It's true that the Haukeland Hotel - which as other reviewers have said is a hospital guesthouse which also accepts foreign tourists - isn't going to be anyone's first choice of a place to stay in Bergen. That said, if you can't find anywhere in Bergen, you could do an awful lot worse than stay at the Haukeland.
You have to take a bus from the city centre to get here, but they are frequent and drop you off within a 5-10 minute walk of the hotel. The area itself is a quiet, attractive suburb and the back rooms (some of which have balconies) have lovely views over the surrounding hills. Although the hotel caters mainly to Norwegians, all staff speak good English and are helpful. The rooms are plain but comfortable - my single room had a bed and a nice sofa, plus fridge, TV and a desk.
But the real star of this hotel is the breakfast - Norwegian hotel breakfasts tend to be great but this was exceptional! An amazing spread of several diferent types of cheese, bread, crackers, meat, fruit, eggs, yogurt......! What's more, they even leave out plastic bags and greaseproof paper so you can take some sandwiches and fruit for lunch. Not to be sniffed at, given how amazingly expensive Norway is!
I booked through Fjord Tours (though the receptionist did not ask for my Fjord Pass) and paid NOK 1520 for two nights in a single room. While that would be considered ridiculously expensive in just about every other country in Europe, in Norway, and particularly in very touristed Bergen, it is actually quite a reasonable rate.
In short, while the Haukeland obviously doesn't have the convenience or atmosphere of a city centre hotel, it's really not a bad place to stay if everywhere is booked out. This is not uncommon in Bergen - I booked 3 weeks in advance for a two night stay in August, and had difficulty finding a place - so if you want a reasonably priced place to stay in the city centre, my advice has to be to book well in advance during the summer months.
- Haukeland Hotell Bergen
