My 5-year-old son and I decided to travel to northern Norway with two goals in mind: swimming in a pool and seeing the Northern Lights. After searching for hotels north of the Arctic Circle, we chose this hotel based on its “family-friendly” pool as advertised on hotels.com. However, upon checking in, we were shocked to learn that the pool was restricted to adults, with only a narrow exception allowing children aged 12–18 to use it between 12:00 and 14:00. There was no mention of these restrictions on the hotel’s hotels.com page.
My son was heartbroken by this unexpected limitation. To make matters worse, the hotel is located far from the city center, forcing us to take an expensive taxi to a public pool in town. For families with children of different ages, the strict age rule would still make it impossible for everyone to enjoy the pool together. Additionally, swimming during the limited hours of 12:00–14:00 disrupts any daytime activities in Bodø and its surroundings.
We were deeply disappointed by how the hotel handled the situation, especially when faced with a crying 5-year-old boy. They refused to make any exceptions despite their misleading advertisement of a “family-friendly” pool. I cannot recommend this hotel to families with children. It is better suited for adults and offers little appeal beyond being a fairly standard, remote hotel.