Bergen Børs Hotel

Style

Hot commodity

Setting

Gateway to the fjords

Admittedly, stocks aren’t our game – but hotels we do know, and our newest acquisition Bergen Børs Hotel has caused our interest rate to soar. Set in the glorious 19th-century Renaissance Revival building that once housed Bergen’s former stock exchange, by the city’s famous fish market, this luxurious stay is a high-net-worth individual, ideally placed for fjord exploring, funicular rides into the hills and wandering historic Bryggen. Inside, it’s the business, with modern interiors in walnut wood, leather and marble; tailored rooms; and two appreciable eateries: one like a fresco-clad cathedral, and Bare, which earnt Bergen its first Michelin star. All in all, it’s a credit to the city.

Facilities

Rooms

127, including 19 suites.

Checkout

12 noon, but flexible, subject to availability (charges may apply). Earliest check-in, 3pm.

More Details

Rates include a buffet breakfast.

Also

There are 13 rooms specially adapted for guests with mobility issues, with grab bars and wide spaces, and there’s a lift. However, those in wheelchairs should note that due to the building’s age and layout it can be tricky to manoeuvre through public areas.

Fitness Center

Free Internet Access

Laundry

Pet Friendly

On-Site Restaurant

Room Service

At the Hotel

Lounge with newspaper, magazines, tea and coffee; gym; charged laundry service; free WiFi. In rooms: Smart TV, Nespresso machine, minibar.

Our Favourite Rooms

In designing the rooms, Swedish design firm Claesson Koivisto Rune pared back the building’s opulent Renaissance Revival features, opting for uncomplicated Scandi minimalism. Inspiration came from the suited-and-booted workers who once bought low and sold high here: soothing greys and blues, style with the precision of tailoring, and subtle details – grid-patterned carpets, pinstripe wallpaper, splashes of houndstooth – make them sexily professional. But, if you’re a sucker for history, check into the Junior Suite which was once the stock exchange manager’s office and has a wealth of original features.

Spa

There’s no spa at the hotel, but their pampering partner Anne’s Skin Care & Spa (a 10-minute walk away) will make you look radiant, whether you opt for a simple facial or even a botox refresh. But, there is a 24-hour fitness room onsite, with Crossfit gear, treadmills, cycles and rowing machines. Yoga sessions are held here too, and personal trainers are available on request.

Packing Tips

Lovely as it is, Bergen is also unavoidably soggy – in fact it’s the wettest city in Europe – so pack accordingly. But don’t worry if you forget your windbreaker, because the flagship of Norwegian Rain is here, a shop founded by wet-weather-wear geniuses Alexander Helle and T-Michael when they tired of having their looks washed out.

Also

Architecture geeks, if you fall madly in love with the work the Claesson Koivisto Rune studio have done here, you can buy an art book about the conversion from Konst/ig Books.

Children

This may have been a stock exchange, but it’s not really a place for shorts. Some rooms do sleep up to four, but there are no kid-friendly distractions onsite.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Handelskammeret bar dazzles with its decor, so for a sitting-pretty perch grab an apéritif. In Frescohallen there’s a snuck-away private area reached by a staircase behind the main bar, you’ll need to book, hold an event or be a VIP.

Dress Code

Monied, honey.

Hotel Restaurant

The clamouring of traders has been replaced by convivial chatter in the building’s old stock exchange, but there’s still a bullish feeling to the place with muted tones and lots of wood, leather and marble. It’s now home to Bare, a blue-chip eatery which could confidently be called the best in Bergen – after all, it earnt the city its first Michelin star. Chefs Øystein Ellingsen and Morten Tungesvik achieved this by being justly picky about produce, sourced cross country. Their tasting menu – which changes frequently depending on what’s in season – might have Øygarden scallops, Solend Nordre Farm lamb or deer from Fusa, finished with plum and rye ice-cream, and with the option to leverage your meal by adding beluga – smart move. Bare might be the wunderkind, but second restaurant Frescohallen is coming up right behind. Cathedral-like with soaring vaulted ceilings and covered in commerce-themed frescoes by Axel Revold, it’s the kind of place where caviar is spooned onto waffles, bread comes with a side of chicken-liver cream, tomahawks swim in herb butter, and lobster takes many forms.

Hotel Bar

Handelskammeret bar, next to Bare on the third floor, would once have been full of wheeling-and-dealing, cigar-toting sorts as the former chamber of commerce, but it’s still richly regaled, with the original coffered ceiling, mirror tiles cut to replace the bar’s wooden ones and add disco sparkle in all directions, colour-stained windows, chandeliers and a solid marble counter. There are plentiful fine wines on offer, and barkeeps nip up and down a wooden ladder to pull bottles of spirits and mixers from the towering shelves to mix up top cocktails too – there’s no set menu, just tell them what you like and they’ll work intuitively. Frescohallen also has wow-factor by the wine-list load, and houses the Bareksten experience room, a low-lit space where spirits from the famed Norwegian distiller are crafted into delicious drinks – gin runs straight from a still at one end to a tap at the other, technically you could have a pint of gin, but maybe just stick to a balloon glass.

Last Orders

Breakfast is from 7am till 10am, and 8am till 11am on weekends. Bare is open Friday and Saturday, from 6pm till midnight.

Room Service

Dine in your room round-the-clock room.

Planes

Bergen Flesland Airport is the closest to the hotel, a 25-minute drive away, along which you’ll get a little taster for the fjords. It’s very well connected across Europe and even has a direct route from New York. From here you can ride the light rail to Byparken (the city park), which is just a block or two from the hotel, or the bus from the airport can drop you at the fish market which is on the hotel’s doorstep. Alternatively, transfers can be arranged on request.

Trains

Bergen Station is just a 10-minute walk away. You may not wish to drive the seven hours it takes to get from Oslo to Bergen, but the direct train, which takes around six hours, is reputed to be one of Europe’s most beautiful train rides, taking you through Norway’s mountainous and lushly forested vistas.

Automobiles

If you’re coming to Bergen on a city break, then you won’t need a car – there are many attractions within walking distance, and for everything else the public transport is reliable. However, it would be a shame to come to Bergen and not leave – not that the city isn’t captivating – but the seven hills and fjords surrounding it are even more so. Parking is less than a five-minute walk away at Klostergarasjen (the Monastery Garage), where guests get a 15 per cent discount if they validate their ticket at the hotel’s front desk.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

As the former stock exchange, Bergen Børs Hotel has brokered itself a deal for one of the best locations in the city. Right by the harbour, and next door to Torgalmenningen (the main square), it's a jumping off point for riding the fjords, Bryggen’s spice-rack of vintage clapboard houses are just around the corner, the Fløibanen funicular launches you up to Fløyen mountain and into nature from close by, and you’re perched to join in the hustle-bustle of Bergen’s famous fish market. Why – you might wonder – do I want to go to a fish market? Trust us, it’s a lively, sensory, bring-the-whole-city-out affair with Instagrammable scenes of monstrous crustacea, and there’s street food to pick at as you go round. Admittedly, it’s hard to squeeze a king crab into a suitcase, but – being Scandinavia – Bergen has a ruinous amount of homeware and fashion boutiques. T-Michael’s store originally set out to reinvent the kimono for men, but the polymath owner couldn’t be held to just one thing and now it's a trove of luxe leather and tailoring, while Fresh Pepper on main thoroughfare Strandgatan picks forward-thinking designers to showcase. Majestically structured mall Galleriet is home-makeover heaven but you should also swing by Illums Bolighus for iconic pieces, Bolia for up-and-coming talent, and Ting Bergen for smaller quirkier items. The city’s art scene is immense – four galleries and three musician’s houses that make up Kode: the largest cultural collection in Scandinavia. Luckily they’re divvied up: Kode 1 has precious metals and antiquities in a grand 19th-century building, Kode 2 focuses on modern artwork (and has a great shop and cafe), Kode 3 has an impressive collection of Edvard Munch works and those from the Golden Age of Norwegian Art, and Kode 4 also has contemporary, socially conscious artwork. And you can head out into the islands and hills to see the estates of Ole Bull (a legend round here), Harald Sæverud, and Edvard Grieg. And, USF Verftet should be your next stop: a sardine factory converted into five multidisciplinary venues. When it comes to the fjords – which are as staggeringly beautiful as reputation has them – there are various styles of cruising them – you could take an active tour with stops for mountain biking and rafting, float down Unesco-protected Nærøyfjord to the Stegastein viewpoint, combine it with a ride on the Flåm Railway, or see – and maybe feel – towering waterfalls while drifting to the Mostraumen straits. Whichever you choose, you’ll have your thick woollen socks knocked off.

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