My Dad is mad about wine and I have a passing interest in the stuff as well. I found out about Park Hotel poking around the internet reading about wine and discovered it has an outrageous collection of wines.

It may seem a bit excessive going to Norway for a meal but I find getting around the UK such a pain these days and the UK side of the trip was, as usual, the worst bit. Arriving in Bergen was nice with great views over a surprisingly blue coastline and the transfer to the train station pleasant since there isn't really an ugly part of Norway.

The meal was outrageous made of fresh local produce (stuff you will never see on a menu in the UK) and we had the 1996 Romanee-Conti which was, of course, far from cheap but, bearing in mind I'd rather pay proper money and get something than not enjoy myself saving money (I'd rather have a nice, MEMORABLE jolly somewhere that costs a fair bit than waste time in traffic jams in a hot car in the UK going nowhere slowly wondering why I ever left home)

Tips? DO go expecting to spend a load of money. Norway isn't cheap BUT it's pretty and the Norwegians don't like slumming it. There's quality everywhere and, unlike the UK, people in Norway actually go into the hospitality profession as a career.

As I said, I spent a lot of money on this trip but 1. my dad is worth it 2. I'm getting value all the time from the memories and 3. If you don't go out much (like me) dividing the cost of this trip a few times means it cost as much as 3 forgettable ordeals trying to enjoy the UK.

We stayed at the hotell a total of three nights. The service was decent, and the size of my room was great. Could fit a whole famyli in there if i wanted.

But i doubt that anything has been done to the room since the early 90s.And defo needs some work done now.

I was in one of the other rooms in the oposite part of the hotel, which was refurbished recently, and that looked much nicer. But was also a lot smaler then mine.

The food on the hotel is just ok. The main restaurant Elysèe is,as with my room, in need of beeing modernised asap. So the quees can get quite long, and not all the chairs are usable.

Good thing about the hotell is its location on Voss, central and close to the train station and easy access for people who wants to go skiing. And the selection of bars. You've got both a piano bar and a disco called Pentagon. Both are popular among the locals. The cafe Stationen is also ok.

I would reccomend it, but it's far from the greatest hotell i've stayed at.

The good: convenient location with lake views, quiet rooms, trendy-modern, recently re-done with comfortable beds, and helpful staff.

The bad: the worst-smelling bathroom ever. For some reason, they decided to only re-do half the hotel (money?). Literally, they did the lobby, and the rooms (very trendy modern) but left the bathrooms and hallways, which both looked and smelled like they were in a 1970s moldy swamp. I had to hold my nose to shower.

There is no Air conditioning, but I think that's common in Norway. The smell is not. That being said, there aren't many other options in Voss, so I would still stay here, but just be prepared.

I will also advise that the 'piano bar' is THE place to be after 11pm. I'm not sure where all the people come from, because the rest of Voss seemed deserted (and this in high season in August) but they all ended up in the piano bar. There is also a fun karyoke bar in the parking lot area, near the lake, and the hotel is the home of the base for Nordic Adventures, which runs kayaking and other fun adventure trips - I highly recommend them for that purpose.

Good location, near the train station and the little town center, but hotel itself is huge and somewhat anachronistic. No personal touch, nothing to really make you feel at home. Yet, for a short stay it's nice and comfy, clean and close to everywhere.