We had to book this hotel because we stayed over a busy weekend and couldn't get a room anywhere else. Our fears that its distance from central Tromso would be a negative factor were borne out. If you haven't got your own car, it is a taxi ride into town - or a bus ride. The taxi journey will cost you £15 each way, and the bus is £5 each way - so if you book this hotel for its slightly cheaper rooms, you'll only pay the difference in travel costs.
The room was tiny - not much more than a bed with a wall round it - although it was clean and because we had a 'Northern Lights' room, its design was very modern and unusual.
On the positive side: free wifi in the rooms - fast, fantastic and not as common in hotels as it should be. Also it has a great gym and saunas, fantastic views (if you get a room on the right side), friendly helpful staff and a decent breakfast. Another plus factor is that there's never a time when you can't get a taxi immediately at reception - any hour of the day or night. The reception staff simply press a button on the desk and a car arrives in (quite literally) seconds - apparently there's a taxi rank round the corner.
Despite this I can't honestly recommend the hotel for a stay in Tromso if you don't have a car, purely for its distance from anything you'll want to see.

Having read previous reviews for this hotel, I wasn't expecting much. I can say now though that even if it is not in a central location, the views from the room I stayed in where awesome and made the stay worth while.

The town centre is about 4km away. There are plenty of buses and taxis but I prefer to walk and was able to cover this distance in about 45-50 minutes via the university route. Pretty much the entire way is on cycle/pedestrian walkway.

If you are looking for evening entertainment and restaurants this hotel is probably not for you. If you are looking for somewhere to stay on the cheaper side I would recommend.

We stayed at the scandic at the end of a Northern Lights trip as it was close the airport for our morning departure.

The Hotel is cheaper than most in Tromso and has good facilities with well maintained medium size rooms. With clear skies it is even possible to see the Northern Lights from the car park but you are better off driving over the bridge to the island of Kvaloya and into the mountains to get darker skies, again the hotel is ideally located for this.

Being close to the airport means that it is quite a long way from the centre and the main attractions so bear that in mind if you are planning to spend longer in Tromso.

Scandic Hotel is the hotel closest to the airport in Tromsø and near a shopping mall, but that is probably the only good to say about its location. You are far from the town centre (buses are available, though), and only some rooms have views to speak of (I was looking into a large concrete structure opposite my room).

The hotel was probably built in the 1980s and has not been refurbished much. The room was spacious, but dark and dated interior. TV remote did not work, and reception was not able to fix it. Dirty water backed up the floor drain when bath tub was emptied.

The kitchen is quite bad - I ate at the buffet, the meat was over-cooked but still tough. Vegetables were tasteless. Fruit juices was bad-tasting concentrate stuff.

Staff was OK, but not more than that.

Unless you get a real bargain for staying here, you are much better of staying in the centre. Avoid the restaurant - you would get better food at the mall just below the centre!