Kviknes Hotel

Amazing views from hotel of mountains and fjord. This historic hotel has an elegant charm and delicious food. Plenty of choice for breakfast and dinner and is very popular with the locals. Cheaper rooms can be found in the 1960's block and although slightly dated are very clean and comfortable and do have a certain charm. Our room included a sofa, armchair and balcony with fantastic views. Very good deals for this hotel can be found through Newmarket Holidays, which includes flights, transport to hotel and two intineries.

We stayed in the historic side of the hotel with a fjord view and a private balcony. Overall, the room was nice, but nothing spectacular (aside from the wonderful view). There were a lot of holes in the wall where they’ve had things hanging before and never patched. Our room was directly above a lower level balcony area where people stayed late talking into the evening and could easily be heard in our room. The dinner buffet and the breakfast buffet were both excellent. There are all sorts of options to choose from and the service in the restaurant area was always excellent. This is a place we would stay again, albeit only if we got a better deal on the cost.

We booked two nights at this hotel in Balestrand in the Norwegian fjords. It is situated directly adjacent to the ferry dock. We were given a warm welcome by a charming receptionist who completed the check-in process very efficiently. Our room had commanding views over the fjord and was comfortable albeit with limited amenities for a hotel of this calibre (paper cups is not a good look, no minibar or drinking water, etc). There are a plethora of places to sit and relax or have a drink on the ground floor. |The strongpoint of the hotel is the dining room which provides first class catering and world-class views: we tried the buffet on one night and the upgraded four course menu on another evening and both options were excellent. The goat roulade and crayfish courses were particularly memorable and the white chocolate mousse cake is up there in the ‘Best Desserts Ever’ category. The extensive wine carte is reasonably priced by Norway standards. |We would have no hesitation in recommending this hotel as a good base in Balestrand.

Stayed here for a week at the end of August / start of September 2025 while on the Newmarket Holidays Western Fjords of Norway trip. The location is absolutely stunning, overlooking the Sognefjord and the Esefjord and against the backdrop of mountains.||The historic wooden building (largest wooden building in Norway) is beautiful inside and out and has a great history which we had a unique insight into one evening with a free presentation from the fourth generation of the Kviknes family who own the hotel.||The modern building in which our room was located is, unfortunately, a bit of a concrete eyesore, but it is probably what makes it affordable to stay. Our room was fine, a bit dated, but clean and comfortable. The balcony gave partial views of both Fjords. ||The breakfast and dinner buffets had lots of options, and the quality was good, but it became a little boring towards the end of the stay. ||The hotel overall was a fabulous base from which to explore the Fjords and mountains with our excellent Newmarket Holidays tour manager, Steve Parry, and the fantastic coach drivers who safely navigated the mountain roads with their hairpin bends.

This historic hotel has a majestic presence on the Songnefjord, just steps from Balestrand Harbour. The original part of this wooden hotel features beautiful original furnishings and artwork, as well as multiple rooms and porches from which to enjoy the exquisite view of the fjord. The large dining room offers an excellent buffet at both breakfast and dinner as well as a pub for drinks and casual meals. There is a large, more modern addition to the hotel behind the original building , Rooms are comfortable but fairly simple. Balestrand offers a few restaurants and great hiking, all close to the hotel.

The most beautiful hotel room view we've ever had. We got a room upgrade for our honeymoon. Beautiful place, good service. Only downside is you can't get your own tea or coffee at breakfast, they serve it, a tad too slow.

The hotel is in a beautiful location with stunning views. The grounds are lovely and the food good. We were half board and not meat eaters, but had plenty of delicious fish and salads. The staff were friendly and helpful. However, our room was small and very basic for a 4* hotel. There was no safe or fridge in the room. The bathroom was horrible with a thin, plastic toilet seat and flimsy, plastic shower head. Not what I would expect from a 4* hotel.

Beautiful site with incredible view! Food buffet was good and had a lot of choices. Service was great! However the hotel in itself, especially the bedrooms, really need a refresh. Bedding wasn’t very comfortable, the isolation was bad and the style of the room feels like you’re staying in a retirement home more than a hotel. I would still recommend it though if it’s only for one or two nights!

We stayed a night at the Kviknes hotel in the "new" (in 1960) section with an eye popping view down the fjord. Because of the lack of king beds (queens only at this property) I decided to save a few bucks here and apply them to a splurge elsewhere. The motel-6 chic of the new section with tiny room , 2 cot-sized twin beds and balcony was perfectly fine for a one-night stay and to give us a bit of a rest from the 5-hours on the train from Oslo via Myrdal and Flam. As there is no AC, to cool the room one needs to leave the patio door open which was ok given the typically cool climate here. The room was in good shape and clean but very austere-more like a dorm room with older bath fixtures and small spaces. Don't expect the spa treatment here-just one all-purpose gel for body and hair and thin utilitarian towels. We also dined in the restaurant for dinner (there's not much else in "town") and were delighted with the 4-course, pre-fixed menu that include local foods and preparation. At $85/pp it was a bit pricey but hey-we saved on the room right? Because of the large size of the hotel you can expect to encounter so me large bus tour groups from china and elsewhere during your stay. A big plus is the hotels proximity to the dock where the ferry arrives-2min walk-and they have a bellman there to grab bags if you need help. I was a bit surprised when we arrived on the ferry (not a random occurrence) and made our way to the hotel along with 20 other guests, that we waited several minutes for any staff to appear to start the checkin process. Now, they did have all the keys ready so the process moved quickly.

"If I'm going to die of anything, it's going to be gluttony." (Justin Timberlake) At the outbreak of WWI, frequent guest Kaiser Wilhelm II received his daily news from the comfort of the Kviknes Hotel, no doubt over some local beer and spirits. Lording majestically over Balestrand's harbor, the historic hotel was certainly fit for a king with its regal façade and stunning Sognefjord setting. In fact, throughout its history, the hotel has hosted many royals, celebs, emperors, and presidents. Book early to snag a room in the historic part of the hotel, rather than in the concrete addition. Wander throughout the building to feast your eyes on antiques, carved wooden furniture, and oil paintings, before feasting on dinner. ROCK THE BOAT: Most travel to town via bus or by the Norled express boat. The hotel is steps away from the ferry terminal. DINNER IS SERVED: One may eat at the Balholm Bar Bistro, or choose the famous smorgasbord, 4-course set menu, or order à la carte in the dining room. The dining room seats hundreds; reserve a table of two or more in the private attached room to avoid the chaos, and to enjoy window seats with views of the Sognefjord, as we did. I recommend trying the plum dessert wine or one of 300+ other available wines from the Bistro after dinner. BUT IT WILL COST YA: Approx. $75 US--this affords you the opportunity to sample various traditional dishes that you would otherwise miss out on. The only complaint we had was that some of the hot dishes were lukewarm. THE FIRST RULE OF FIGHT CLUB: Put on your Brad Pitt game face and prepare to battle a sea of rude, aggressive tour groups (other reviews have mentioned this as well). We attempted chess-like maneuvers to navigate the hostile food station area, but were checkmated by one particularly rude dude. He puffed his chest and threw his hands in the air for extra effect, challenging us for approaching the island in the opposite direction as him (plates were on both ends of the island). There were many of his species, so we dared not approach the buffet alone. Safety in numbers, people. THAT DEER IN THE HEADLIGHTS LOOK: The buffet islands were beautiful and beckoning, displaying local traditional meats, such as lamb, juicy pork tenderloin, beef, reindeer, baked and smoked fish (including many types of salmon), and shell fish. We were able to try many types of fish we had never heard of before, and we agreed all were tasty and prepared perfectly, Not to be outdone by the meat stations, there were salad, hot dish, and bread choices aplenty, along with a charcuterie station with local sausages, cheeses, and deer pate. LET THERE BE CAKE: Leave room for dessert, friends. Share bites of your crème brûlée or chocolate mousse with your companions to experience as many of the endless delicious puddings, flans and cakes as possible. Overall the hotel could use quite a few updates, and the tour groups are insufferable, but a jaunt through the building at the very least is worthwhile (or stay and pig out like Timberlake)! 5 salmon fillets for the scenic setting and art collections 3.5- 4 salmon fillets for the buffet and service 0 salmon fillets for the rude buffet guy. May there be karmic buffet retribution in his future. "Life is a glorious banquet, a limitless and delicious buffet." (Maya Angelou)

My friend and I ate in the buffet style hall. The only thing good here were the views, and you can see those outside. For $75 each (read: $150!!), we tried many of the dishes and only managed to like the salad--and by salad, I mean lettuce. The food hardly had any seasoning, was overcooked, and was a chore to eat. The only good thing was their smoked salmon in red wine--the rest was about as good, if not worse, than the plane food I had on my way over here. The asparagus soup tasted like thickened water, the meat was tough and tasteless, the cold dishes were lackluster, and the desserts were unfinishable. The chocolate mouse was covered in what I can only guess was Hershey's chocolate syrup--something I haven't had since I was a child, and for good reason. The service for this type of restaurant was also weak--we couldn't get a hold of the person who was in charge of drinks for our table so we ran out of water quickly and couldn't get a refill easily. Very disappointed that the meal we decided to splurge on in this trip was so terrible.

This review is for the Cafe only as we were not able to stay at the hotel and were only stopping through Balestrand. I had maybe the best Caesar salad I have ever had in my life with smoked trout on top. It was about $20 USD and SO worth it. Loaded with vegetables and with a delicious caesar dressing that was light but tasty. The wait staff was very nice. My husband and I ate here in the off-season in October. The cafe is about the only one open in town, but we were very happy to eat here.

If thinking about a forjd stay, definitely consider this hotel for 1-3 nights. So beautiful and lots to do. The dinner buffet is incredible! A beautiful place

This is an excellent hotel! Buffet style meals are delicious with a large selection of food. There are many rooms with comfortable chairs to sit & visit with friends or play cards. Location is perfect on the shores of Fjaerlands Fjord in Balestrand. The streets are quiet for walking purposes to tour the many sights and landmarks of Balestrand. Today we were fortunate to see people dressed in traditional Norwegian clothes for a wedding at their local church.

The stately king of Balestrand hotels, with spacious traditional Nordic halls, overlooking the fjord as the Claremont Hotel overlooks the San Francisco Bay. As for the food in the front cafe: trout and club sandwich were excellent, crayfish soup and fish and chips were good, and venison was whatever venison is supposed to be. Very patient service accommodating an apparent eating disorder at the table nearby. All that said, hard to beat the cider house and definitely worth the 20 minute walk down the shore to eat there instead.