This hotel was one of the worst I have ever stayed in! First of all, you do not stay in the nice building you see in most of the pictures, but in a shabby old building on the back side. The rooms are old and strongly smell of carpet glue. Even with the window open all night, the smell did not disappear. The bathroom was very "functional" and all in dark brown. Clean but nothing else. The breakfast offered some variety. However, the variety was"outweighed" by its poor quality. Instead of fresh fruit they had defroozen berries ...

Jon the manager/owner was a lovely guy, was much more helpful that the lady at the tourist information. Gave good suggestions about hiring a car from Kviknes hotel, where to drive and boat times etc...

We had to cut short our stay because we didnt know the weekend boat services are much reduced, and we had to get back to Bergen for our flight. He was very understanding and didnt charge us for a late cancellation.

Breakfast was varied and wholesome, with some local dishes mixed in.

Comfortable rooms, clean showers. Nice beds.

Would recommend.

We toured Norway under our own steam and spent 6 nights here and got just what we wanted - peaceful surroundings, friendly and efficient service, a spacious and comfortable room and excellent breakfasts. The only drawback was the evening meals - no choice and a very limited repertoire of dishes, although copious in quantity. Some guests went elsewhere for evening meals and I'd suggest to intending visitors to do likewise. The hotel meets express boats from Flam or Bergen.

We arrived in Balestrand on the express boat from Flam and our host, Mr Jon, was waiting on the quayside to transport us and our luggage the short distance to the Midtnes Hotel. Laura, the receptionist, welcomed us and directed us to our room. What a view when we opened the door! The Sognefjord, with its surrounding snow topped peaks, looked wonderful. There was a private balcony with table and chairs where we could enjoy the views when the weather was warm enough to sit out.

There were also lounges downstairs to sit, either to enjoy the views or to watch TV. There were also outside areas to sit but, as the weather wasn't that warm, we didn't use these. It was great to be able to adjust the heating in our room though and sit in the window each evening. There were even porpoises playing in the fjord that we were able to watch from our room.

The dining room was on a lower level but with the same view and breakfast consisted of a selection of cold and hot options. Plenty of choice for most nationalities. Service from Laura (again) and the other girls was very good.

We had opted for the half board option and dinner was served at 7pm. There was no choice but we enjoyed a very acceptable 3 course meal followed by coffee which was served in the lounge. We noticed that people with intolerance to certain foods were offered alternatives and I'm sure if the hotel knew in advance they would have catered for special diets without having to suddenly come up with an alternative.

The hotel was centrally situated, up a slight incline, but most people would be able to manage the walk from the quayside.

There were lovely walks from the hotel up into the mountains behind with fantastic views over the fjord.

We decided on a couple of trips which were easily completed but we were a little disappointed at the irregularity of the local buses. Vik is worth visiting and also Fjaerlandsfjorden. However, with a little planning, it's surprising what can be achieved. Trips are expensive so make sure you really want to do what is on offer. Some of these places are just nice to wander around without having to jump on buses and visit glaciers, waterfalls etc. The tourist information centre was helpful but certain members of staff were a little unsure of information. Amanda was brilliant.

Our room was comfortable and adequate. A small en-suite which was lovely and warm. No hair-dryer or tea/coffee making facilites but we weren't expecting that anyway.

We didn't need to look for meals outside the hotel but there seemed to be a few places that offered snacks and meals. I would certainly go for the half board option though just to save the bother and expense of finding an alternative. Norway is very expensive!

We had a lovely stay at this hotel and we are very grateful to Norsc Holidays (based in Charmouth, Dorset) for recommending and booking this lovely location.