Gaustablikk Fjellresort Customer Reviews

Gaustablikk is very stylish hotel with great gourmet food and an amazing breakfast. We were two families with teenagers who enjoyed the pool and sauna along with pingpong and shuffle board in the evening. Rooms are small, the standard ones are a squash and a squeeze for 3 if your kids are together. Comfiest beds I've ever had on holiday though. We were slightly surprised at the lack of TV options for a new hotel - no ability for on-demand streaming, just one English language news channel.

The hotel was spacious and inviting with fabulous staff and everything on hand that we could have needed.

As a family we had slightly mixed views on the hotel, and while overall it was a really terrific holiday and a place to stay, it wasn’t without some minor irritations which could turn people off returning, given it is not a budget hotel. On the plus side, convenience, ambience, comfort, and facilities were all first rate. The pool, sauna & ice swim and shuffleboard all provided sufficient evening entertainment, and the whole place is spotless and very cosy. Just what we had hoped for and experienced elsewhere in Norway and Sweden. However our experience of the staff was a little variable. Some could not have been better and more helpful, while a significant but noticeable number were off hand and unhelpful. By way of two poor examples, on arrival we were told our table for dinner was booked for 1700h every day. The restaurant manager was extremely unhelpful when we explained this was not possible given the slopes don’t close until 1630h! It wasn’t until another helpful member of the restaurant team stepped in did we find a solution for every night; entirely down to her effort and not as easy as it should have been. Shuffleboard tables are great fun and a lovely addition for evening entertainment. The tables also require booking, which while acceptable and easy, nobody mentioned that residents 'pay to play' the games. While a small amount of money which I am sure wouldn’t stop anyone playing (about £15), the principle was petty and irritating, especially when not told at the point of booking. Almost like the staff were embarrassed by the ridiculous policy! For balance, and by way of a similarly good experience, on arrival at 0030h the single reception member was so very helpful that he had set out some lovely salads and other snacks and was keen to help us in any way possible. Despite the rooms being muddled up, he was exceptionally welcoming. Our experience of food and restaurant service was also mixed. While breakfast was fabulous, dinner was variable and a fixed three course menu. The menu changed every day. On occasions the three courses were beautifully presented and delicious, but on other occasions dinner was average at best (it was never poor). Probably about a 50:50 ratio. While they were flexible to requests for slight changes, the Norwegians don’t really seem to understand vegetarian (or more accurately pescatarian), which meant one of our party had the same ‘chargrilled’ cauliflower for three nights; until a helpful waiter explained that other options could be made available. We had not been told this which was an annoyance. The kids buffet was similarly limited and slightly repetitive. The food 'issues' were not so significant as to spoil the holiday, but it was below our expectation and experience of previous Scandinavian hotels, and indeed not at the level the hotel sets out to offer which is a shame. Given all the above we would return, as on balance the good outweighed the irritating.