I don't understand why this place is getting bad reviews. It's really quite alright. It's really close to the township, in a safe area, close to the bus station and the room was clean which is really all I'm after. The self check in is fantastic as it avoids human contact. The self locking rooms are also a bonus. A downer was the shared bathroom, but it wasn't overly busy when i stayed, so it was no problem. Plus we were only sharing with one other room and each room has a shower allocated to it.
I mean the room in itself is basic, but if you're just there to sleep then it's fine.

The location is better than the price.Actually this horribly expensive compared with the value.
My youth hostel during the university was cleaner than this " hotel", but anyway i would never call it a hotel.
The magnet cards does not work.The idea is good to have an accomodation without staff to reduce the price but then i do not understand the rate/night.
Positive: cheap laundry
internet works well, limited only for 1 PC/room
No free parking. 20 NOK/hour

I stayed at the City Box for one night last week. It was a "family room" that accommodates 4 people.

My first fear was of the automated check-in procedure, but that went without a hitch. The key is having a credit card with a PIN number (uncommon for Americans). My other fear was of reports that key cards did not work, but ours worked first time, every time, so no complaints there.

If the check-in system had failed, I still have concerns about finding someone at the hotel who can help. I never saw anybody at the desk. Never. And the phone in the check-in vestibule was broken. And the elevator was in and out of service.

As for the room: clean, high ceiling, spacious, and adequate for 4 people with 4 beds. Bath/shower room was actually nice. The kitchenette was unusable - fridge was broken.

My other fear: I was worried about noise from guests partying in the hotel, but we did not hear a peep all night. Also no excessive street noise.

Location: OK, not great. A 10 minute walk to the harbor, so not terrible, but fairly far removed from the action.

Overall: This is an excellent value, especially if you want to sleep 3 or 4 people in one room. I might even stay here again, but I am still leery of the unmanned front desk and reliance on computer check in.

The location was central but there seemed to be many dubious looking people hanging around the street where the hotel is located, especially around the supermarket across the road. This made the area seem unsafe. The check-in system was totally difficult to use - not a foreign system, I have used these types of machines before, but this was hard to figure out. My email from booking.com did NOT mention you absolutely required the pin code etc. to check in. When I did not have this, the back room staff member was clearly annoyed that he'd have to help us check in. When we got to the room there was NO toilet paper. If they don't check the cleanliness of the room, was is to say they don't check safety systems etc. eg. fire alarms? The room was cheap, but we expected so much more from this hotel. Will without a doubt NOT be staying here again. Utterly disappointed!