We arrived in Tromsø via a Wideroe flight from Bergen and headed off to the Clarion Hotel, The Edge which would be our home base for our northern lights expeditions.
Booking
Tromsø is the regional and administrative center for Northern Norway and therefore had more hotels than you would expect for a city of 65,000 people. While there were a number of hotels, my preferred chains of Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt have a very limited presence here with a newly opened Moxy from Marriott being the only option.
That hotel was further out from the city center than we wanted to be so I turned to American Express Travel. There aren’t any hotels in Tromsø that are part of Fine Hotels and Resorts or The Hotel Collection so I wouldn’t be getting any extra benefits though there were a few options. The Clarion properties (The Edge, Hotel With, and Hotel Aurora), Radisson Blu, and Scandic Ishavshotel all had good reviews and we selected The Edge primarily due to the location.
Since our trip was during prime northern lights tourism season, we paid a steep $422 per night for our Superior Room.
Lodging
The Edge is located in the center of Tromsø and is situated between the Storgata, Tromsø‘s main street, and the Prostneset Bus, Boat and Hurtigruten Terminal. This made it easy to access shops and restaurants as well as the departure point for many of the tours in the area. Thanks to its distinctive, angular shape, it is easy to spot.
Check-In
We arrived at the hotel just after 5:00p and headed straight for check-in. The process was quick and efficient which was appreciated since we had a northern lights tour departing at 6:00p. I also hold no status with Choice Hotels so there were no benefits, upgrades, or anything else to discuss.
Lobby
While the room felt like a cruise ship cabin, the lobby space was bright and airy (for the few hours a day that the sun was up) thanks to the two story atrium and the large wall of windows.
While not as bright at night, it still felt fresh and modern with a wide variety of seating options.
Room
We were assigned to Room 720, a Superior Queen Room which was a slight upgrade from the Superior Double that we booked. I wanted a larger bed all along but they were sold out by the time we booked. The doors were heavy and metal and reminded me of the doors you’d find on a cruise ship instead of a hotel.
Upon entering the room, my first impression was that it was small, though the layout was mostly well thought out. The bathroom was located to the right while the rest of the room opened up in front of us. To the left was a small closet area along with some shelves that housed an ironing board, iron, hair dryer, hot water kettle, and a safe.
A small bottle of wine and two glasses were also located in the cabinets while the remainder of the minibar items were in a small fridge built into the wall next to the bathroom door.
The main portion of the room was small but well thought out. There was plenty of storage for our luggage but this isn’t a space I’d want to spend any more time in than necessary. To the left was a bench which was great for putting on bulky snow boots and laying out large winter clothing. (Apologies for the clutter in the photos, we were trying to change for our excursion right after we checked in).
Next to the first bench was another, smaller bench with a flat screen TV mounted on the wall above it.
To the right of this was a small desk. I didn’t work from here much but you could work from here for a couple of hours if needed.
Across from the desk and TV was the bed which had small, floating nightstands on each side. Power outlets and light switches for the bedside lamps were located on panels in the wall.
Finally, against the window, there was a small chair and table with a light fixture overhead. It was odd that the light was over the chair and pretty low which meant you were likely to hit your head when sitting down. Only thing that went here during our stay was my bag
It was dark when we arrived but the next morning we were able to see a good, but slightly obstructed view of Tromso due to the surrounding buildings.
The bathroom was on the smaller side and had very little separation between the sink, toilet, and shower. The shower was open to the bathroom and only separated from the toilet by a glass wall.
Toiletries were Rituals branded and were mounted to the wall in reusable bottles.
The bathroom had one major flaw, which was the design of the shower. With no door and the only wall placed parallel to the stream of water, the bathroom essentially flooded each time someone took a shower.
Overall the room had a decent layout, but the bathroom and placement of the lamp directly over the chair was somewhat odd.
Food and Beverage
The hotel has three primary food and beverage options, though one (Skybar) was closed during our stay. The Social Bar and Bistro, located on the second floor, served an impressive breakfast spread each morning from a variety of stations. While we only had breakfast here, it transitions into a full service restaurant for lunch and dinner.
Breakfast was served buffet style from a variety of stations. No menus were given but each station had a card to identify the dish.
In a separate part of the restaurant was a beverage area with coffeemakers and a variety of juices and milks.
We ate breakfast here on both mornings of our stay and enjoyed the variety of options. Our last day happened to fall on Valentine’s Day and the staff put out extra decorations to celebrate.
Downstairs, next to the lobby, is the Living Room Bar. We left early both nights for excursions but even at 5:30p on a weeknight it was clear that the bar was a poplar spot.
The bar offers a variety of beer, wine, and spirits and even has its own beer, brewed by a local company.
Though tucked in the corner of the lobby, the bar had plenty of seating and was arranged to give some views out into the action of the city. I went back in the morning to get pictures of the seating areas when the bar was empty for these photos.
Summary
Tromso isn’t a city that is known for its luxury hotels and, given the fact that this was a Clarion, we went in with low expectations. The Clarion brand is decidedly more upscale in Norway and the hotel reflected that. The room had a few quirks, mainly the shower that sprayed all over the bathroom, but the location was fantastic for our needs. On the off chance we need to return to Tromso, I’d look at booking this hotel again.
In This Trip Report
- Introduction
- Delta B737-800 Comfort+ (AUS-JFK)
- Delta Sky Club Terminal 4 Concourse A (JFK)
- Lufthansa Business Class Lounge Terminal 1 (JFK)
- Lufthansa Senator Lounge Terminal 1 (JFK)
- SWISS A330-300 Business Class (JFK-ZRH)
- SWISS A220-100 Business Class (ZRH-PRG)
- Andaz Prague
- Three Days in Prague
- Erste Premier Lounge Prague (PRG)
- KLM Cityhopper EMB-195 Economy (PRG-AMS)
- KLM Boeing 737-800 Economy (AMS-BGO)
- Widerøe EMB-190 Economy (BGO-TOS)
- Clarion Hotel The Edge Tromsø
- Exploring Tromsø and Chasing the Northern Lights
- Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) A320 Premium Economy (TOS-ARN)
- Sheraton Stockholm
- Exploring Stockholm
- KLM Boeing 737-800 Business Class (ARN-AMS)
- KLM B787-9 Business Class (AMS-AUS)
Well done, this is a hugely comprehensive report thank you 🙏
Finishing this report…lost track of you over on FT. Re: hotel, as I learned in 2023, my US Choice status means nothing in Scandinavia…no points earned either. Noting that Choice explicitly states points earning when booking directly. These hotels are in a ‘Strawberry’ program. Irritating.
Anyhow, thks for posting. Like the site!
While I don’t have Choice status it would definitely be a shock if you thought you had it when you showed up and got nothing. I don’t quite understand the Choice/Strawberry relationship in the Nordic countries.