One side of the hotel is noisy because of the proximity of the railway. Trains run throughout the night. It is noisy even with the windows shut. The other side of ther hotel is less noisy, but there is noise from the main road. A 'tired' hotel. Food was good if basic- plenty of burgers/meatballs and for sweet apple pie, ice cream and jelly - that's it.!

The Geilo (pronounced 'Yeillow') Hotel is a good 3-star hotel. The hotel is comfortable and has a certain charm. It has a range of linked lounges with relaxing chairs. The hotel has no lift so luggage has to be dragged up stairs. No help was offered.

The hotel claims a sauna and steam room. The sauna is large, empty, and a bit tacky. The steam room is a high-tech pod looking something like the transporter room from the starship Enterprise, and is permanently off or out of order. This is no Austrian spa experience. The sauna area is on the lower basement level 54 steps down from the first floor rooms.

Rooms are in two wings at 90°. The newer wing we stayed in either faces the valley and pretty slopes of the Vestila (Geiloia) ski area, or the road, railway and base of the Geilo slopes. Try and get the pretty side! The railway side is unattractive and has regular trains - goods trains at night, and snow-plough trains which sound their horns as they approach the station.

Rooms are comfortable and reasonably sized with soft Austrian-twin beds. En-suite showers are clean. Ours had a heated floor - nice.

All food is buffet-style and nourishing. Vegans/vegetarians: tell the staff beforehand. Salmon and eggs are in abundance. Coffee is freely available on-tap at all times. The clientelle (mostly Norwegian) make packed-lunches from the breakfast food - all perfectly acceptable and encouraged - essentially sandwiches from the soft crusty locally-baked bread with ham or cheese fillings. Norway has a speciality local brown cheese which surely would be banned if Norway were to enter the EU, and quite rightly so. On the other hand Norwegians themselves are wonderful people.

Geilo, the resort:

A great glacial valley slices through the blasted uplands. Geilo nestles in this wooded valley. A small centre has the basic range of shops. The rest of the settlement dribbles off into the trees, seemingly mostly holiday homes.

Close to the resort centre is the railway station and main ski area. I found the main ski area somewhat lacking. However, on the other side of the valley is the smaller but very enjoyable Vestlia area. This is served by a predictable free bus service at peak times only. I went as an expert skier with a first time skier. The pistes are superbly groomed with lots of fun jumps carved into the slopes - like crazy golf for skiers. This entirely made up for the limited descent. My first-time skier was able to take a quick coffee break while I had yet anoter blast down a short but exilerating black run. At peak times you had to queue for nearly a minute to get back up te express lift! Vestlia is hugely recommended for learning to ski.

I understand the cross-country skiing is excellent.