Hotel Oleana, Bergen Øvre Ole Bulls plass 5, 5012 Bergen, Norway Hotel Oleana is an iconic hotel located just 10 minutes walking distance from Bergen Sentrum station. It is located at a very convenient spot to walk to local attractions like Bryggen neighbourhood (12 minutes), Fish Market (6 minutes) and Floyen Funicular (10 minutes). We stayed at this hotel for 4 nights for the entirety of our stay in Bergen and used a total of 60,000 Choice Privilege points. Check-in was a breeze. We met different front desk staff during our stay and everyone was extremely courteous, friendly and helpful. …
Choice Hotels/Radisson Hotel Reviews ReviewsHotel Review: Hotel Oleana, Bergen
Destination Trip Reports EuropeAugust 2025: 4 Days in Bergen Trip Report – Day 1 & 2 – Bergen city sightseeing & Mostraumen Fjord Cruise
Day 1: We arrived at Bergen International Airport (BGO) on our flight from Reykjavik. Cheap and convenient way to reach the city center is the tram from airport to Byparken stop (near Bergen Centrum Station).One can pay for the tram in Skyss ticket app itself. I had already installed the Skyss app and it came in handy on our 4 days in Bergen. After reaching Byparken Tram stop, we walked to our hotel for 4 night stay in Bergen, Hotel Oleana. After checking in and freshening up we set out for lunch. We stopped by Pingvinen Restaurant. I ordered the …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeAugust 2025: 6 Days in Iceland Trip Report – Day 6 – Last day of Waterfalls – Skogafoss, Kvernufoss and Irarfoss waterfalls
This was our last full day of traveling in Iceland and we were traveling from Skogafoss to our hotel near Keflavik airport to fly out next day. We were staying at Hotel Skogafoss by EJ Hotels and one of the main reasons of staying here was so we could see the falls on the night we arrive and the day after. We started the day early visiting the falls right after breakfast at the hotel. We were glad we got waterproof shoes to walk on the rocks to get to the middle to take the pictures. After Skogafoss we drove …
Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG ReviewsHotel Review: Courtyard by Marriott Reykjavik Keflavik Airport
Courtyard by Marriott Reykjavik Keflavik Airport Aðalgata 60, 230 Reykjanesbaer, Iceland We stayed at Courtyard Reykjavik Keflavik Airport for our last night in Iceland before flying out next day. The hotel is located just 2.5 km from Keflavik airport. The complimentary hotel shuttle only runs from hotel to airport and exclusively for Marriott Bonvoy members. We had a rental car and coincidently enough the Ace Rental Car agency is located just across the hotel. The cash rates at the hotel were quite expensive (even by Iceland standards) and we used 50,000 Marriott points for the 1 night stay. The hotel …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeAugust 2025: 6 Days in Iceland Trip Report – Day 5 – Fjallsárlón Glacial Lagoon, Svartifoss/Hundafoss waterfalls in Skaftafell Nature Reserve, Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon
Today we were going to drive 305 km from Hofn to our hotel for the night (Hotel Skógafoss) while seeing various attractions along the way. After driving about 80km we arrived at Jokulsarlon Glacial lagoon. Even though we had already visited this lagoon the day before, we saw signs to a different parking lot and decided to check it out. After spending a short time taking pictures we continued our journey towards the other popular glacial lagoon that we skipped the day before, Fjallsárlón Glacial lagoon. Soon we arrived at Fjallsarlon Glacial lagoon. This lagoon is quite smaller and you …
Hotel Reviews Independent ReviewsHotel Review: Hótel Skógafoss by EJ Hotels
Hótel Skógafoss by EJ Hotels Skógar, Skogar 861 Iceland Hotel Skogafoss by EJ Hotels is located just 5 minutes walking distance from the Skogafoss falls. The biggest selling point of the hotel for us was being able to walk to the falls. The hotel included 2 days of parking inside the park. The rooms have a numeric keycode lock outside the wing so it did feel more secure. In the bathroom we saw a note saying hot water is sourced from geothermal source and might have sulphur smell. It wasn’t too bad and I actually enjoyed the uniqueness of it. …
Hotel Reviews Independent ReviewsHotel Review: Guesthouse Dyngja, Hofn
Guesthouse Dyngja Hafnarbraut, 780 Höfn í Hornafirði, Iceland For our 1 night stay in Hofn, we stayed at Guesthouse Dyngja. The guesthouse is located right on the harbor within minutes walk from a lot of good, renowned restaurants in Hofn. The day of arrival we received an email from the owner stating the passcode for the keybox to the apartment. Thumbs up: Excellent location right on the harbor Lots of good restaurants within very short walking distance Thumbs down: No breakfast at the hotel
Destination Trip Reports EuropeAugust 2025: 6 Days in Iceland Trip Report – Day 4 – Eldhraun Lava Field, Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon and black sand beaches (Diamond Beach, Stokksnes Beach)
After breakfast at Hotel Katla we started driving towards the city of Hofn along the southern coast. We were going to cover about 275km today so it was going to be a long day. We passed by the Eldhraun Lava fields. The moss covered lava fields was a sight to behold. After driving for a while, we started seeing glaciers for the first time at a distance. Soon we arrived at Jokulsarlon Glacial lagoon. I hadn’t pre-booked the Zodiac tour in time and it had been showing sold out for the previous 10 days. Then the amphibian boat tour started …
Hotel Reviews Independent ReviewsHotel Review: Hotel Katla by Keahotels
Hotel Katla by Keahotels Höfðabrekka, 871 Vík, Iceland Hotel Katla by Keahotels is located just 5 minutes drive from the town of Vik in very picturesque surroundings. We stayed here 1 night, booked direct with the hotel. The property had various buildings of different shapes and sizes but the 2 storey building below is the one we stayed in. We received complimentary breakfast with our stay at the hotel. The breakfast is served at the main restaurant and had quite a few options such as bread, juice, cold cuts, waffles, eggs etc. Thumbs up: Located in very picturesque surroundings near …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeAugust 2025: 6 Days in Iceland Trip Report – Day 3 – Seljalandsfoss and Gljufrabui Waterfalls, Reynisfjara and Víkurfjara Black sand beaches
We stayed the night before at Hotel Laugarvatn after traveling our Golden circle route. We drove from Laugarvatn area to the town of Vik, located in south coast of Iceland. After spending quite a bit of time at Seljalandsfoss falls, we took the path in front of the falls along the side of the mountain for only 10 minutes to approach the next falls, Gljufrabui falls. Since the crevice is narrow and a stream flows through it, to get inside the cave there was a queue. Soon we were in. After spending a short time in Gljufrabui Falls, we resumed …
Hotel Reviews Independent ReviewsHotel Review: Hótel Laugarvatn
Hótel Laugarvatn Dalbraut 10, Dalbraut 12, 840 Laugarvatn, Iceland Hotel Laugarvatn is located next to Lake Laugarvatn and also the Laugarvatn Fontana geothermal baths on the Golden circle route. The hotel does have a front desk but I rarely saw anyone sitting there. However, day before arrival, I received an email with the room number and passcode to the room electronic lock. Thumbs up: Very affordable by Iceland standards. I would rate the hotel as great value Beautiful surroundings and great location on the Golden circle route Thumbs down: Did not see anyone at the front desk during the stay. …
Hotel Reviews Independent ReviewsHotel Review: Center Hotels Klopp, Reykjavík
Center Hotels Klopp Klapparstígur 26, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland Center Hotels Klopp is located in the city of Reykjavik. It is within short walking distance to a few of the tourist attractions in the city – for example, 6 minutes walking distance to the Sun Voyager, 9 minutes to Hallgrimskirkja, 8 minutes to Harpa Concert hall. The hotel has complimentary breakfast buffet for all guests. However, I was disappointed at the lack of options here. Thumbs up: Location!! Conveniently located within short walking distance to a lot of Reykjavik attractions (such as Sun Voyager, Harpa concert hall, Hallgrimskirkja) Thumbs down: Only …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeAugust 2025: 6 Days in Iceland Trip Report – Day 2 (Golden Circle)
One of the most popular things to do near Reykjavik is the Golden circle route. There are quite a few attractions along this 200 mile loop and we intended to cover most of them in 1 day. We started our morning drive from our Reykjavik hotel (Center Hotels Klopp) to Þingvellir National Park. All attractions in Iceland have parking lots near it and in most of them you can pay for parking at kiosks located on site. For the few, where there are no kiosks, there are signs to pay for the parking through online apps like Parka. Our first …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeAugust 2025: 6 Days in Iceland Trip Report – Day 1 (Whale Watching & Reykjavik City)
We checked out of our airport hotel in the morning and drove our rental car from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik (about 50 minutes drive). We parked our car at suggested free parking area near the harbor, and after checking in at the designated booth, made our way to Amelia Rose, our yacht for todays whale watching trip. After the yacht left the harbor for the cruise, it passed by Harpa Concert Hall. The entire trip was 3 hours but 50 mins each way was just to get to the whale feeding area. During this time of the year its mostly …
Choice Hotels/Radisson Hotel Reviews ReviewsHotel Review: Park Inn by Radisson Reykjavik Keflavík Airport
Park Inn by Radisson Reykjavik Keflavík Airport Hafnargata 57, 230 Keflavík, Iceland Park Inn by Radisson Reykjavik Keflavik Airport is located about 5.5km (8-10 min cab ride) from the Keflavik Airport. There is no complimentary shuttle through the hotel so if you are not using a rental car, would advise arranging a cab through the hotel (they have fixed published rate instead of metered cabs). A 10 minute ride from the airport cab stand to the hotel ran 48$ USD for me!! On arrival we were upgraded to a suite. I have VIP elite status at Radisson hotels which meant …
Airline Reviews Reviews Virgin AtlanticAirline Review: Virgin Atlantic – Business Class (Airbus A350-1000 with Lie Flat Seats) : Los Angeles – London (VS 142)
Flight: Virgin Atlantic VS 142 from Los Angeles to London Heathrow Duration: 10 hours Equipment: A35K (Airbus A350-1000) Class: Business Seat: 1 D – 1G (Middle Aisles) Seat Specification: Flat bed seats with seat width: 20″, seat pitch: 82″ This was the first time ever we flew on Virgin Atlantic. This carrier flies various aircraft between USA and Europe. There is the old Boeing 787 herringbone configuration seats (which are terrible to fly in per most internet forum reports) and there are newer business class seats on Airbus A330-neo and A350-1000 aircraft. Virgin Atlantic is also notorious in swapping the newer A350-1000 …
Trip SummaryAugust 2025: Iceland-Norway-Finland Trip – Introduction
We went back to Europe for the second time in 2025, this time in the Nordics. We visited Iceland and Norway for 6 days ech and just 1 day in Helsinki (mainly for our positioning flight back to USA). There will be quite a few reviews on this trip. Airline Review: Virgin Atlantic Busines Class from Los Angeles to London Hotel Review: Park Inn by Radisson Reykjavik Keflavik Airport Trip Report: 6 Days in Iceland – Day 1 (Whale Watching & Reykjavik) Hotel Review: Center Hotels Klöpp, Reykjavik Trip Report: 6 Days in Iceland – Day 2 (Golden Circle) Hotel …
Airline Reviews LOT ReviewsAirline Review: LOT Polish Airlines – Business Class (Boeing 787-900 with Lie Flat Seats) : Warsaw – Los Angeles (LO 23)
Flight: LOT Polish LO 23 from Warsaw to Los Angeles Duration: 11 hours 30 mins Equipment: B789(Boeing 787-900) Class: Business Seat: 1 A – 1B (Window/Aisle) Seat Specification: Flat bed seats with seat width: 22″, seat pitch: 78″ This was our 2nd ever flight on LOT after flying the outbound at this same segment at the beginning of our Europe trip. The LOT business class on Boeing 787 has 4 rows of 2 – 2 – 2 seats. I usually prefer having the middle rows in such configuration as both seats have direct aisle access. However, since I was flying with …
Destination Trip Reports EuropeJune 2025: Dubrovnik, Croatia Trip Report
Day 1: Our day started with traveling 4.5 hours on Kapetan Luka – Krilo ferry from Split to Dubrovnik. We arrived past noon in Dubrovnik port and took an Uber to our hotel (Hotel Kompas Dubrovnik). For lunch we wanted to try out the Cave Bar More that I had read about. Its a short walk from the hotel on Lapad promenade (also called Šetalište Nika i Meda Pucića). For lunch we ordered a hamburger, truffle fries and mixed cocktail. The truffle fries were so awesome that I visited this bar again on Day 3 to try it out one …
Choice Hotels/Radisson Hotel Reviews ReviewsHotel Review – Radisson Blu Sobieski Hotel, Warsaw
Radisson Blu Sobieski Hotel, Warsaw plac Artura Zawiszy 1, 02-025 Warszawa, Poland Radisson Blu Sobieski Hotel is a pretty Radisson Hotels property located just 7 km from Warsaw Chopin Airport. We stayed just 1 night at the end of the trip with cash rate. Standard room was quite big by Europe standards and I liked it. We were happy to see a welcome amenity box waiting for us in the room. Thumbs up: Lots of options for breakfast including omelette station Thumbs down: A little far from Warsaw Old Town and other tourist areas