delicious. Unfortunately, I have food allergies, and upon enquiring if an item was entirely dairy free or only lactose-free, a chef came and whipped the label away saying “oh no, that’s on the wrong thing”. I would say the one good thing about this hotel is the breakfast buffet, although I have strong doubts about the food labelling for those who have allergies. The next day, after skiing, we decided to go to the spa, which they charge for - I have never been to a spa hotel for which the spa was not included… Nevertheless, it was small but quite nice and we had a pleasant time, despite one pool being closed for maintenance and several flickering lightbulbs. Before dinner, we decided to have a quick drink in the lobby bar, because that is the bar that has a choice of spirits and I fancied a gin and tonic. My partner opted for a beer, but as they had no clean glasses, he had to choose between a bottle, or draft beer in a plastic glass - not acceptable when you are paying 100 Kr for a beer! We then headed down to the food bar for dinner. This has a choice of beers but limited spirits, so if your party has different taste in drinks, you will have to go to different bars! After a lengthy discussion with the waiter about my food intolerance and them having sold out of my first choice of dish on the menu, I ordered a burger (dairy free), which duly arrived slathered in cheese. All in all, I had the feeling that the staff were mostly trying their best here, but the organisation and management is absolutely dire. What’s more, the general maintenance (there were lightbulbs that needed changing everywhere) and quality of the furniture is well below expected standard for a hotel of this price. We will not be staying there again, even though we live only a couple of hours drive away. Looking at the other reviews, I can see that someone from the hotel is going to respond explaining why I am wrong and/or saying this is how they learn. However, they’ve been getting these bad reviews since before the pandemic and they are clearly not learning. What’s more, a hotel at this price point should not be learning from TripAdvisor reviews.