An enormous event seemed to fill all the reasonably priced hotels in Oslo where we wanted to break our trip from the U.S. This nearby town on a main rail line served us well. It is in a commercial area but easy to access and very good value for Norway in tourist season. We were especially pleased with the extensive and excellent buffet breakfast included in the room rate. There's nice outdoor seating for relaxing with drinks, but caution--smoking is permitted.

I always choose Clarion Tollboden for my stay in Drammen. Spotlessly clean rooms, comfortable beds, a little bit outdated bathrooms, but still comfortable and clean. If you're lucky to get the room with a view on the river and the old brewery, it's fabulous in the evenings - the hill lit up with lights from windows, lit up brewery, all reflected in the water. Though there are trains coming down, the windows are soundproof and you can enjoy the silence. Ladies at the reception desk are fabulous - always smiling, helpful and answering all the questions you can ask. Once I had a problem with the radiator which I notified in the morning, leaving for a conference. In the afternoon everything was fixed. Ah, if you come till 9.00 in the evening, there is free supper - warm pasta, meat balls, sandwiches, etc. And you can always pour a cup of free tea. The beer (sold at the reception desk from taps) is Norwegian, so don't expect anything special ;-) (sorry, my Norwegian friends, its aquavit that is the pride of the country, not your beer).

All in all, a good business-stay place. And please remember, the bars and pubs are on the other side of the river - you have to cross the bridge to get anything close to a nightlife. The hotel is in "worse" part of Drammen and in the evenings it's very quiet around. Before you go to sleep, take a walk on the river bank. Fantastically quiet surroundings.

This Hotel is actually called the Clarion Collection Hotel Tollboden (there is a duplicate entry on TA). We stayed in the hotel for 2 nights while in Oslo for a friend's wedding. The location isn't brilliant - feels like you are walking through an industrial area, but it's literally only a 10 minute walk back across the bridge to the main square ((which is actually quite nice, despite not having a very good rep in Oslo). The hotel is very clean and is presented nicely. The staff are really friendly and helpful. The rooms are fairly modern, though the bathroom could do with an overhall - some new tiles and a new shower screen would do the the trick - not much effort to get the room up to a standard that would be actually impressive. The breakfast buffet was the highlight and there is a beautiful courtyard where you can sit and eat if the weather permits (we were fortunate enough to have 28 degrees ! ). There is a complementary meal between 6 and 9pm, but we missed that. The hotel doesn't have airconditioning, but we had pretty freakish weather, and I doubt a Norwegian hotel would often need airconditioning.

Friends of ours attending the same wedding stayed at the First Ambassador and by all accounts the Clarion was way better.

We stayed at this hotel as we were attending a wedding in nearby Sande. The hotel was teriffic - about a 10 minute walk from the train station. Service on reception was excellent. Rooms were very clean and the bed had good quality linen. The room did not have overly large windows or air conditioning, so therefore, our room was quite stuffy. The breakfast was excellent (fruit juicer and espresso machine available for use) and there was an evening salad buffet provided (free of charge). There is a lovely garden area with tables and chairs - a charming place to enjoy your breakfast espresso. Some of the other guests at the wedding we attended were staying in other hotels in Drammen and frankly, they did not sound nearly as nice. We booked this hotel using Expedia and found it very good value for money in what is a typically expensive country.